Genealogy research can roam far and wide. As a result, I do my best to stay more or less focused on the families of my grandparents.
(The remainder of this post was originally written for the now defunct WL Ancestry website.)
Grandparents
This genealogical journey starts with my four grandparents. Without them, my parents wouldn’t have been born, I wouldn’t be here, and you wouldn’t be reading these words. Here are the four main lines I follow in genealogical research.
- Donald Edmond Wallace
- Beva B. Nichols
- Florence Eleanor Jickling
- Albert Wheeler Leslie
All genealogy starts with yourself, then moves backwards. Here, I did about the same. First priority is going backwards to the first of our ancestors who came to the US – or further where I can. Then I’ll start filling information in on more recent generations.
Proceed With Caution
Rest assured, though, I’m not posting all the juicy gossip about everyone. That’s not genealogy.
- There are limited pictures of living people. If you attended a reunion and got in the picture – you may find yourself. If I happened to snap your picture – you may find yourself. But I’m not posting everything about everyone.
- Along the same lines, as people pass away, I do not do some type of tribute. That’s disrespectful and just plain icky. My dad’s been gone for some time now, and I’m still hesitant to post too many pictures or tell too many stories. I do add death dates to Ancestry and Family Search, linking to the obituary whenever possible; frankly, I’d rather have that done by a family member than some random person who trolls obituaries and update Findagrave.com (there are people who do that.) I’ve worked at claiming the findagrave sites of distant relatives, too; again, I’d rather have that in the family, if possible.
- I’ll attempt to give credit where credit is due. Although sometimes that’s easier said that done.
(And yes, I have trolled through old editions of the Cass City Chronicle for news about all the great aunts and uncles. The personal content in that newspaper is amazing. Even I’m in the Chronicle once or twice – and I never lived in Cass City.)
Surnames
Wallace, Nichols, Jickling, and Leslie are my four main lines. But my tree has more than 700 surnames stemming off into history from just these four people. For an idea of why it’s necessary to narrow the scope of research. Here, for example, are the A and B surnames.
Surnames
- Adam, Adams, Agar, Aitken, Alexander, Allen, Almas, Althoff, Ames, Anderson, Andrews, Angebrandt, Anthes, Arey, Armstrong, Arnald, Arnold, Asher, Ashley, Auten.
- Babbs, Babenquth, Bacher, Bailey, Baker, Ballagh, Banke, Barber, Barbour, Barker, Barlow, Barnett, Barnes, Barr, Bates, Bauman, Bayliss, Beach, Beacom, Begg, Behr, Bell, Benedick, Benedict, Bennett, Biggy, Bigger, Bishop, Bitzer, Black, Blaine, Bland, Blinco, Blodget, Boag, Bober, Bobicz.
- Bogue, Bolton, Bonathan, Bourke, Bourrough, Bowen, Bowers, Bowles, Bowman, Boyce, Boyde, Boyle, Boyne, Brandford, Bauer, Brelsford, Brennan, Brerton, Bresky, Brewseter, Bright, Briacombe, Brockelbank, Brodt, Brooks, Broomfield, Brotherton, Brousseau, Browan, Brown, Browning, Bryant, Bublitz, Buffey, Bulla, Bullis, Bullock, Burn, Burnham, Burton, Bush, Butcher, Butterfield, Button.
About Family Stories & Memory
Generally speaking, information diffuses as you go back in time. It’s hard to learn personal details about someone who lived 200 years ago because finding documents photos is a challenge if not completely impossible.
Frankly, memory isn’t nearly as trustworthy as you might think. Family memories in particular function more like that game of “telephone” you probably played as a kid. Person #1 tells the story to person #2. Person #2 tells the story to person #3. By the time you’ve gotten to person #20 it’s a whole different story. Add a few generations brothers and sisters and aunts and cousins and there’s little resemblance to the original story.
As a result, family stories may be based in truth yet embellished by the storyteller or by a slightly different memory from someone else. And sometimes the story is true, and sometimes a genealogist can prove that the the story is true.
I’m trying to tell the story as best I can. And heavens knows I’m sometimes wrong.
Hemlock High School
There’s also a special area for Hemlock High School in Hemlock, Saginaw, Michigan, USA.
- My parents taught at the high school and both my sister and I are graduates.
- The football field is named after my dad.
- Many of the photos in the area were yearbook rejects. They were going to be discarded, but my mom said she’d take them, so here we are.
Overwhelmed Yet?
So to summarize then, the concentration on this website is mainly on the Wallace and Leslie families because that’s where the bulk of my research has been.
I’ll explore the four primary lines. I’ll throw in all sorts of different tidbits I’ve found from the various corners, attics, archives, databases, and other places, too. There’s so much information to share…
