My Roots Run Deep

Stories From My Family History

Canoeing

As a kid one of our favorite things to do was go on canoe trips with family and friends. My parents had several spots we could put in and several we could take out. How long the trip was to take determined the in and out spots on the river. We usually had at...

Trespassers

One of my favorite places to go and walk through nature is some property we own by the river. There used to be a bridge that my children had named the Dangerous Bridge, it was old with holes working their way though the floor so that you could look down as you...

Fixing a Car (Not so conventional)

Watching a neighbor work with a backhoe in our field trying to find an old well (that's a completely different story), I was talking to one of my dad's friends about my dad. All the things I know about fixing cars comes from my dad.... though none of it is...

Meal (the one that shaped me most?)

I have the Becoming journal and have slowly been working on it. I was just faced with the question about the most memorable meal. Of course over time I've had lots of family meals that meant a lot to me, and I can remember getting together with friends and family....

Memories from the Table

After moving we stored things we couldn't use in a shed until we could figure out what to do. One of those things was an antique Duncan Phyfe dining room table from my aunt Kate - my Grandmother's sister. My aunt Kate had been married twice and couldn't have children....

Too Much or Not Enough

Every so often I wonder if I did enough or too much for my kids and I think back to how much my parents did when I was growing up. I frequently think about what my parents didn't do.... but there are things my parents did. When I was in school one of my desires was to...

The Honey Bear

Our families first deer, Bambi, came from a man in Danville who had collected animals. He had a wild array of animals and had decided to get rid of them. I still remember going to his house and waiting in the house seeing his monkey and others while my dad went out to...

Buffalo Escape… Why have Buffalo? (Others escaped too)

Buffalo who have escaped in the next county have been all over the news this week. A family that farms has been raising them for meat and a herd broke the fence. The school bus was driving their route and happened to come upon a herd of buffalo and alerted everyone....

Mahaffey, Mahaffee, Mahaffie…. Oh so many spellings

Sep 11, 2016 | Mahaffey, McArdle | 0 Comments

I'm currently researching my mother's grandmother's family. Hattie Jane Mahaffey seems to have come to Illinois between 1900 when she appears in the census with her family and 1906 when she marries Elmer McArdle. She proceeded to have five children and then die...

600 A.D.? Really? (You traced your line back that far)

Jul 26, 2016 | Andrew, Eldridge, McArdle, Moretto Negri, Richter, Search Hints | 0 Comments

I was just at my parents and ran into someone that traced their line WAY back.... And to admit it I have a tree that has that too. I know what I need to do to my tree and what's wrong with it..... It needs SOURCES! and in reality to go back that far the odds of...

Picture Memories?

Jun 30, 2016 | McArdle, Moretto Negri, Richter | 0 Comments

Last weekend I visited home. I thought it would be nice to drive through the town that Edward Corbly help create and take a couple pictures. The school I attended from K - 4, the post office/store where I would stop and get a candy bar when walking from school to...

Another Father’s Day! – More Quality of Life not Quantity?

Jun 20, 2016 | dementia, Richter | 0 Comments

I'm hoping to come up to see dad this week... As I've mentioned my dad has dementia and has had many strokes.... Holidays like father's day are a little hard, wondering how much he is aware of what day it is? I feel bad for my friends that have lost their fathers, and...

Petting a Bison (Buffalo)

Apr 26, 2016 | Richter | 0 Comments

Recently I noticed that a woman was caught petting a buffalo at Yellowstone National Park. I found this interesting because growing up our family had a pet buffalo. My brother and I had named her Buffy and she shared a pen with our deer, goats and other animals....

Spending time with Family? Too Late?

Apr 12, 2016 | McArdle | 0 Comments

My cousin Judy passed away last Friday. The story I remember best about her was one my mother told about Judy going to get her Phi Beta Kappa Key from the University of Illinois. Judy was smart, VERY SMART, but she looked like a sorority girl. The long bright red...

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