I have received information about family history over the years. Most of it is by “word of mouth”. My Grandma Myrna had a curiosity about heritage and told stories about her family.
There has been a void of information tracing our Surname. My Dad’s father was Grandpa Chalk. His birth name was Charles but that even got screwed up on a 20th century census. The name given on the census was Charley.
Staying with the surname history, Chalk’s father was Elmer J. (my Great-grandfather). The early census records say he was born in Wisconsin. Elmer’s wife was Adaline which is really confusing because my sister Addie May was supposedly named after Elmer’s wife. In records from more recent years, the name Adaline morphed into “Addie May”. Either Elmer married twice (“not”) or early records were wrong.
Here we go. Elmer’s Dad (tracing our surname another generation) was George W. who was born in 1828 in Vermont. George W. married Susan R. who was also from Vermont. George W. was drafted into the civil war and served from 1863-1865. He was buried as a Civil War Veteran and his grave is so marked.
So I’ve traced the Surname back one more generation. I am now back to Vermont and as I trace further, birth dates will be in the late 1700’s. Hopefully I can find out how the family got to Vermont.
Everybody who traces a family tree will eventually get back to the same Mom and Dad (i.e.Adam and Eve).
Maybe our family is descendents of Kings and Queens. Yeah right!
Love,
Dad