To help those unfamiliar with DeKalb County I am providing this partial map of the county (southern end), showing the three townships thus far examined for family farms on the 1905 plat map archived by the state of Illinois. I expect to research the family connections more thoroughly in the near future. The effort will […]
DOCUMENT ONE: Northern Victor Township This is a really classic example of a 19th century network of family farms. The Sawyer clan dominates the northwest corner of Victor Township. Census records from the 1800s indicate that Knud (aka Knute) Sawyer and his wife Anne Johnsdtr Peterson raised their family on a farm in Victor Township. […]
As was done in Part I, I am continuing my use of the 1905 plat maps from the Illinois archives. Squaw Grove Township lies to the east of Clinton Township in De Kalb County. The plat map for this township is also populated with families whose roots run back into the latter part of the 19th […]
The State of Illinois has archived plat maps over the century and I am just beginning to locate family lands from previous centuries. I am using the 1905 edition for the purpose of this research. I have identified surnames that I recognize from our family tree. Additional names like Kahle, Van Ohlen and Ilseman also […]
Robert Kopfer, my grandmother Laura’s father, passed away in 1908. The sale of his farm, 171 acres, was made necessary by the fact that upon his death he was indebted to the tune of $4,000. This debt is recorded on page 2 (See Document Two below) of the Will (See Document One below) and agreed to […]
ADMINISTRATOR’S SALE OF REAL ESTATE By virtue of an order and decree of the County Court of DeKalb County, made on the petition of the undersigned, administrator of the estate of Robert Kopfer, deceased, for leave to sell real estate of said deceased, and entered at the October Term, AD 1909, of said court, to-wit: […]
A WORK IN PROGRESS With this volume I am trying to capture the impact of the Reformation on the Great Migration of our ancestors to American shores where they joined other of our ancestors: people of the Native Nations, thus creating a new world and adventure. In covering my family and those of my […]
WHO WERE PETER SMITH’S PARENTS and OUR ANCESTORS? Prior to 1663 The Smiths who settled into Westmoreland County, Virginia had to have some resources available that allowed them to move into a wealthy neighborhood including the likes of Washington, Lee, Custis, Madison and Monroe. These families were the predecessors of the great names in American […]
The history of Swallowfield, Berkshire, England is told in a document buried deep in the archives of British history, found just between “Swallow Tales of England” and “Swarthy Women of Cheap Street.” The link to the document Swallowfield and its’ Owners provides the reader with 1000 years of history, countless names and more than several heart […]
WITHOUT FURTHER PROOF Without further proof it would be wrong to assume that we the living are descended from Richard Smyth, via Peter Smith. It would be also be wrong to assume that Richard Smyth (Yeoman of the King’s Robes) is directly descended from the Smyths of the West Country of England. But historians of […]