My Journey Into My Past

  My ancestry is from three countries: France, Germany and Poland.  The German and Polish ancestors came from Europe to Michigan in the 1860’s.  The French ancestors detoured for 300 years through Canada, coming through Detroit around 1700.  Our people came to Michigan and made it their home. Linda Tilley (my sister and genealogy partner) and I went to Canada on a road trip in 2018, following the St Lawrence from Montreal to Quebec City stopping at the villages and churches that our people had been recorded at. For a full accounting of this, see Linda’s account in the Downriver Seeker August 2018.  I wrote my version of the road trip in The Genealogy Society of Monroe County Record, November 2018.  It was awe inspiring to walk where my ancestors walked. We both were inspired and awed to walk where our ancestors were born, lived, worshipped and died. Rana Willit 07/22/24

 Joe's Coat What a treat!   All of my cousins and siblings remember spending the night at Grandma’s house.   I remember one special night with her, it was after she had fallen ill, and she had stories to tell while she still could.   I felt very lucky to be the one she shared one particular story with.   She started talking about my long-gone grandfather, his courtship and their early days of marriage, then went on to talk about her childhood.   She was the third youngest of nine children, born in 1893. While still quite young there was an epidemic, perhaps diphtheria, the disease entered the home, a notice was posted on the door that the family was quarantined and no one could enter.   They could not leave either. I don’t know if others in the family were affected, but Grandma’s three year old brother was very, very sick. When he died,   poor baby Joe was wrapped in his blankets and placed on the porch for the death wagon to pick up.   The f...

  History of our home, by Meg Bruck Linda, so sorry it took me a bit. I don’t know how but this slipped my to do list for sure!                     Well our new adventure started about a year ago. By the way I hope it’s ok that I start from the beginning to give you the full spectrum of “God puts us where he wants”.  Well I meet many people through working for the county library system. One of my regular patrons had over heard me discussing Ant and I wanting to buy property for farming and the boys to hunt. Well that was it. He lived 1 mile on our same road and had 20 acres to sell. His only stipulations were it be used for farm, a young family to make it their home, & they sell for what price he purchased it for. All seemed perfect. So the men shook hands on the price and agreed as soon as we were ready to list, they’d be ready to move. We never dreamed of leaving our cute little 18...

  It’s your turn.   Ancestor who was a Sailor   My uncle, Lawrence WICKENHEISER, was the only sailor in my ancestry that I know of. Well, not exactly a sailor, but he was in the US Navy.   He was born on 2 August 1916 to August John (Gus) WICKENHEISER and Eliza Paulina (Lena) RIVARD, the eldest of ten children.   Always ambitious, he helped around the farm and worked part-time jobs, and graduated from Airport High School at age 16. He worked at several businesses including driving a semi, selling insurance, and finally finding his true passion when he gained his wings and began a flight business training and ferrying passengers and goods out of Grosse Ile, MI airport. Larry joined the service in 1943.   The USAF was not fully formed at the time, even though there had been pilots in the military since 1907.   In July 1947 the National Security Act created the Department of the Air Force, and the United States Air Force was established September 18...

  Did you know…..how important medical records and death records are? As the family record keepers in our large maternal family, Linda TILLEY and I also bring family medical record forms to our bi-annual family reunions.   We ask family members to list their diseases and conditions, and after an appropriate time has passed, we also ask for death certificates.   These records not only have important genealogical information on them, but they can help chart our own health.   I have quite an extensive collection of older death certificates as well.   Did you know there is a very good reason for that? As new moms, my sisters and I carefully paid attention to our babies' urinary out put and colic/spitting up habits.   That is how our sister Joan HARRIS saved her son’s life in 1971.   She had been old enough to remember how our brother John had acted before his death in 1959 and didn’t let the doctors dismiss her as a nervous new mom. She demanded they t...