FAMILY PAGE

The past few years I have been been conducting a search of ancestors and family members. The records in the following Family Tree area, have been compiled by me, from research, and by gathering family group sheets from various branches of this family tree.

My collaborator on the French and Heller Lines and co-author of the up coming books "The Joseph French Family of Adams County, IN" and "The Levi Heller Family of Wells County, IN", both of which moved to Indiana around 1835, is my cousin Jane Gregg who has spent hundreds hours searching marriage, cemetery, vital records and obituaries in Adams & Wells Counties, Indiana, where the Joseph French and Levi Heller families settled over 160 years ago, and where hundreds of descendants still live. Thanks Jane!

We also want to thank the many many other cousins who have shared their family research and information with us and hope we have also been able to help them.

June 2001.The Joseph French Family of Adams County, Indiana has been published. SOLD OUT
July 2000 The Levi Heller Family of Wells County, Indiana has been published. SOLD OUT

My friend, Arlis, said I should add a picture of myself that looks like I'm working at genealogy.

Main Lines

CHURCH: (name changed from HOGG in 1809)

FRENCH: A special thanks to Vivian & Jim Creeden, for their research of the FRENCH family prior to 1766. They have spent years digging through town records etc.

BEEDE: The best collection of Beede information is at Nevada Jack's Genealogy Page

HELLER:

SHAWBELL/ Schaubell: etc.: The major researcher and a great cuz is Claude Shawbell, please visit his page to get the whole scoop. Boy, you could hear us both yelling with delight the day Claude found the Family Bible information which confirmed we were cousins, which we both were sure had to be!

SMITH: (2 lines) one of probable English descent, the other line is of German descent, and settled in NC and moved to Vigo Co., IN. Another special cuz, is Lonnie Kennedy check his page, for his descendants of these Smiths. Talk about good timing, we were both searching for the ancestors of our Smiths who lived in Coffey Co., KS. Lon, posted an inquiry looking for the ancestors of Jesse Kennedy & Rachel Smith, who lived in Coffey Co., KS just a week after I had located my g-g grandfather Henry Smith on the Vigo Co., IN census. Living around them were all these other Smiths, one of which sure looked like g-g-g granddad. We soon found a county history article and got a copy of the George Smith Family of Sugarcreek Twp. by Herbert Smith. Yup you guessed it, Rachel and Henry were sister and brother.

RICE: My Rice family did not arrive in the U.S.A. until 1850, so if your looking for ones who were here earlier, I don't have them.

I have to also give a special thanks to Joan Shoemaker Guthrie, for listening to all my constant analyzing and giving me feedback. Joan is my 3rd -1 cousin on my Heller line and my 4th cousin on my French line.

I have a new cousin in-law, but an old friend and one of the best genealogist I've ever met, to give a special thanks to; Arlis Anderson Renfro. We now are sure that her husband Don is a descendant of George Smith Sr. Thanks to her efforts and that of Lynn White we now know that the family of John Smith and Margaret Kennedy had two sons not listed in the George Smith Book. They were George A. Smith and James Smith, both of whom went to Ottumwa, Coffey Co. KS about the same time my Great Grandfather Henry Gilbert Smith did. Don is descended from George A. and Lynn is descended from James.

Mark (Rusty) Smith is maintaining and adding to his grandfather Herbert's book, The George Smith Family of Sugarcreek Twp. by Herbert Smith . He recently transcribed old letters written from 1866 to 1902, from George Smith's grandson, William Riley Smith in Kansas. His letters tell of the hardships Kansas farmers had to endure. Mark has kindly given me his permission to share these letters online.William Riley Smith Letters Thanks Mark! NewJan, 2000 Mark found a better picture, so check out the letter again if you already read it

PAGE UPDATES

Album 4

Feb 2, 2000 Added pictures to Family Album 5

Jan 26, 2000: An article from Kansas and Kansans about my Great-Great Uncle Milton Smith and his son-in-law Welton Kuykendall. Welton is related to Mark Smith. Edwards Kansas Article

Jan 28, 2000 Marriage Records for Joseph French's marriages to Eunice Mills and Sally Smith. Orange, Mass. Town Records

The Old Family Album click on book

TO FAMILY TREE TO FAMILY ALBUM WM. R. SMITH, KANSAS LETTERS EDWARDS CO., KANSAS ARTICLE ORANGE, MASS. MARRIAGE RECORDS ABOUT ME RETURN TO GALLOPING SQUIRREL RANCH WELCOME PAGE.

Are you a cousin or have questions? email me

Other Links
The U.S. Genweb Project, one of the best things to happen on the Web for genealogy.

graphics and backgrounds created by Judi Assony