I have been working really hard, this past week trying to compile, all the information, into some sort of readable form. I am trying to find the right program, that will allow the reader to view as much detailed information on the individual as possible. Whatever format, I use will be the format, you will see in the book. It is an overwhelming task and almost, if not an obsession for me. I have 206 years of information, on our ancestors and I have counted eight generations.
How did I manage all this? Seventeen years of walking through cemeteries, researching burial, church, census, military, immigration, passenger, ship, passport, old newspapers, you name it and I have probably looked through that record. My head spins just thinking about it. Some records, I needed translated from German to English. Thank God for the help of the curator (fluent in German) of the German Lutheran Archives in Germantown who translated some of this information for me. If it wasn't for her, I would not have known the what, when and how's of the Keller clan who immigrated here in 1854. Of course, there is a program, you can use to help with language translation on the Internet. I have used that a time or two to figure out a specific word here or there.
I am sure, there are as many relatives out there, who are just as interested in their past, as there are those who could care less. However, they may think, this is a gift to my grandparents William & Anna Gallagher's memory. Something, I promised my grandmother, I would do during that last lunch, we had together two months before she died in 1980.
I am so grateful for that lunch, where she spoke about her family and gave me, the first clues to research. She was showing signs, that the cancer had returned and was very weak that day. At the time, I never realized, it would be our last lunch together, before her health failed to the point, where she stopped eating. Again, I am so grateful for that time, we had together. Though, grandmom spoke about her family in the past, I never really viewed it as more than, some family folklore, a grandparent would tell their grandchild. In retrospect, I wished, I had paid closer attention to that folklore, because it may have helped make my research easier.
It should be of interest to you all, that parts of our German branch of the family, may actually date back, just prior to the Revolutionary War. This is the Mervine Branch. I just came upon this information in the last week. I have traced our Voigt/Keller/Ritter/Schroeder Branches of the Family back to 1852 when several of them began to immigrant from countries such as Prussia/Germany. The Irish Branches Boland/Cafferty/Gallagher/McCaffery (McCafferty) began immigrating in 1880 Thu to 1908. In order to seek any more information on them, I need to research them in Ireland, itself. The Polish Branch Wisloski/Weleski immigrated from Austria in the late 19th century, around 1897 to be exact. The spelling of their ethnic name changed so much, it is a wonder that I am not crazy. Part of this name changing was because of language barriers and some of it was just plain intentional, as in the case of my American born grandfather, John J Wisloski who changed the spelling to Weleski, sometime in the early 1940's. Why? I will probably never know, but it makes it difficult to create a beta version of a family tree, when the siblings' "last name" is spelled differently than the paternal parent. You have to repeatedly "override" those nice annoying "error" flashes that pop up, because the computer program thinks you are making a mistake.
Some other facts, that may be of interest are the different wars, the men in our family served in and/or at least registered for. I have actual data that places several/if not most of them, in nearly every war fought in this country, and if my data proves correct, then I will be able to add the Revoluntary War as one of them. We have at least one relative that fought in the Mexican War (1847), several that fought in the Civil War (1861), World War I (1917), World War II (1942), Korean War (1950), Vietnam War (1965) and if you count my youngest son, Joseph who joined the Navy after 9/11, then we can include the Iraq War.
I have so many dates, addresses, burial records, ect., ect., ect. That when I die, they will need to be passed down to someone. I have 206 years of files. Much of which, I will not be able to add to the book, but will be available for future use, if there is someone, who has an interest, and I can "Will" the stuff to them. These documents are my most valuable treasures, not because they are worth anything in the monetary sense, but because it tells a story about our family.
This will be my legacy to my children.
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