Our Family

Military Portrait. WHK, Sr.   more…

This month I have been pleased to become acquainted with Uncle Rodney “Doc” Ellefson, who was kind enough to write, sharing quite a lot of genealogical knowledge. Rodney has been as far as Norway researching the family, and it turns out he was the source of the information we found about the Schüürmanns (see Stories from Germany, below). Now he's given us similar information about the Ellefsons and their roots in Voss, Norway. For a good summary, see the ancestors of Lewis Ellefson.

In terms of numbers of people, Rodney has given us an even larger amount of information about the many descendants of Lewis Ellefson—his nine children, 34 grandchildren, their children, their spouses, and so on. Here's a summary of what I've posted so far, which will grow as I find time to post more. Enjoy!

While vacationing at Litchfield Beach, we managed to post quite a bit of new information about the Ellefson, Schurman, and McCall families. We've learned about ancestors of Alice Schurman as far back as the early 18^th century. We've also posted a few dozen photos: Ellefsons, McCalls, Trippes, and more. The easiest place to see all we've done recently—at least for the next month—is the What's New page. Don't forget that you won't see information about living people unless you log in, and please do make corrections as you see mistakes.

This weekend we've found some information in Patcha's house about his mother's roots in Simonswolde, Germany. One vivid story emerges right away: After Klaas Dirks Schüürmann lost his wife and Tielke Martens Klingenberg lost her husband, they married in 1863, turning their two families into one. But that wasn't all, because in 1878 Klaas's son Ede Klaassen Schüürmann married Tielke's daughter Grietje Martens Rademacher, and so the families became even closer!

This weekend I've upgraded to the newest version of the databasing software that runs our site. Some of the improvements:

• New, simpler menus at the top right of most pages
• Ability to bookmark any page on our site
• Dedicated areas for albums, videos, and recordings

Enjoy the site, and give me a yell if you have questions!

It's official… Scruggs is now the most common surname in our database. As I write, they number 291 in all, with at least nine men who bore the name Gross Scruggs. Another measure of their magnitude: Elizabeth Kieth Scruggs married William Chilton and bore eleven sons and no daughters. (Supposing you have eleven children, chance that all are male: 1 in 2048!) This wealth of information is coming from Scruggs Genealogy, compiled by Ethel Hastings Scruggs Dunklin and published 1912, a photocopy of which found its way to Mom and Dad's house.

Spent some time today starting a collection of How to pages for the site, which will always be available in the box at left. The collection will grow as I have time to improve it and have ideas of what information would be most useful. Hope it helps! If you have an idea or a question that needs answering, by all means send an email!

The newest folks in our database are ancestors of the three sisters Isabel, Nancy, and Jane Edmunds. They've come from a beautifully-arranged, circular chart by an unknown author that goes back in all directions to the 1600s and before. You can quickly see a summary containing nearly all of the new entries.

A few of our photos show ancestors and cousins whose names we don't know. Recognize anybody? If you can help, click "Edit Photo" or just email us.

And so at last our collection of old family photos is coming online. Some are silly, some are quite old, and some show practically the whole family. Enjoy them! If you see errors or know more names than I do, please edit them. Got photos of your own that should be archived? Add them.

After many, many hours, all the basic information from The Stephenson Family of Highland County, Virginia, and Related Families by William G. Haemmel is here. You can start with William and Sarah, who came from Ireland about 1732, and see a great many of their descendants—maybe you're one! Also here are related families and descendants of the female Stephensons, including Herrings, Crawfords, Gwins, McNultys, Alexanders, and more.

As I spend more time poring over the names, dates, and stories of our family, touchstones begin to emerge, strange and glowing facts that I never before imagined. For instance, my great, great uncle Adam Stephenson married Eva C. Campbell on 20 Sep 1905. A hundred years previous, in 1806, his great, great, uncle Adam Stephenson married Eva C. Campbell. Wow. And I do have at least one cousin (by marriage) born in Russia!

Many of my free moments these days—which are few since Miss Jessie came along!—are spent in the gradual process of exploring and absorbing the five large books and binders that my cousin Howard Hammond has graciously loaned me. After decades of genealogical research, he has amassed an amazing amount of information, some small fraction of which is already beginning to appear here. My deep gratitude goes out to Howard and also to my great uncle Bill Haemmel, who authored one of the books Howard loaned me.