“You have to have skills.” Napolean Dynamite coached Pedro. “Numchuk skills.” It takes more than skills to find some of our ancestors, especially those who began life in a foreign country. It some times takes a little luck. That proved true in my search for my father’s great grandfather’s roots. In this particular search we […]
Private Harvey Kopfer, born April 18, 1890 in DeKalb County, Illinois, was the oldest of the Kopfer children. His WWI draft card in 1917 identified him as “medium height, medium build, dark blue eyes, brown hair.” He was single and 27 years of age when his country required his service. He left his position as a farmhand […]
Table of Contents The following links review the family history of the Whittington, Sullivan and Smith branches of our family tree. Characters found in the pages below appeared in the annals of history on our recent travels in Great Britain. There are two story lines found within this collection: 1) the history of our ancestors and the 2) incredible […]
There is no shortage of interesting characters in our family tree. There are pirates and princes, kings and queens, scoundrels and saints. There are strong women everywhere you look. My intent with this thumbnail sketch is to help you visualize where in your family tree these folks gather. They gather in bunches here and there. Generations […]
In our recent visit to England, more specifically Shrewsbury, we stayed in a city once ruled by my 28th great grandfather, Roger de Montgomery, First Earl of Shrewsbury. Born in 1022 in Saint Germain de Montgomery, Calvados, France, he was a confidant of and advisor to William the Conqueror in 1066. He was a top commander of William’s […]
As I have written before in this collection: One can get caught up in the search of surnames handed down from one man to the next and miss some awfully interesting people in the generations of women who are equal part of any tree. For a case in point: I have been so caught up […]
We have several men by the name of Hugh Montgomery in my father’s tree. Some of them are many time great grandparents from whom we descend. Others are the brothers of our great grandparents. Thus, they are many times great uncles to those who descend from Matilda Montgomery Smith. Hugh III, the First Earl of Mount […]
Mathias Slaymaker Birth: Abt 1670 in Hesse Kassel, Strasburg, Germany Death: 25 Nov 1762 in Gap, Lancaster, Pennsylvania Burial: Old Leacock Church Cemetery – Leacock, Lancaster, Pennsylvania English Citizenship: 14 Oct 1729 , Lancaster, Pennsylvania Will: 25 Nov 1762 [Editor’s Note: The patriarch of the family is not identified on the Leacock record as buried in […]
Littleton Crest FitzWarin Crest Whittington Crest Smith Crest
The will of Conrad Temma is attached here and includes information contained in pages related to his life with Caroline Grimme. They were parents of Mary Caroline Temma, my great grand mother on my mother’s side of the family tree. In this first segment Conrad’s date of death is listed as October 13, 1900. The […]