In August of 2003 I sat in the living room of my Mother-in-law's home and helped her sort thru and identify a large box of photos, some going back to the mid 1800's.Some were fading and I wanted to preserve them for future generations, so I scanned and made copies of them, this starting the quest for our beginnings.Six years later and many versions later, I am still filling in holes and finding new family. *Family: people who are connected by blood and by love. American history has taken on a new meaning for me, because I now have the names of family who participated in that history. Colonial Revolutionaries, Founding Fathers, Confederate and Union Soldiers are among the many branches of our families. For me, the most interesting bits I have found-on my mother's side our fist born Virginian was born in the 1650's and the last generation were my brother Bill and I, 300 years later in the 1950's.Our children were born in California, Oregon and Washington.And on my father's side, the German immigrants who settled in Missouri were attacked and murdered by the bushwhackers who were members of the Wm Quantrell Gang, among them was a very young, 16yr old Jessie James. Who knew?????????????
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