“We are a nation of immigrants? Not exactly.” To label our country as a “nation of immigrants” is hardly accurate. There already were indigenous people, Native Americans, here. Yes, their ancestors probably migrated across the Bering Strait between 15,000 and 30,000 years ago before any other humans were here. But that hardly classifies them as … Continue reading My Ancestor Immigrants: Günther, Ó Cinnéíde, and Klavër
Category: Genealogy
The Neanderthal from Braidwood
“Hey Thomas! You have more Neanderthal DNA than 77% of other customers.”23andme.com With this greeting, I opened my 23andme.com portal to see what this means. I knew that the Neanderthals disappeared about 40,000 years ago but not before they made close friends with my modern homo sapiens who had migrated north from Africa. Neanderthal origins started somewhere … Continue reading The Neanderthal from Braidwood
“Your Great Grandparents Live in You.”
An Unsolicited Letter to the Grandkids I failed to gather important information about my great grandparents until I was in my 30s. After our family moved from Joliet to Wilmington, Illinois - the birthplace of my parents - I was shamed by the fact that I kept meeting folks who were distant relatives. Until that … Continue reading “Your Great Grandparents Live in You.”
Letter #2 to Unknown Great Grandkids
As I stated in my first letter to great grandkids who are yet to be born, my purpose in writing to you (born between 2025 and 2035) is to give you my perspective on the state of the world and to shed light on the person you someday will refer to as one of “my … Continue reading Letter #2 to Unknown Great Grandkids
Letter to Unknown Great Grandkids
This letter might seem a bit strange at first but please bear with me. Yes, I am writing to great grandkids who have not yet been born. I have previously written letters to our 14 grandkids in response to their questions... with more letters are yet to come. But the following letter might be reading material … Continue reading Letter to Unknown Great Grandkids
My Great Grandfather, Blacksmith in the Civil War
C.C. Augustus Ginter II (b. 9/28/1837 – d. 9/19/1892) Growing up in the 1940s and 1950s, I don’t remember my mother or her siblings talking about the Ginter family history or the fact that their grandfather had served in the Civil War. Mom’s parents, Oscar and Minnie (Becker) Ginter, were virtually unknown to me. Minnie … Continue reading My Great Grandfather, Blacksmith in the Civil War
“Keep on writing, Dad, before you lose your marbles.”
“You might have put it a little differently, son, but I get your drift.” My mother, Adele Ginter Kennedy, her siblings, and classmates circa 1925 playing marbles.. It’s a good analogy because I played “mibs” when I was in St. Rose grade school. My bag included about 20 or so glass marbles that included a … Continue reading “Keep on writing, Dad, before you lose your marbles.”
“We are related to the Van Duynes?”
“Yes, son, .... and to the Hermes, the Shuttens, the Klovers, the Holmans, and many more here in Wilmington.” "No individual death among human beings is important. Someone who dies leaves his work behind and that does not entirely die. It never dies as long as humanity exists." Isaac Asimov St. Rose Church, view from … Continue reading “We are related to the Van Duynes?”
Life: A Dash Between Dates?
“The dash between dates holds the essence and spirit of the deceased. It doesn't take long for memories to fade. Precisely why every family needs a historian to capture and relate stories of each member.” Sharon Mosier, Educator* It was my last visit in the hospital before Dad had surgery for throat cancer, a result … Continue reading Life: A Dash Between Dates?
Why Write a Journal? Why Let Everyone Read It?
“All writers are vain, selfish, and lazy, and at the very bottom of their motives there lies a mystery.” George Orwell Because I have written continuously over the past 50 years, I recently asked myself, “Why do I write.” “Who is my audience?” “What is my purpose in jotting things down?” At first, I assumed that … Continue reading Why Write a Journal? Why Let Everyone Read It?
Braidwood Beginnings 