Family History

A Fire of Terror
Conflagration of Terror in Our Valley
The timeline of this disaster makes this story even more poignant. 1932 - A wall of fire is heading towards my Grandparents farm 1932 was at the beginning of the Great Depression so living on a farm seemed like the best place to live during these hard times. It was a time when you could not afford to waste anything and everything you owned had to be well taken care of because there was no money to buy another. Forest fires were common up in the hills surounding the Mud River Valley. They wer...

The Family Tree Maker
Are You The Family Tree Maker In Your Family?
Are you the Family Tree Maker in your family or thinking of becoming the one who pulls your Family History together? Although not all families start a family tree, it's a great idea for many reasons. For one, you can leave a legacy of your family's background and history for your children, grandchildren and your and your grandchildren's children and so on. It's a great way to keep track of all the major events and major turning points in your family's life over the centuries. Surely genera...

How to Find a Grave
Find a Grave--Family History
Have you forgotten where your grandparents are buried? Are you doing a genealogy search for your family tree? Maybe you are interested in famous graves located near where you live. Whatever your reasons, follow these tips to find a grave. Photo Credit: Gayle McLaughlin

How to Search Your Family Tree
Search Family Tree
Are you interested in finding your ancestors or searching your family tree? There are many ways to search for your family tree right from your living room. Check out each one of these websites and explore the unique qualities of each one. My daughter, Kaycee, has used www.ancestry.com to trace my husband's family back to the 1500's and she has been in touch with some distant relatives using this website. Photo image by Gayle McLaughlin

Last Blacksmith of Buckner, Missouri
Charles Amos Browns Moves his Family to Missouri
My father, Wallace Elwood Browns lived in a sod house in Forgan, Oklahoma. In 1913, his family actually traveled in a covered wagon to Springfield, Arkansas. 1919, the Browns family moved from a strawberry farm in Springfield, Arkansas to Buckner, Missouri. My father's father, Charles Amos Browns, bought a blacksmith shop in Buckner, Missouri, a little town about 20 miles south east of Kansas City, Missouri. He was a blacksmith in Buckner until he retired in the late 50's--the last blacksmith...

Abraham Tower - The Indiana Years
1837 to 1861 - The Pre-War Life of Abraham Bates Tower
I'm researching the details of the life of my great-great grandfather born in 1837. Abraham Bates Tower lived until 1930 so his life spanned almost a century. The family has some information about his Civil War experience and later life, but not much about his life before the Civil War. That's what I hope to uncover and I'll share with you my discoveries here. (photo of Abraham Bates Tower's diary)

Mi Familia - My Family
La Historia De Mi Familia ~ The History Of My Family
From the time I was a little girl, Mom told me stories about our ancestors who came from Spain. Now that she's gone, I ran into some notes I had taken when we talked about our 'family tree' once, over coffee. One afternoon when I was really missing her, I got out the notes and tinkered around the internet, looking for information about mi familia. Incredibly, in that one afternoon I found old census and baptism records for my maternal grandparents and great-grandparents and other members of ...

Remembering Dad's Life
In Memory of Dad
This image (left) was created in January 2006, mostly in memory of my dad who passed away from AML (Acute Myelogenous Leukemia) in 2002. He was diagnosed on July 8th that year, and passed away on July 30th. This was a man who had never lost a single day of work due to illness; who seldom had a cold; who I don't think ever had suffered the flu. At the time he was undergoing treatment in hospital, we also discovered "the problem with mom". She had Alzheimer's - I think dad was more worried abou...

Phillips Family Easter Day Reunion
It's A Family Tradition
Every year since 1985 come Easter Day the whole clan gathers at Gary and Margaret's place. All the members of the Phillips Family and the Extensions of Phillips Family (whether by birth, marriage, or friendship) arrive in droves - or cars and trucks, at the countryside home. Several have traveled hundreds of miles in order to join in with the Easter Day gathering. We start by catching up with each other's lives and hear the tales of what the children and grandchildren and nieces and nephews h...

Family History; Gravestone Surnames D-H
Gravestone Photographs and Information
Here is a list of the Surnames beginning with D-H that I have photographs and/or information for - if you find a surname that you are interested in please use the Comments Box below to tell me which area of the country you are interested in and I will post the information that I have. Your request will then be transferred and posted alongside the posting which I hope will make things easier for everyone - you can navigate through the site using the buttons just underneath this introduction.