Getting Started

I took an American Literature class in high school and had to write a family history report as a class project. It was 1973 and I was fortunate enough to have both my maternal and paternal grandmothers alive back then to help document information as they told stories of their childhood and shared what they knew of their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. I started actively researching data and documenting our family history in 1993 and have since traced ancestors back to the Revolutionary and Civil War. American history really didn't interest me until I was able to place a paternal ancestor at Gettysburg. James Calvin Flora served in the 4th Michigan Volunteer Infantry and fought at the Battle for the Wheatfield. I was hooked after that and American history, and my history, became a passion. While learning about my relatives I realized the importance of knowing and understanding where you come from in order to appreciate who and where you are. It's a humbling journey and I recommend taking the trip. You just may learn something about yourself.

George Carr and Jesse Sylvester Daugherty were Bootleggers. During the depression Jesse Sylvester Daugherty boot-legged. He did this because he had no job but wanted to keep his kids. He had to feed his family. When he got caught the kids were put in a children's home. They stayed there off and on until 1935. The Carr family was originally from England while the Daugherty family is from Scotland. My Great-Gramma Effie used to say, 'We have enough Scotch in us to be tighter than hell; enough Indian in us to be wilder than hell; and enough Irish not to give a damn." taken from my high school report "From the Heart", dated May 23, 1973, Chapter One, Maternal Ancestors