What's New

Update:  Shore Family.

Our Shore family page has been updated with new records for Albert Thomas Shore and his family.

Albert Thomas was a nephew of John Shore, maintaining the family tradition of woodworking and making custom furniture.  He lived and worked in England, came to America in 1858, and finally returned to England where he married.

We have letters, photographs, and advertisements for his businesses in England and America.

We are grateful to Tim Johnson for furnishing information and a photograph of Albert Thomas Shore.  Tim is the great-great-great-grandson of Albert Thomas Shore.

Tim has also sent photographs of Albert Thomas's son Albert Edwin Shore, and of Albert Edwin's daughters Jessie, Annie Louisa ('Lou'), and Dora Shore.

We are also grateful to Rebecca Roberts for her research into Albert Edwin Shore's sons, William and Alfred, who fought in Mesopotamia in World War I.  William survived the war; Alfred was killed in action.

To see these new heritage items, go to "Our Family Gallery".  On that page, click on the link for "The Shore Family".  Then you will see the link for "Alfred Thomas Shore (John Shore's Nephew)".

Update:  Carl Deford Green and Mary Louise (Shore) Green.

We now have the marriage record for Carl and Louise (Shore) Green.

To see this addition to our heritage, go to "Our Family Gallery", and click on the link for "Carl Deford Green and Mary Louise (Shore) Green".

Update:  Talbott Family.

Our Talbott family page has been updated with new records for Doctor Perry Talbott.

In 1860 he examined a man who was shot in an altercation in a watermelon patch.  We have the court record showing his examination of the victim and testimony in the trial, with his signature.

We are grateful to Janet Hawley for finding this record.  Her book, "The Murder of Dr. Talbott" is the definitive account of that key event in our family, and in Missouri's history.

To see the new records, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott".

Update:  Talbott Family Heritage.

Our page for our Talbott family heritage has been updated.

We have court records showing the 1890 marriage of John Alnutt Talbott to Florence Shellhouse, followed by the birth of their son and her lawsuit for divorce.  The suit also named John's mother Belle as a defendant.

Our family's thanks go to Janet Hawley for her discovery of these records.

Her book "The Murder of Dr. Talbott" is a definitive account of the 1880 criminal case that made headlines across the country.

To see this addition to our heritage, go to "Our Family Gallery", and click on the link for "Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott".

Update:  Roberts Family.

Our Roberts family page has been updated with new records for Margaret Ann Roberts.

To see it, go to "Our Family Gallery", and click on the link for "Joseph Oliver Roberts and Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts".

Update:  Hill Family Heritage.

We have a new chart showing our Hill family heritage.  To see it, go to "Our Family Gallery", and click on the link for "Joseph Oliver Roberts and Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts".

Our family's thanks go to Rebecca for her insights and continuing research into our heritage.

Update:  William Thomas Shore.

William Thomas Shore, son of John Shore and Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore, was born in 1846 in Stark County, Illinois.  At age 16, he enlisted into the Illinois Volunteer Infantry at the start of the US Civil War.

After several battles, he was wounded at the Battle of Resaca, Georgia in May 1864, one month after his 18th birthday.  He spent eleven months in hospitals until finally mustered out of the service at the end of the war.  As many soldiers had, he suffered a severe intestinal illness that worsened through the rest of his life, and was granted a pension for it.

Our family is fortunate to have his military medical and pension records, sent into our heritage by Debbie Tasker and Rebecca Roberts.  Now we have an additional record of his pension.

To see the records, go to "Our Family Gallery", and click on the link for "William Thomas Shore and Ianthe (Talbott) Shore".

Update:  DNA Results.

New DNA test results for Joseph Roberts have been added.  They show his percentages of paternal ancestry, all from European countries.

Our family's thanks go to Rebecca for sending this document into our heritage.

Update:  Shore Family.

We have an update for our Shore family.

Alfred Thomas Shore, nephew of John Shore, came from England to America in 1858, establishing a business as a furniture maker and upholsterer.  After John Shore's death in 1861 and the outbreak of the American Civil War in that year, he returned to England and married there.

Two generations later, two grandsons served in the British army in World War I.  They fought in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) against forces of the Ottoman Empire, then allied with Germany.  One grandson, William Valentine, survived the war but the other, Alfred George, was killed in action.

We have summaries of their military records and a photograph of the memorial in Iraq, inscribed with Alfred's name.

Our family is grateful to Rebecca for her research and sending these records into our heritage.

To find them, go to "Our Family Gallery", and click on the link for "The Shore Family".  You will see a list of names at the top of the page.  Click on the link for "Alfred Thomas Shore" (John Shore's nephew).

Update:  Our Family Tree.

We have a new update to our Family Tree.

This document shows everyone in our family who has been recorded since the 1700s.

To find it, go to our main page and click on "Our Family Tree".

Note:  It is a very large document, and your Web browser might not show it clearly.

You can download the file to your desktop, and then use a regular "PDF viewer" program to view it.  A suggested program is "Adobe Reader", available as a free download on the Web.

Update:  Roberts Family.

Our page for the Roberts family is updated.

We have photos of a chocolate pot that belonged to Margaret Ann Roberts, with a letter showing how she received it when she was 12 or 13 years old.  The letter mentions inheritance of a farm.

Our family is grateful to Debra for sending these records in to our heritage.

To see them, go to "Our Family Gallery", and click on the link for "The Roberts Family".  Then on that page, scroll down to the area for "Cheryl Sue Roberts".

Update:  Roberts Family.

Jim and Jean Roberts placed flowers on the gravesite of Margaret Ann Roberts on Mothers Day.  We have new photographs of her grave.

We are grateful to Jim and Jean for sending the photographs for our heritage.

To see them, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Then click on the link for "Joseph Oliver Roberts and Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts".

Update:  Roberts Family.

Our page for the Roberts family is updated.

We have a news article reporting the award of the US Air Force Commendation Medal to Staff Sergeant James Roberts.

Several more items have been added.  

To see the page, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Then click on the link for "The Roberts Family".

Update:  Poff Family.

We have new information about our Poff family heritage.

Fred Lee Poff was born in 1901 in Floyd County, Virginia.  In 1924 he enlisted into the US Army as Joseph Roberts, and was known by that name in his marriage and family.

Our family is grateful to Logan Reed Jennings for his book, "The Poffs of Floyd County, Virginia" (published 2013) with its insights into our early family's history.

To see this new information, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Then click on the link for "Joseph Oliver Roberts and Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts".

Update:  Gaffney Family.

We have new information about our Gaffney family in Ireland.

We have a map showing the lake "Lough Sheelin" with its "Gaffney's Bay", near the town of Ross where our Gaffney family lived.

Also we have pictures of the road and countryside through Ross, going to the Gaffney home and farm where our Gaffney family lived for more than 200 years.  The roadway now is modern and paved, but the original home still stands with its stone walls, trees, and farmlands.

To see this new information, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Then click on the link for "The Gaffney Family".

Heritage Update.

Our heritage site has been updated in several areas.

New information has been added to "The Gaffney Family" page, including the Gaffney Family Tree on that page.  To see it, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Then click on the link for "The Gaffney Family".

Our "Family Ties" page is updated.  You can search this page to find each connection and relationship in our family.  On our main page, click on the link for "Quick View:  Our Family Ties".

Also, Owen Gaffney's memorial entry is updated on our "Burial Sites" page.  On our main page, click on the link for "Burial Sites".

Update:  Roberts Family DNA.

We have new DNA test results for the Roberts family.

The new material shows matching with the family names Hill, Hanson, and Weir.

To see these new records, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Joseph Oliver Roberts and Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts".

Update:  Our Family's Burial Sites.

Our family's Burial Sites page has been updated.

Jim and Jean Roberts visited the graves of Joseph and Margaret Ann Roberts, and Jesse Perry Shore, at the Fort Sam Houston Military Cemetery.  Their photographs show the graves decorated with Christmas wreaths provided by our government for our veterans.

Our family's thanks go to Jim and Jean for taking these photos and sharing them for our family.

To see the photos, go to our main page and click on the link for "Burial Sites".  Then on the "Burial Sites" page, scroll down to the section for "San Antonio, Texas,  Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery".

Update:  The Talbott Family.

Our Talbott Family page has been updated.

We have many new records for the Talbott family.  These include a ship's record from 1620, and also the family's marriage and birth records from 1673 to 1774.

We have a description of how Richard Talbott, as a Loyalist, supported King Charles I in the English civil war, and "fled to America" after his estates were confiscated by Oliver Cromwell.  He joined his uncle, Lord Baltimore, in Maryland and settled in 1649 on a tract of land there.

Our family is again grateful to Rebecca for sending these records in to our heritage.

To see them, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "The Talbott Family".

Update:  The Talbott Family.

Our Talbott Family page has been updated.

We have new records showing our connections between the Talbott and Hoshor families, going back to 1749.  These include church records and military records from the early American militias.

To see them, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "The Talbott Family".

Update:  Perry and Belle (McFarland) Talbott.

We have newspaper articles about Cicero Talbott.

He was the son of Perry and Belle (McFarland) Talbott.

Working as a hotel clerk in San Francisco, he was held up by a robber at gunpoint.  He thwarted the robbery by pressing the hotel's elevator button.

On another occasion he was arrested for homicide.

Our family's gratitude goes to Rebecca for finding these newspaper articles and sending them in to our heritage.

To see them, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott".

Update:  Gaffney Family Notes.

New photos of our Gaffney family heritage have been added to our "Odds and Ends" page.

We have new photographs showing the Gaffney family home at Ross, Ireland.  Our family lived there for more than 200 years.

To see the page:  go to our main page and click on the "Odds and Ends" link.  Then on the next page, you'll see a list of topics.  Click on the one for "Gaffney Family Notes".

Update:  Perry and Belle (McFarland) Talbott.

We have photographs of Washington Hoshor, uncle of Perry Hoshor Talbott.

He was an early settler into Nodaway County, Missouri, with a home and thousand acres just north of the Talbott family's land.

His wife was Anna Lincoln, second cousin of President Abraham Lincoln.

Our family's gratitude goes to Rebecca for finding these photographs and sending them in to our heritage.

To see them, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott".

Update:  Our Gaffney Family.

Our Gaffney Family page has been updated.

Mary Ann Molloy was the wife of Patrick Gilbert McGloin.  They were among the earliest settlers into the town of San Patricio and the south Texas area.  Our Gaffney family knew them, and their families grew together there.

Our family's gratitude goes to Rebecca Roberts for finding their marriage and sending the information in to our heritage.

To see the page, go to "Our Family Gallery".  There, click on the link for "The Gaffney Family".

Update:  William Thomas Shore.

William Thomas Shore (born 1846) is the great-grandfather to our family's current "senior" generation.  He is, of course, great-great-great-grandfather to our family's "young adult" generation.

During the American Civil War he served in the 112th Illinois Volunteers, enlisting when he was 16 years old.  After many battles, he was wounded at the battle of Resaca, Georgia when he was a month past his 18th birthday.

His unit advanced a mile across an open field, facing the rifles and cannon fire from Confederate troops who were in trenches on the high ground ahead.  The advancing Union troops were in plain view from the Confederate lines.  They also faced cannons to their left and right that "bowled them over like tenpins" according to their commander's report after the battle.

He was evacuated from the field and spent eleven months in hospitals before being mustered out of the service at the end of the war.

Now we have a map showing his unit's position as they advanced in that battle.

To see it, go to "Our Family Gallery".  On that page, click on the link for "William Thomas Shore and Ianthe (Talbott) Shore".

Solved:  Another Family Mystery.

Two photographs have been passed down through our family's generations, showing a husband and wife.  With nothing written on the photographs, we have not known who the people are.

Now we know, and our family's gratitude goes to Rebecca Roberts for solving the mystery.

To see this new information, go to our main page and click on the link for "Unsolved Mysteries".

Update:  Jesse Shore Military Records.

Jesse Shore served 30 years in the U.S. Army.  He was in combat during the 1898-1899 Spanish-American War in The Philippines, served in Arizona during the 1915-1916 Mexican border conflict, and transferred to New Jersey in 1917 to get troops ready for Europe during World War I.  He served the remainder of his military career in San Antonio, Texas where his wife and children were living.

As he was preparing to retire in 1932, he wrote out a summary of his service showing his assigments and dates.  Our family has been fortunate to have his document.  Several years ago it was scanned, and its image has been here in our heritage.

Now it has also been transcribed into plain text.  It can be found through standard Web searches.  This makes for easier matching with military records and for searching at other websites.

This can help other families who had relatives in any of Jesse Shore's organizations, to discover more about them.  It's also possible that we could hear from families who have photographs of their military relatives of those years, possibly with Jesse Shore in them.

To see this new information, go to "Our Family Gallery".  On that page, click on the link for "Jesse Shore and Anna Agnes (Gaffney) Shore".

La Fayette Cemetery:  Shore Family Graves.

We have new photos showing the Shore family graves at the La Fayette Cemetery, Stark County, Illinois.

These photos show the location of the gravesites as seen from the road.

They also show that the headstone for Sarah Amanda Shore (1842-1876) has been straightened.  In older photos, it was leaning and nearly ready to break or fall.  Now all four headstones appear secure.

To see these photos, go to our main page.  Click on the link for "Burial Sites".

Update:  John Shore and Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore.

Our records show that after John Shore died on March 7, 1861, his widow Mary Ann remarried.  She married Richard C. Baker on New Year's Day, January 1, 1862.

Now we have found information about Richard Baker.  His wife Almira had died on September 1, 1861.

By the end of 1861, both persons had lost their spouses.  Richard Baker was a widower with four children.  Mary Ann was a widow with three children, including her daughter Sarah Amanda who was in poor health.

On the first day of 1862, they married and came together into one home.

Mary Ann and Sarah Shore retained their titles to lands that became theirs in John Shore's will.

To see this new information, go to "Our Family Gallery".  On that page, click on the link for "John Shore and Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore".

Update:  Perry and Belle Talbott.

Our heritage page for Perry and Belle Talbott is updated.

We have photographs taken by Larry and Teresa Roberts on their visit to Arkoe and the Talbott Family Cemetery.

Our family's gratitude goes to Larry and Teresa for visiting these family sites and sending the photographs.

To see them, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott".

Talbott Family Cemetery.

A mystery about the Talbott Family Cemetery has been solved.

Our family is descended from the marriage of Ianthe Talbott to William Thomas Shore.  In the Talbott family cemetery, stone markers are there for Ianthe's father, her sister, and two brothers.  None has ever been found for Ianthe.  

An 1881 newspaper shows the cemetery's layout, with her grave, and reports that she was buried there in 1880.  Also, our family has a record made by her son Jesse Perry Shore, showing that she died in February of 1880.  In the cemetery, a small stone was overgrown by grass and until now, we have thought that it might be Ianthe's stone.

Her great-great-grandson Larry Roberts and his wife Teresa visited the cemetery in November 2016, and examined the stone.

The stone shows the initials, "P.H.T".  It is the footstone for the grave of Perry Hoshor Talbott.  (He also has a monument and tall column for his headstone.)  Now we know it is not Ianthe's stone.

In 1873, Ianthe was the first Talbott child to be married.  In 1880, she was the first to die and be buried in what is now the family cemetery.  It is likely that the cemetery, on the family's land, was made for her burial.  Why her grave is unmarked, with the other graves having elaborate markers, remains a mystery.

Our family's gratitude goes to Larry and Teresa Roberts for visiting the cemetery and sending the photos for our heritage.

To see this new information, go to our main page and click on "Burial Sites".  It shows the Talbott Family Cemetery and other cemeteries for our family.

Exploring the Talbott Building ... a Time Capsule.

In 1870, a new 'modern and fireproof' building was built for Doctor Perry Talbott in Maryville, Missouri.

In his new building, he edited and published his newspaper, the "Greenback Standard", until his death in 1880.  Newspaper accounts mention his widow Belle and children being there during the murder trial in 1881.

The building was then sold, no longer remaining in the family.  The downstairs level became home to a succession of new businesses.

The upstairs level was rented as an apartment, until vacated in 1970.  Then it was closed, and remained inaccessible with the removal of a back stairway.

In 2016, with the current owner's permission, the upstairs level has been opened.  Now after 46 years, it has been explored by the local historical society.

Some furniture, plumbing and electrical fixtures from the 1940s and 1950s were found -- but Doctor Talbott's original doors and woodwork remain.

Now we have photographs of the upstairs.

Our family's gratitude goes to Jennifer Gillespie, the building's owner, and to Janet Hawley, author and historian for the Talbott family, for these photographs.

To see them, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott".  Midway down the page, you'll see the link for the "Talbott Building".

Update:  Our Gaffney Family.

Our page for "The Gaffney Family" is updated.

In 1860, the regular US Federal Census was taken in all states, and a separate Slave Schedule was taken in what were then the slave states.  (The American 'Civil War' or 'The War Between the States' started in 1861.)

We have the 1860 Slave Schedule for San Patricio, Texas.  It shows "Owen O'Gaffney" having one slave.  She was a female, age 55.  (Slaves' names were not recorded.)

To see it, go to our main page and click on "Our Family Gallery".  Then click on "The Gaffney Family".

Update:  Our Gaffney Family.

Our page for "The Gaffney Family" is updated.

We have the Texas court document showing the probate of Owen Gaffney's estate, with its settlement among his heirs.

Owen Gaffney came to America from Ireland in about 1830, when he was 16 years old.  He settled in the new town of San Patricio, Texas.

Owen married Catherine Fadden.  He became a successful merchant, having a general store with an extensive inventory of goods, and owning lands with horses and cattle.  Their sons also became prominent citizens -- the county's surveyor and court judge.

Our family is descended from Owen and Catherine, and their eldest son James Owen (born 1839).

Catherine died in 1871.  Owen remarried, to Mary Geritz in 1872.

Owen died on 14 January 1879.  In his will he left the family home, store and all its merchandise to his wife Mary.  He left a good portion of money to the church.  He left his lands and livestock to be divided equally among his three sons.

The court probate began on 23 January.  At that time, his son James Owen was the County Judge.  He removed himself from the court hearings as a matter of ethics, and another judge presided.

Now we have the official court document showing the probate of the estate.  It gives a detailed list of Owen's properties with their values, and shows the distribution to the heirs.

To see the page, go to our main page and click on "Our Family Gallery".  Then click on "The Gaffney Family".

Update:  William Brandenburg Jr.

Our page for "The Brandenburg Family" is updated.

William Brandenburg Jr served as a Minuteman in the Maryland Militia, in the American Revolutionary War.  His military records show him "chasing Tories" and guarding several hundred British prisoners who had been captured.

Now, after more than 200 years, his grave has a marker honoring him for his service.  On 28 May, a Memorial Day dedication was held at his gravesite.  We have newspaper articles and photographs showing the ceremony.

Go to our main page and click on "Our Family Gallery".

Then click on "William Brandenburg Jr and Catherine (Bussard) Brandenburg".  You will find three generations on the page, so go to the part for William Brandenburg Jr.

Website Update.

Our Family Heritage site has several updates.

On Memorial Day, Jim and Jean Roberts visited some of our family's gravesites.  They left flowers in memory of them, and sent photos for our heritage.

To see them, go to "Our Family Gallery" and click on these links:

  ... "Jesse Perry Shore and Anna Agnes (Gaffney) Shore"

  ... "Ernest James Shore"

  ... "Joseph Oliver Roberts and Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts"

  ... "The Roberts Family".  On this page, click on the link for "James Jesse Roberts and Lila Jean (May) Roberts".

Our family's thanks go to Jim and Jean for sending the photos, and we are grateful for having these memorials in our heritage.

Update:  Our Gaffney Family.

Our page for "The Gaffney Family" is updated.

Hallie Ann Gaffney died on 14 May, 2016.  She was the widow of Jack Owen Gaffney, who died in 1990.  She survived him by 26 years.

Our family's gratitude goes to James Roberts, who sent in her obituary for our heritage.

To see the page, go to our main page and click on "Our Family Gallery".  Then click on "The Gaffney Family".

Website Update.

Our Family Heritage site has many updates.

All of our family's names, dates, and records have been updated.  Our heritage has everything we have received.

Ideas and suggestions are always welcome.

Update:  'Odds and Ends' Page.

Our "Odds and Ends" page is updated.

Joseph Roberts (1901-1952) was orphaned as a child.  He attended the Miami Military Institute school from 1908 until his graduation in 1920.  He boarded there, and it became his only 'home'.

The school closed during the 1930s Great Depression, then became a summer camp for a local church.

Now the school buildings have been demolished and removed.  Nothing remains on the grounds.

We have pictures of the buildings, and now we have aerial views taken before and after their demolition.

To see the page, go to our main page and click on "Odds and Ends".  You will find the article about the Miami Military Institute.

Update:  "Unsolved Mysteries" Page.

The page for our family's "Unsolved Mysteries" is updated.

One hundred years ago in March 1916, Pancho Villa and a gang of mounted horsemen raided Columbus, New Mexico.  Dozens of people were killed; businesses were looted and burned.

At that time, Jesse Shore's army unit was stationed in west Texas.  They were immediately moved to New Mexico to protect against further raids.

Our family has a photograph of him standing -- with rifle and bayonet -- in front of a looted bank building.

Now we have a newspaper, published two weeks after the raid.  It shows how the town is recovering, and it describes the US Army's pursuit of Villa into Mexico.

To see the new material, go to our main page.  Click on the link for "Unsolved Mysteries".  Then scroll down to the topic about the New Mexico raid.

The photograph, ironically marked "Pleasant Recollections", was saved by Jesse Shore.

It remained a mystery until research found where it was taken.  You can see how it was solved.

Update:  Perry Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott.

Our page for Perry and Belle Talbott is updated.

We have many new items from the lives of the Talbott children.  Perry and Belle had twelve children, and some led dramatic lives.

We have newspaper articles describing Doctor Talbott's speeches at patriotic gatherings, and at county and town meetings.  He mentions his travels in Mexico and around the United States.

Also we have a photograph of the Talbott Building constructed by Doctor Talbott south of the Maryville courthouse square, with a street celebration.

Our family's thanks go to Rebecca for sending these items for our heritage.

To see the page, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott".

Update:  Perry Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott.

Our page for Perry and Belle Talbott is updated.

We have more records about the executions of the two Talbott brothers, Albert and Charles.  Newspaper accounts describe the hangings and grisly response of the crowd during it and afterward.

One newspaper mentions a poem written by Charles in his jail cell a month before his execution.  He had just had his 17th birthday there.  We have a copy of his poem.

Our family's thanks go to Rebecca for these new items.

To see the new material, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott".

Update:  Perry Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott.

Our page for Perry and Belle Talbott is updated.

We have military records showing Perry Talbott's service as a surgeon in the Civil War.

Also we have a record of Perry and Belle's daughter Jennie's marriage to Joseph Bruce, a physician and Scotland native.

Our family's thanks go to Rebecca for finding these documents and sending them.  They enrich our knowledge and appreciation of our heritage.

To see the page, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott".

Update:  Gaffney Family.

The page for our Gaffney family is updated.

Now we have a document showing that two Gaffney brothers served as Postmaster for the town of San Patricio, Texas.

John Gaffney became Postmaster there in 1879, followed by his brother James Owen in 1883.

Gaffney family members also became the town's mayor, surveyor and assessor, county judge, editor of its first newspaper, school trustee, and served also in the U.S. Congress.

Our family's gratitude goes to Rebecca for discovering this document and sending it into our heritage.

To see the page, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "The Gaffney Family".

Update:  Photos.

Our Photos page is updated.

We have new photos of the New Kaijo building and Marunouchi area in Tokyo.

To see them, go to our main page and click on the link for "Photos".

Update:  Family Burial Sites.

The page for our family's burial sites is updated.

We have new photos showing memorial stones for our Brandenburg family at the New Carlisle Cemetery in Ohio.

Some of the stones are from the 1830s, and are now so weathered that they are almost unreadable.

To see them, go to our main page and click on the link for "Burial Sites".

Update:  Our Gaffney Family.

Our page for The Gaffney Family is updated.

Now we have the Civil War enlistment records for two brothers:  James Owen Gaffney and John Gaffney.

(Our entire family today is descended from James Owen Gaffney.)

The brothers enlisted together on May 14, 1862.  They served in the First Texas Mounted Rifles, of the First Texas Cavalry.

James Owen was 22 years of age.  John was 19.

Their enlistment papers describe both men -- height and complexion, and color of their eyes and hair.

Our family is grateful to Rebecca for discovering these records and sending them into our heritage for all to share.

To see the page, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "The Gaffney Family".

Update:  Perry Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott.

Our page for Perry and Belle Talbott is updated.

We have two newspaper articles written by Perry Talbott.  They are strongly political articles, written in 1870 and 1872 when Doctor Talbott supported the Democratic party immediately after the Civil War.

We have a newspaper article showing a patriotic speech he made in 1872.  He honors the memory of the soldiers who fell in the Civil War, on both sides, and calls for the nation to unite for the coming Presidential election.

We have another article describing their daughter Olivia Talbott spending Christmas of 1876 with the state Governer's family.

Our family's thanks go to Rebecca for discovering these articles and sending them into our heritage.

To see them, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott".

Update:  Perry Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott.

Our page for Perry and Belle Talbott is updated.

We have the 1880 probate record of Perry Talbott's will.

Doctor Perry Talbott was shot through the chest on the evening of September 18, 1880.  He dictated and signed his last will and testament that evening, and died on the afternoon of the next day.

His will was witnessed and signed by two persons who came to his home that night:  the physician who attended him, and the county judge.

It was recorded in the official probate record for Nodaway County, Missouri on October 8, 1880.

Now we have that record from the county's probate book.

To see the new material, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott".

Update:  Roberts Family Photos.

Our family's Photos page is updated.

We have a collection of 63 photographs taken in Texas, California, and Japan.  All are in color (transferred from 35mm slides).

Of these photos, 40 were sent in to our family's heritage by Cheryl several years ago.  Now an additional 23 have come from Jim.

Our family's thanks go to Cheryl and Jim for saving these photos and sending them into our heritage.  They are priceless views of the family's travels and of the children growing up.

To see them, go to the main page and click on "Photos".  Then on the Photos page, scroll about three-quarters of the way down.  Look for the collection of photos from about 1945-1955.

Update:  Jesse Perry Shore and Anna Agnes (Gaffney) Shore.

Our page for Jesse and Anna Shore is updated.

We have the 1918 and 1919 city directories for San Antonio, Texas.  They show where the Shore family lived in those years.

Jesse's occupation is shown as "U S Army".  Annie is shown as his wife.

Two teenage children are shown in the directory, working at jobs:

In 1918, their son Ernest Shore is an usher at the "Happy Hour Theatre".  He was 14 years old.

In 1919, their daughter Louise is working at the "Happy Hour Theatre", but her job is not shown.  She was 12 years old.

To see the new material, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Jesse Perry Shore and Anna Agnes (Gaffney) Shore".

Update:  Roberts Family's Return from Japan.

Our page for Joseph and Ann Roberts is updated.

Ann and the children had traveled from the USA to Japan in December 1951.  The family had finally come together again after a separation of a year and a half.  Then seven months later the father Joseph died.  In the week of Ann's birthday, she began packing trunks, suitcases and footlockers.  She and the children then sailed back to the United States.

We have a photograph of the ship that brought them back, with records of the family on board.

To see the new material, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Joseph Oliver Roberts and Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts".

Update:  William Thomas Shore and Ianthe (Talbott) Shore.

Our page for William Thomas Shore and Ianthe (Talbott) Shore is updated.

We have a new photograph of the Resaca battlefield, taken after the battle in 1864.  It shows some of the Confederate positions on high ground overlooking the fields where the Union soldiers advanced against them.

Also we have a new map showing the area on the battlefield where William Shore's unit made their advance.

The Confederate battle report called the Union advance over the open field "a harvest for our rifles".  Also the Confederate artillery opened on the Union soldiers from their direct front and right flank.

William Shore was then one month past his 18th birthday.  Wounded in the advance, he was taken to hospitals in Chattanooga and Knoxville.  He remained in hospitals until being mustered out of service at the end of the war in 1865.

To see the new material, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "William Thomas Shore and Ianthe (Talbott) Shore".

Update:  Our Family's Birthdays.

Our page showing our family's birthdays is updated.

To see it, go to our main page and click on "Birthdays".

Update:  Burial Sites.

The page showing our family's burial sites is updated.

We have a military record showing the interment of Jesse Perry Shore at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas in 1950.  It gives some more information about his military career.

To see the new material, go to our main page.  Click on the "Burial Sites" link.

Update:  Joseph Roberts and Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts.

Our page for Joseph and Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts is updated.

We have photographs of the ship that took the family to Panama in 1940.  One photograph shows the ship in the Panama Canal.

After a separation of a year and a half, the family joined their father who had been stationed there.

The page also shows a telegram sent from the father in Panama to the family aboard the ship, looking forward to meet them.

The page also has copies of the ship's newspaper with reports of world news in October 1940, and it describes some shipboard events.

At the family's arrival they would be together for eleven months, before again being separated upon the United States' entry into World War II.

To see the new material, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Joseph Oliver Roberts and Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts".

Update:  Joseph Roberts and Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts.

Our page for Joseph and Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts is updated.

We have pages from city directories showing the family's addresses.

In 1934 they are living in San Antonio, Texas at the home of Ann's parents.  They are newly married, with one child.

In 1949 they are living in Riverside, California.  They have four children.

In 1954 Margaret is living in San Antonio, Texas.  She is a widow with three children.

To see the new material, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Joseph Oliver Roberts and Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts".

Update:  Carl Kollenberg and Jessie (Shore) Kollenberg.

Our page for Carl and Jessie (Shore) Kollenberg is updated.

We have two pages from the 1934 edition of the San Antonio City Directory.

They show Carl and Jessie in the year before they were married.  They are living with their parents, miles apart in separate parts of the city.  It is not known how they met.

To see the new material, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Carl Joseph Kollenberg and Jessie Kathryn (Shore) Kollenberg".

Update:  Perry Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott.

Our page for Perry Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott is updated.

We have a newspaper headline from Doctor Talbott's "Greenback Standard" newspaper.

He is reporting on his famous "War Whoop" speech:

   ... "The Biggest Speech Ever Made on the American Continent."

   ... "Three and a Half Hours of Solid Greenback Chain Shot Lightning."

and

   ... "No Living Man Can Answer the Arguments."

To see the page, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott".

Update:  Jesse Shore and Anna (Gaffney) Shore.

Our page for Jesse and Anna Shore is updated.

We have two more photographs from The Philippines where Jesse Shore served in the Spanish-American War.

They show soldiers disembarking from their ship after landing, and setting up a camp.

To see the new material, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Jesse Perry Shore and Anna Agnes (Gaffney) Shore".

Update:  Jesse Shore and Anna (Gaffney) Shore.

Our page for Jesse and Anna Shore is updated.

We have more images of The Philippines where Jesse Shore served during the Spanish-American War.

He saved photographs of him and his fellow soldiers, armed and on patrol ("on a scout", as he called it), taken in 1900.  Now we have his original photographs matched with modern views of the same place.  They show a church, still there, and a village square.

To see the new material, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Jesse Perry Shore and Anna Agnes (Gaffney) Shore".

Update:  Perry Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott.

New items have been added to our page for Perry Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott.

We have some more newspaper articles about the family.

To see the page, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott".

Update:  Perry Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott.

Our page for Perry Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott is updated.

We have an aerial photograph of the town of Arkoe.  It was taken from a low-flying airplane in 1950.

The town was founded in 1874 by Perry Talbott and Scott Snively on lands they owned.  The aerial photograph shows the town in October 1950.  Some of the Talbott lands were just north and east of the town (to the left, as shown in the photo).

Our family's gratitude goes to Janet Hawley, who discovered the image in a historical collection and sent it in for our heritage.

To see it, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott".

Family Heritage DVD.

Our Family Heritage DVD is now going out in the mail.

It is going to all active members of our family for whom we have addresses.

The DVD is a mirror image of this family heritage website.  With it, you can see all of our family's records and pictures without having to go online.

The DVD preserves your family heritage for future generations, long after this website is gone.

In past years, several CDs went to our family.  Today our heritage has grown too large to fit on a CD, so now it is on a DVD.

Note:  Your DVD contains everything that is on the earlier CDs, and more.  Also, it has corrections for errors that developed while our heritage was being found.  Therefore you should not keep any earlier CDs.  Discard them when you get your new DVD.  That will prevent any possible confusion in future generations, years from now.

For answers to any questions, please use the "Contact" link on this web site.

Our family's gratitude goes to all who have helped, in so many ways, to discover and preserve our heritage.

Update:  Perry Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott.

Our page for Perry Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott is updated.

It shows a new book, "Where in the World is Arkoe Missouri?", by Susan Cronk.

The book describes the lives of the area's early settlers, and shows the town's founding by Perry Talbott and Scott Snively on lands they owned.  It shows how the community has grown through the years.  A chapter is devoted to Doctor Talbott and his family.

This new work joins another book that has been on our heritage page for several years:  "The Murder of Dr. Talbott", by Janet Hawley.  It describes the doctor's murder, and the trial and execution of his two sons, with the impact felt in the news accounts.

Both books are fully illustrated and indexed.  They give insight into those times in our family's life.

To see the new material, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott".

Update:  Hoshor Family.

Our page for the Talbott family is updated, showing our connection with the Hoshor family.

William Wallace Talbott married Elizabeth Hoshor in about 1825.  Their son Perry Hoshor Talbott married Isabella McFarland in 1854, and a generation later in 1873, Ianthe Talbott married William Thomas Shore.  Our family comes from these marriages.

Now we can trace our Hoshor family back to their arrival in America in 1749.

We can see the family making homes in several states and growing into their new generations.  (There is even a second-cousin connection to Abraham Lincoln.)

One note mentions how their earliest homes were not log cabins, but were like Indian "hoop huts".  Log cabins needed more help than was available to the family in those sparsely settled places.

They made a dam of "brush thrown across the river & rocks on the brush", built a grist mill, and ground corn.

Our family's gratitude goes to Janet Hawley, who found the Hoshor family letters and documents and sent this new information in for our heritage.

To see the new materials, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "The Talbott Family".

Update:  William Thomas Shore.

Our page for William Thomas Shore and Ianthe (Talbott) Shore is updated.

In May 1864 William Thomas Shore was wounded at the Battle of Resaca, Georgia.  He spent eleven months in hospitals at Chattanooga and Knoxville before being mustered out of service at the end of the war.

Now we have a map showing his unit's position where they started their advance against the Confederate lines.  This is the first time we have seen the battlefield position in close detail.

They advanced across an open field, through a muddy creek, against the Confederate artillery and infantry who fired on them from trenches and barricades on the wooded hills ahead.

To see the new material, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "William Thomas Shore and Ianthe (Talbott) Shore".

A Mystery Solved.

Another of our family's mysteries has been solved.

Jesse Perry Shore (1877-1950) served a full career in the US Army.  His assignments took him to The Philippines, West Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and New Jersey before his final assignment and retirement in San Antonio, Texas.

For many years he saved a photograph of two armed soldiers and a policeman guarding a bank building that has been damaged.  He is one of the soldiers.

Now we know what the photograph shows.  He was standing on guard there following Pancho Villa's raid into New Mexico in 1916.

To see it, go to our "Unsolved Mysteries" page.  A link there will show you how the mystery was solved.

Update:  Shore Family.

Our page for the Shore Family is updated.

We have photographs of the Marketplace in Westbury, England where Thomas and Mary Shore lived in the 1850s and 1860s.

They had their cabinet-making shop at the Marketplace, and lived with their children in the room upstairs.  The building is still there and nearly unchanged.

Our family has letters from Mary Shore to Thomas's brother John Shore, written after he had left England for America.  She described the family's life, and now we can see where they lived.

To see the new material, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "The Shore Family".

Update:  Gaffney Family.

Our page for the Gaffney Family is updated.

We have a document that mentions James O'Reilly coming from Ireland to Texas in 1826.

Also we have records showing land transactions between the O'Reilly family and several other families in Bee County, Texas.

Our family is descended from the marriage of James Owen Gaffney and Margaret O'Reilly in 1869.  They were married in the home of Hugh J. O'Reilly on the Aransas River in Bee County.

To see the new material, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "The Gaffney Family".

Update:  Jesse Shore and Anna (Gaffney) Shore.

Our page for Jesse and Anna Shore is updated.

We have images of a holy book that belonged to Anna (1872-1946).  Printed in 1883, it might have also belonged to her parents James Owen Gaffney (1839-1912) and Margaret (O'Reilly) Gaffney (1850-1896).

Also we have images of a 1927 Novena sacrament at St. Gerard's in San Antonio.  It was probably attended by Anna, and she saved its dedication and prayers.

Our family's gratitude goes to Tom Green, who discovered these treasures and sent them for our family's heritage.

To see the new material, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Jesse Perry Shore and Anna Agnes (Gaffney) Shore".

Update:  Gaffney Family.

Our page for the Gaffney Family is updated.

We have records showing land transactions between the Gaffney, Fadden, and Molloy families in several Texas counties.

Our family today is directly related to those three families.

To see the new material, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "The Gaffney Family".

Update:  Family Photos.

Our Photos page has a new collection.

We have an album of 37 photographs and cards from the Green, Kollenberg, Roberts, and Shore families.  Many are here for the first time.

To see them:  go to our main page, and click on the link for "Photos".

The years are shown on the right side of the page.  Scroll down about two-thirds on the page.  You'll see the entry called:  "Family Pictures", with the date "1944 and later".

Update:  Jesse Perry Shore and Anna Agnes (Gaffney) Shore.

Our page for Jesse and Anna Shore is updated.

We have photographs from a village in The Philippines where Jesse fought in the Spanish-American War.  They show its church, now restored, where it stood in one of his photographs from 1900.

Also we have his commanding officer's battle report.  It details the military engagements of February 1900 that Jesse had mentioned in his correspondence from The Philippines.

To see the new material, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Jesse Perry Shore and Anna Agnes (Gaffney) Shore".

Newspaper Articles about Perry Talbott.

Our page for Perry and Belle (McFarland) Talbott is updated.

We have newspaper articles from the 1870s about Doctor Talbott.  They describe his travels, public appearances, views, and speeches.

One article is written by him, describing his results from the many varieties of wheat he has planted and tested to aid other farmers.  Others describe a new building he is constructing, his medical practice, and the start of his own newspaper.  Another mentions how two of his young children, a son and a daughter, left from their home to explore the country and were found miles away.

To see the new material:  on our main page, click on the link for "Our Family Gallery".  Then go to the page for "Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott".

Update:  Marshall Winn and Louisa Cedelia (Shore) Winn.

Our page for Marshall and Louisa Cedelia (Shore) Winn has been updated.

We have pages from the city directories for Peoria, Illinois for the years 1927 and 1928.

Louisa is a daughter of John and Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore.  She and her husband Marshall took their little nephew Jesse Shore into their home on the death of his mother in 1880.  Jesse was just two years and ten months of age.

She kept a correspondence with him as he grew to an adult, served a career in the Army, and married and raised his own family.  Many of the early letters, photographs and records we now have must have been passed on to him from his aunt Louisa.

In her later years before her death in 1931, she lived with her son Edgar and his wife Wilhelmina ('Minnie') Winn in their home in Peoria, Illinois.

The 1927 and 1928 city directories show their home address.  They show also that Edgar and Minnie were both working to support their home with Louisa.

To see the new material, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Marshall Winn and Louisa Cedelia (Shore) Winn".

Update:  Burial Sites.

Our family's 'Burial Sites' page has been updated.

New photographs have been added for the grave of Isabella (Belle) Talbott in Rice County, Minnesota.

To see the new material, go to our main page and click on the link for "Burial Sites".

Founding of White Cloud Township and Arkoe, Missouri.

Our page for Perry and Belle (McFarland) Talbott has been updated.

We have a 1910 description of the founding of White Cloud Township and the town of Arkoe in Nodaway County, Missouri.

In 1874 Perry Talbott, with Scott Snively, laid out the town of Arkoe on his land in White Cloud Township.  Doctor Talbott named the streets for his family: 'Talbot' street, 'Belle' street (for his wife Belle), and 'Olive' street (for their first child Olivia, who was called 'Olive' in their home).

Our family is descended from their daughter Ianthe.  She was born about 1856 in the family's home on their lands in White Cloud Township, before the town was laid out.

To see the new material, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott".

Perry Talbott's Will.

We have the text of Dr. Perry Talbott's last will and testament.

Perry Talbott was shot through the chest in the evening of September 18, 1880 and the wound was determined to be fatal.  Although in great pain, he dictated his last will and testament that night.  He died in the afternoon of the next day.

He left his estate to his wife Belle and their children, naming his wife as executrix.  We have the text of the will.

To see it, go to "Our Family Gallery", and click on the link for "Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott".

Marriage License:  Belle Talbott to Phillip Rilley.

Our page for Perry and Belle (McFarland) Talbott has been updated.

Now we have the marriage license for Belle's final marriage.

Belle was widowed in 1880 by the murder of her husband Perry Talbott.  She had ten living children; two of her other children had died earlier in that year.

She remarried in 1888 to Robert McClellan Draper, and was widowed again on his death in 1894.

In 1896 she married again:  her third husband is Phillip Rilley.  They were married in Steele County, Minnesota on 2 January.  Now we have their marriage application, license, and certificate of the ceremony signed by a Justice of the Peace.

Curiously, the bride did not need to sign the marriage documents then, in that state.

This new record clears a mystery about her married name:  it's "Rilley", shown in the groom's signature.  Her name has been in error on federal census and city records.  Sadly, it is even misspelled in two different ways on her 1910 death certificate and her cemetery memorial stone.

Our family's appreciation goes to Rebecca for her dedication in solving a family mystery with this discovery.

To see the new material, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott".

Update:  Albertus Arthur Shore and Sallie (Brady) Shore.

New photographs are on our page for Albertus and Sallie (Brady) Shore and their daughter Edna Shore.

Now for the first time, we have pictures of Edna.  We see her both as a child and as a grown woman.

Also, now we can see Sallie in later years with her Brady family after Albertus Shore died.

Albertus and Sallie were aunt and uncle to Louise (Shore) Green, Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts, and Jessie (Shore) Kollenberg.  Edna Shore was their first cousin.

No photographs or records were found in our family showing that the cousins ever had contact or knew of each other.  Now for the first time we can see them.

Our family's gratitude goes to Rebecca:  she found a Brady family descendant, got these pictures and sent them for our heritage.

To see them, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Then click on the link for "Albertus Arthur Shore and Sarah Susanna (Brady) Shore".

Update:  Perry and Belle (McFarland) Talbott.

Our page for Perry and Belle (McFarland) Talbott has been updated.

Now we have early records showing Perry Talbott and Belle McFarland as children living with their parents.

Records from 1840 and 1850 show them in their parents' homes in two Ohio counties.  Later they met and were married in 1854.

Perry's parents are William Wallace Talbott and Elizabeth (Hoshor) Talbott.  Belle's parents are Andrew McFarland and Margaret (Castor) McFarland.

Also we have photographs from the Shiloh battlefield, showing areas where Perry Talbott served as surgeon with the Missouri volunteers.

To see this new material, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the link for "Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott".

William Thomas Shore's farm.

We have a record for William Thomas Shore's farm.

It's an 1870 Illinois report showing the acreage, crops and livestock on the state's farmlands.

This is the farm where William Thomas Shore and his first wife Cora lived, before her death in 1871.  Their land is next to where William's mother and Cora's parents lived.

William is the farm's "Agent, Owner or Manager".  He has 80 acres worth $4000, and $75 worth of farm implements.  He has 3 horses, 2 "milch cows", 1 "other cattle", and 8 "swine", total value $339.

He has 130 bushels of "spring wheat", 500 bushels of "Indian corn", and 460 bushels of oats.

He has 20 bushels of Irish potatoes, $25 worth of "orchard products", and 200 pounds of butter.

He also has produced $90 worth of "animals slaughtered or sold for slaughter".

Our family's thanks go to Rebecca for finding the record and sending it for our heritage.

For the complete record, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Then click on the link for "William Thomas Shore and Ianthe (Talbott) Shore".

Update:  Shore and Winn Families.

Many new items have been added to our heritage.

We have new information about the life of our Shore family relatives in England.  We have the 1827 baptism record for James Shore, and records showing his address in London.  Also we have the 1911 census record showing Samuel Shore and his wife Elizabeth in their retirement, including their address in Trowbridge, Wiltshire County.

We have a record for William Thomas Shore (John Shore's nephew), who served as a soldier in India, Ireland, and Canada.  It shows him in March 1857 in a Chelsea military hospital.  He died and was buried in December of that year, at 36 years of age.

The page for Marshall Winn and Louisa Cedelia (Shore) Winn has new information about their son Edgar Winn, with their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Our family's thanks go to Rebecca for discovering these new items and sending them for our heritage.

To see them, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Click on the links for "The Shore Family" and "Marshall Winn and Louisa Cedelia (Shore) Winn".

Update:  The Gaffney Family.

Our page for "The Gaffney Family" is updated with many new photos and documents.

Now we have birth and death records and photographs for brothers of Anna (Gaffney) Shore and their families.

Our family's gratitude goes to Rebecca for her dedication in searching the family's history, and for enriching our heritage.

Also we have the signed records of oaths of office and cash bonds made by Gaffney relatives when they served as assessor, surveyor, treasurer, and court clerk in Texas counties from the 1860s onward.

Now you can find all of these on our page for "The Gaffney Family".

Go to "Our Family Gallery", then click on the link for "The Gaffney Family".

Update:  Albertus Arthur Shore and Sallie (Brady) Shore.

For years, our "Unsolved Mysteries" page has had a photograph of a young man.  The portrait was saved by Jesse Perry Shore (1877-1950), but it had no writing to identify it.

Last week, Rebecca discovered a photograph showing the wedding party for Albertus Shore and Sarah Susanna Brady, dated September 23, 1908.  He is the same man as in the portrait that was saved by Jesse, his brother.

Now for the first time we know what Albertus looked like -- and his bride Sarah Susanna too.  (She went by her nickname "Sallie".)

Our family's thanks go to Rebecca for her research in finding the new photo and solving a family mystery.

Both photos have been moved to "Our Family Gallery".

To see them, go to "Our Family Gallery" and click on the link for "Albertus Arthur Shore and Sarah Susanna (Brady) Shore".

Web Site Updates.

These pages have been updated:

The Shore Family
John Shore and Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore
William Thomas Shore and Ianthe (Talbott) Shore
Jesse Perry Shore and Anna Agnes (Gaffney) Shore
Ernest James Shore
Carl Joseph Kollenberg and Jessie Kathryn (Shore) Kollenberg
Marshall Winn and Louisa Cedelia (Shore) Winn

Go to "Our Family Gallery", then click on the links for those pages.

Our "Burial Sites" page has also been updated.

Web Site Updates.

Several updates have been posted to our family heritage site.

The page for "William Thomas Shore and Ianthe (Talbott) Shore" in our Family Gallery has been updated.  It has a new image of the 1880 U.S. Federal Census for La Fayette, Illinois.  The census shows Alice Talbott, age 19, living as 'housekeeper' in the McClenahan family home.  She had gone to La Fayette to be with her sister Ianthe (Talbott) Shore.  Ianthe died in February of that year.  Afterward Alice, without other family in the town, married the head of the household, George McClenahan who was 27 years her senior.

Our "Odds and Ends" page has been updated with new photographs of cadet life at the Miami Military Institute in Ohio.  Joseph Roberts (1901-1952) was orphaned and attended there from 1908 to 1922.  In later years he recalled it as the only 'home' he knew as a young child to early adulthood.  The photographs show cadets in activities at the school.

The page for our "Burial Sites" has been updated with a photo of the Himes Cemetery's memorial stone.  William Thomas Shore's first wife, Cora Mary Shore, and their two children are buried there.  Cora died at age 18, two weeks after childbirth.  The cemetery memorial has the Shore family's ages incorrect, but our page has burial records showing their right ages.

Update:  Brandenburg Family.

An update has been added to our page for the Brandenburg family.

During the 1870s and 1880s the Brandenburg family in America pursued their claim to estates in Prussia.  According to family correspondence, those estates had been confiscated from the family many years earlier by the Crown in a religious dispute, and would now be restored to them upon application.  The family retained lawyers in America and Germany to press the claim, but were not successful.

The Brandenburg family held a meeting in Dayton, Ohio to discuss the claim, at which many family members attended.

The family also pursued a claim to an estate in Baltimore, Maryland which apparently had a lease that was ready to expire.

The family's page has been updated and several photographs added.

To see the page:  Go to "Our Family Gallery".  Then click on the link for "The Brandenburg Family".

Update:  Albertus Arthur Shore and Sallie (Brady) Shore.

An update has been added to our family's page for Albertus and Sallie Shore.

We have a copy of Albertus's Draft Registration for World War I.  He registered for military service in September 1918.  The war ended at the signing of the Armistice in November, and he did not serve in the military.

To see the page:  Go to "Our Family Gallery".  Then click on the link for "Albertus Arthur Shore and Sarah Susanna (Brady) Shore".

Update:  William Thomas Shore.

An update has been added to our page for William Thomas and Ianthe (Talbott) Shore.

We have a record showing the medical pension William received for his Civil War service.

William enlisted into the 112th Regiment of Illinois Volunteers in February 1863.  He was sixteen years and ten months of age.

In May 1864, one month after his eighteenth birthday, he was wounded at the Battle of Resaca, Georgia.

He spent eleven months in hospitals until being mustered out of service at the war's end.  In addition to his wound, he had contracted an intestinal illness.  In 1890 Congress passed a law granting pensions for veterans who had lingering medical conditions from the war, and William received a pension of six dollars per month.  In 1898, with his disability worsened, his pension was increased to eight dollars a month, but he died before collecting it.

Our family's gratitude goes to Rebecca Roberts for sending the record for our heritage.  It adds to William Thomas Shore's full medical and pension records (24 pages) that were researched and sent by Cheryl Graves some years ago.

To see the page:  Go to "Our Family Gallery".  Then click on the link for "William Thomas Shore and Ianthe (Talbott) Shore".

Update:  Ernest James Shore.

An update has been added to our family's page for Ernest James Shore.

Now we have the application for his headstone marker.  Ernest died on September 8, 1954 and is buried at San Fernando Cemetery, San Antonio, Texas.

The application is for a military veteran's marker.

It shows a wealth of information:  his dates of birth, death, military service enlistment and discharge, and it includes his rank and the unit in which he served.

The application is signed by Ernest's brother-in-law, Carl Kollenberg.  We do not know why Carl was chosen to sign, as Ernest had three sisters living:  Louise (Shore) Green, Margaret (Shore) Roberts, and Jessie (Shore) Kollenberg.  Perhaps he signed it as the eldest male relative in a custom of that time.

To see the page:  Go to "Our Family Gallery".  Then click on the link for "Ernest James Shore".

Update:  Sallie (Brady) Shore and Edna Ianthe Shore.

An update has been added to our page for Albertus and Sallie (Brady) Shore.

We have the 1930 and 1940 US Federal Census records.

Sallie was widowed in 1928 on the death of her husband Albertus Shore.  The 1930 census shows her living alone as a lodger in Kansas City, Missouri.  Edna has so far not been found in 1930.

In 1940 Sallie and Edna are living together in Kansas City, Missouri.

To see the page:  Go to "Our Family Gallery".  Then click on the link for "Albertus Shore and Sarah Susanna (Brady) Shore".

Update:  Perry and Belle Talbott.

An update has been added to our family's page for Perry and Belle (McFarland) Talbott.

Now the page shows the book, "The Murder of Dr. Talbott", by Janet Hawley.

That book is the definitive resource on that historical and controversial subject.  It gives the newspaper accounts just as they happened, day by day.

The newspapers describe the arrests, intrigues and interviews, the trial and jury's verdict, conflicting 'confessions', appeals to the supreme court and the governor's actions.  Included is Belle's passionate farewell to her sons; then come the hangings and crowd reactions, and the lingering feelings.

The book is fully indexed with the names of persons in our family.

To see the page, go to "Our Family Gallery" and click on on the link for "Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott."

Update:  Thomas and Mary Shore Home and Shop.

An update has been added to our Shore Family page.

We have an old photograph showing the home and shop of Thomas and Mary Shore.  It shows the Westbury Marketplace in Wiltshire, England.

This is where they lived and raised their family (probably upstairs).  They also had their cabinet-making business, probably downstairs on the street level.

The photograph is undated but appears to be old.  It is shown together with a modern photo of the same area, for comparison.

The Shore family's home and shop are just to the right of the Town Hall, near the center of each photo.

To see the page for the Shore family:  Go to "Our Family Gallery".

In "Our Family Gallery", click on the link for "The Shore Family".  Then click on "Thomas and Mary (Haines) Shore".

Update:  Family Burial Sites.

An update has been added to our family's Burial Sites page.

The record for Cora Mary Shore has been corrected.

Cora Mary Shore was the child of William Thomas Shore with his first wife, also named Cora Mary.

William Thomas Shore married Cora Mary Dick on 16 September 1868 in Stark County, Illinois.

He was 22 years of age.  She was 15.

Their daughter was born on August 17, 1871.  The mother died on September 2, possibly of childbirth complications.

She was then just 18 years of age.

The baby was given the same name as her mother:  Cora Mary.

After the mother's death, the infant was raised by her aunt, Louisa Cedelia (Shore) Winn -- the father's sister.

The little child did not live to her second birthday:   she died on July 1, 1873.

Seven years later, Louisa Cedelia (Shore) Winn would also raise another child, Jesse Perry Shore, after the death of William Thomas Shore's second wife Ianthe (Talbott) Shore.

Now our Family Burial Sites page has been updated to correct the record for Cora Mary Shore.

To see the page, go to our main page and click on "Burial Sites".

Update:  Gaffney Family.

An update has been added to our Gaffney Family page.

The previous page had an error:   'Patrick' O'Reilly.  The correct name is Philip O'Reilly, and the page has been updated.

Philip O'Reilly (d.1874) married Margaret (maiden name unknown, d.1875).  Their daughter Margaret T. O'Reilly married James Owen Gaffney.

Philip O'Reilly is the maternal great-great-grandfather of our family's "senior" generation today.

Our family's thanks go to Rebecca Roberts for spotting the error and sending in the correction.

To see the page for the Gaffney family:  click on "Our Family Gallery", and then click on the link for "The Gaffney Family".

Family Heritage Disk.

A new Family Heritage Disk is being sent to our family.

The new disk has our complete Family Heritage web site pages, including all updates as of September 1, 2012.

The new disk is a DVD.  (Our heritage now is too large to fit on a CD.)  You should be able to view it on any modern computer that has a DVD drive.

If you want a copy and did not receive one, please send an e-mail to the address at our Family Heritage web site.

Web Site Update.

A major update has been added to our family heritage site.

We received many new items from Carl Thomas Green, and all are now in our heritage pages.

Tom is the son of Mary Louise (Shore) Green, and grandson of Jesse Perry Shore and Anna (Gaffney) Shore.  He received many items from his mother, who had inherited them from her parents, and they go back to a generation before them.

The new items include photographs, books, a Bible, and letters.

The items are from several branches of our family and are too numerous to list here.  You can find them in "Our Family Gallery" pages.

Elizabeth (Gorner) Brandenburg.

We have photographs of the gravesite and monument of Elizabeth (Gorner) Brandenburg (1771-1869).  She rests at the Hopewell Church in Lagro, Indiana.

From the monument's inscription, now we see when Elizabeth (Gorner) Brandenburg was born, and where she lived and died.  She is the aunt of Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore, our direct ancestor.  Separately in our heritage, we have a letter written by Mary Ann describing her visit to her aunt and uncle.

Our thanks go to Shelly Grachis, who took the photographs and sent them in to our heritage.

Shelly is Elizabeth's Great-great-great-great-granddaughter.  Six generations on, it is heartwarming to meet a person who is discovering, learning and caring about our mutual heritage.

To see the photographs, go to  'Our Family Gallery'.  Then click on the link for 'The Brandenburg Family'.

Civil War Powder Horn.

We have a photo of a Civil War infantryman's powder horn.

It belonged to William Thomas Shore (1846-1898), who served in the 112th Illinois Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War.

It was saved by his son Jesse Perry Shore (1877-1950), then passed down to his daughter Mary Louise (Shore) Green (1907-1990), and to her son Carl Thomas Green.  Our family's thanks go to Tom for sending the photo.

To see it, go to 'Our Family Gallery'.  Then click on the link for 'William Thomas Shore and Ianthe (Talbott) Shore'.

Resaca Battle Report.

We have the official report of General Jacob Cox, commanding general of the U.S. 23rd Army Corps at the Battle of Resaca, 1864.

Also we have his memoirs, published after the war.

Cox's report describes how the U.S. troops "suffered very severely" as they advanced across the open field against heavy fire from the Confederate rifles and artillery.  They were being fired upon by rifles and cannons from the Confederate trenches on the high ground at their front, and also by cannon fire across the valley at their right flank.

Cox recalls that as the U.S troops crossed the field "we saw them under the enemy's cannonade, the balls here and there bowling them over like tenpins."

Cox reports that "... bayonets were fixed, and the whole command charged the hill and carried the line of rifle-pits on the crest, driving the enemy back upon a second line some 250 yards from the first".

Cox continues, "Our men dropped fast as we went forward, but the line was carried and the Confederates broke from the next ridge in rear, some two hundred yards away."

It was a fierce battle.

... A Confederate report called the troops of William's unit advancing toward them across the open field: "a harvest for our rifles".

Our ancestor William Thomas Shore was wounded in that battle.  He had his eighteenth birthday a month before.

To see the report, go to  'Our Family Gallery'.  Then click on the link for 'William Thomas Shore and Ianthe (Talbott) Shore'.

Update:  Sarah (Brady) Shore (1871-1952).

Sarah Susanna Brady married Albertus Shore in 1908.  They had one daughter, Edna Ianthe Shore.

Sarah was better known as "Sallie".  She died on 24 May 1952 in Chicago, Illinois.  Now we have her death notice published in the Chicago newspaper.

In addition to showing her daughter Edna's name, it gives the names of Sallie's surviving relatives in the Brady and Bayless families.

Probably all of Sallie's records from the Shore family went to her daughter Edna Shore, who never married.  After Edna's death in 1984, the records may have gone to a surviving relative.  The newspaper column furnishes some possible leads for finding more about our Shore family.

To see it, go to 'Our Family Gallery'.  Then click on the link for 'Albertus Arthur Shore and Sarah Susanna (Brady) Shore'.

Heritage Updates.

Many new items have gone into our Family Heritage this month.

There are too many to list here.  Most are in 'Our Family Gallery' pages.  Others have gone into the 'Odds and Ends' page.

Some new items are from the 1940 US Federal Census, released to the public this month.  Our family's thanks go to Jim Roberts for his searching the records and finding our family.  Now we can see better how our family lived in those times.

A good place to start is in  'Our Family Gallery'.

School Census:  Joseph Roberts (1910 and 1920).

Joseph Roberts (1901-1952) was orphaned on the death of his mother (1907) and father (1909).

As a child and young man from 1908 to 1920 he lived in the school dormitory at Miami Military Institute, Germantown, Ohio.  A family story related by his wife, Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts (1910-2004) was that he remembered many times being alone in the dormitory after other students had gone home for holidays.

So far we have not been able to find anything about his life there, but we have found some school information in the 1910 and 1920 U.S. Federal Census.  The census lists the school's faculty and staff, but apparently the students were not counted.

Now the school's census records are included to help in future research.  To see them, go to 'Our Family Gallery'.  Then click on the link for 'Joseph Oliver Roberts and Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts'.

Thomas Shore in England -- Business Loss and Recovery.

We have new information about Thomas Shore, brother of John Shore.

John Shore came from England to America in 1832.  He was unmarried.

His married brother Thomas and Mary Shore and their children remained in England.

After coming to America, John Shore began a successful trade as a cabinet-maker ("wood joiner") in La Fayette, Stark County, Illinois.

It was a family trade.  His brother Thomas had the same trade in Westbury, Wiltshire County, England.  It maintained across several generations.

We have letters to John Shore in America from his brother Thomas Shore in England.  They describe the family's life there.  During the 1850s life had become difficult in England.  Crops had failed and business had suffered for several years.

 ... The 'Potato Famine', widely reported about Ireland, also killed crops in western England.

John Shore in Illinois sent money to his brother in England to buy ship's passage to come to America.  A nephew Alfred Shore came (1858), but John Shore's brother Thomas and the rest of the family remained in England.

We do not know why John Shore's brother and his family did not come to America when they received the funds.

Possibly too much was happening in the family.  Several children were becoming of age and were developing new lives of their own.  Their first son, William -- a soldier who described desperate military battles in a letter in our Heritage -- had died in 1857 at age 36 and had been buried in Westbury.

It is clear that the family's English ties were still close.  Leaving childrens' families behind to come to America would not have been easy.

In 1858 Thomas's business in Westbury failed.  He moved his family from their home and shop at the Market Place in Westbury into a public house (the 'Ludlow Arms', still there today).  He received a court judgement for relief of debts.

By 1860 he had restored his shop and returned his family to their home at the Market Place.  Before his death in 1869 he turned the business over to his son James who managed it successfully for many years, caring for his widowed mother.

Now we have articles from the London Gazette describing the court hearings for Thomas Shore in 1858.  Also we have a photograph of the public house where he and his family had lived temporarily.

To see the new materials, go to 'Our Family Gallery' and click on the link for 'The Shore Family'.  You'll see the link for 'Thomas and Mary (Haines) Shore'.

Obituary:  Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore-Baker.

The obituary for Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore-Baker was published in the Stark County, Illinois newspaper in 1892.

Now we have the full text of that article, showing the name of the church in which her funeral was held.

She is the Great-great-great grandmother of our family's 'young adult' generation today.

To see the article, go to 'Our Family Gallery'.  On that page, click on the link for 'John Shore and Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore'.

Alfred Thomas Shore -- Return to England.

We have new information about Alfred Thomas Shore, nephew of John Shore.

John Shore in Illinois had sent money to his family in England to help them purchase sea passage to America.  His nephew Alfred Thomas Shore sailed to America on the ship "Calhoun" in 1858.  He was 23 years of age.

By 1860 Alfred was living in Chicago, later moving to Iowa and setting up a cabinet and upholstery shop.  He wrote a touching poem "The Evergreen" to his cousin, Louisa Cedelia Shore in Illinois.

After that, no more records were found for him in America.  Now we see why.

Alfred arrived in the years leading up to the American Civil War.  With the United States in its Civil War (1861-1865), and Alfred not yet a citizen, he could not serve; yet the cabinet-making and upholstery business must have suffered from the disruption of families and homes caused by the war.  He returned to England in about 1864.

Now we have found his marriage record and the birth records for his children in England.  Alfred, with his sons and daughters, continued in the family tradition of woodworking.  By 1911 he is living in London as a "Dealer in Antique Furniture".

To see the new records, go to 'Our Family Gallery' and click on the link for 'The Shore Family'.  Then you'll see the link for 'Alfred Thomas Shore'.

A Ship's Mutiny.

Alfred Thomas Shore sailed from England to America on the ship "Calhoun", landing at New York on 18 May 1858.  He was 23 years of age.

We don't know what his voyage was like, but there's a record of another voyage on the same ship, seven years later in 1865.

To see the article, go to our main page and click on 'Odds and Ends'.

Look for 'A Ship's Mutiny' at the top of the page.

You can also see our record of his life in 'Our Family Gallery'.  On that page, click on the link for 'The Shore Family'.

Silver Cup and Silver Spoon.

We have photographs of two family heirlooms.

They show Jesse Perry Shore's silver baby cup with his grandson James Jesse Shore's silver baby spoon.

Jesse's silver cup dates from about 1877, and James's silver spoon from about 1936.  Together they span three generations in our family.

Our family's thanks go to Larry Roberts for taking the photos and sending them in to our heritage.

To see the photos, go to 'Our Family Gallery' and scroll down to the link for 'Jesse Perry Shore and Anna Agnes (Gaffney) Shore'.

New Photos:  Roberts Family.

Two new photos have been added to our Roberts family page.

Taken on 21 August, one photo shows Mike and Jean Roberts with their daughter Rachel; the other is of Jim and Jean Roberts and granddaughter Rachel.

To see them, go to 'Our Family Gallery' and scroll down to the link for 'The Roberts Family'.

Site Update.

Our site received a full update today.

All of our family trees, heritage reports, kinship reports, and the family's birthdays have been updated.

Update:  Brandenburg Family.

We have a new document showing Brandenburg family lineage.

It's a 1939 application for membership into the 'Sons Of The American Revolution' organization.

The candidate had to show his ancestry from a soldier of the Revolutionary War.  His application gives his family's names back to William Brandenburg (b.1857/8).

William Brandenburg is our family's ancestor.

The application shows William's wife as 'Nancy Buzzard' (1766-1846).  If it is correct, this is the first time we find the name of William's second wife.  We are descended from his first marriage to Catherine Bussard, who died before 1790.  It appears that after Catherine's death, William took Catherine's sister 'Nancy' as his second wife.

You'll find the new document on our Family Gallery page for 'William Brandenburg Jr and Catherine (Bussard) Brandenburg'.

Update:  Shore Family page.

A major update has been made to our page for The Shore Family.

We have added new material from England:  marriage, baptism, and census records.

Now we have much more information about Thomas and Mary Shore and their family.  For the first time we find Mary's maiden name (she was Mary Haines).  Thomas and Mary were married on 26 July 1819.  Their marriage and baptisms of several of their children are recorded now.

Thomas was brother to John Shore, our ancestor who came from England to America in 1832.  Thomas and Mary remained in England.  At least one of their children came to America, while others stayed in England.

Now we know where some of their children lived in their adult lives, with the names of their families into a new generation.

With this new information, it becomes possible to find Shore family descendants living today in England.

To see these new items:  Go to 'Our Family Gallery'.  Then scroll down to the link for 'The Shore Family' and click on it.

Update:  Births.

With joy our family welcomes Nolan Parker Muhle, born at 12:39 AM on 19 June (Fathers Day).

Nolan was born in Omaha, Nebraska.  At birth he was 20.5 inches, weighing 6 lbs  3 oz.

His parents are Kyle and Claire (Roberts) Muhle.

On our main page, go to our 'Family Gallery'.  On that page, scroll down to the link for 'The Roberts Family' (bottom of the page), and click on it.

Then on the Roberts page, find the area for 'Larry James Roberts and Teresa Ann (Herring) Roberts'.

Letters and Cards from Mike Roberts.

Michael Roberts has sent in some letters and cards for our Family Heritage.

Several are letters written as a young lad, from Mike to his Grandmother Dunlap and Grandmother Roberts.  (He is grateful for the $2.00 gift he received.)  A Valentine card is signed by the four Roberts brothers.

Also we have cards Mike sent to his parents when he was a young man in Alaska.  They show spectacular views of the area.

To see these new items:  Go to 'Our Family Gallery'.  On that page, scroll down to the link for 'The Roberts Family' (bottom of the page), and click on it.

Then on the Roberts page, find the area for 'James Jesse Roberts and Lila Jean (May) Roberts'.

Master Sergeant Joseph Roberts:  Legion of Merit

We have a record of his commanding officer's recommendation for him to receive the military Legion of Merit award.

In September 1941, with war raging in Europe, M/Sgt Joseph Roberts was assigned first to Trinidad and then to Surinam (Dutch Guiana) in South America.

The Netherlands was already occupied by Nazi Germany, and the Dutch government in exile sought help from the United States to set up a supply base at Zandery Field, Surinam.  M/Sgt Roberts was among the first American military personnel to establish that base.

In June 1943 he was recommended for the U.S. Legion of Merit award:

    ... "For exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services."

    ... "His services contributed inestimably to the successful functioning of the United States Army Forces in Surinam and have been an inspiring example to all personnel at Zandery Field."

You can read the full document on his page in our Heritage.

The Legion of Merit is the military service's sixth highest award.  It is most often reserved for high-ranking commanding personnel.  It is one of only two military awards for which a formal ribbon and medal may be worn around the neck (the other one is the Medal of Honor).

On our main page, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Then scroll down to the link for "Joseph Oliver Roberts and Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts".

You will find the Legion of Merit recommendation part-way down on their page.  It's also included in the summary of his military career, near the bottom of the page.

Margaret Ann Roberts:  Family Goes to Panama.

We have a description of the Roberts family's 1940-42 life in Panama.

Margaret Ann Roberts went on a ship to Panama in 1940 with her three children to join her husband Joseph Roberts.  They were reunited there after a separation of over a year.

Then while living in Panama, in 1941 the family became separated again when their father was reassigned to Trinidad and to Surinam, while Margaret and the children remained in Panama.

The family was then living apart in two foreign countries, with the world at war.  When the United States entered the war, she and the children were evacuated from Panama in 1942 and returned by ship to the United States.

On its voyage from Panama to New Orleans, the passenger ship passed over a U-boat which let it go on, sinking a tanker the next day.

Margaret Ann wrote her memories of that trip in a letter to her son James Roberts in 1993.  Her letter describes the family's two ocean voyages and their life in Panama.  Now we have the letter in our Heritage.

On our main page, go to "Our Family Gallery".  Then scroll down to the link for "Joseph Oliver Roberts and Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts".

You can also find her letter on our "Odds and Ends" page.  Click on the link for "Family's Trip to Panama".

Winkelbach Town Hall.

We have a photograph of the town hall and plaza of the town of Winkelbach, Germany.  It is a small village in the Westerwald region about 300 miles southwest of Berlin.

William and Anna Brandenburg left there in 1752 to sail to America.

Today the modern town hall is probably in the same place where the original one stood.  The small plaza is paved now, but the water well is probably on the original spot.

In 1752 it would have been where people came to draw water, exchange views, and perhaps talk about making the long road trip to Rotterdam and longer ocean voyage to America.  And perhaps to say goodbye to all they had known.

On our main page, go to our "Odds and Ends" page.  Then click on the link for "Brandenburg Notes -- Germany".

Update:  Births and Deaths.

With joy, our family welcomes Layla Grace Bailey, born on 11 February.  You'll see photos of our precious new family member on the page for 'The Roberts Family'.  First, click on 'Our Family Gallery'.  Scroll down to the bottom of the page, and then follow the link from there.

Our thoughts go to our family of Arthur Graves, who passed away on 24 March at just 69 years of age.

Talbott Murder -- Newspaper Articles.

We have a new collection of newspaper articles about the Talbott Murder.

On the night of September 18, 1880 Doctor Perry Talbott was shot at his home.  He died the next day.

In a sensational trial, two of his sons were convicted for the crime.  After one reprieve from the Governor, with public controversy about the trial and requests for pardon (one defendant was 16 years old), the executions took place on July 22, 1881 before a crowd of ten thousand people.  The trial and hangings made newspaper headlines across the country.

Now we have a collection of newspaper articles added to our heritage.  They include:  the arrests, reporting of the trial, a description of the prosecution's principal witness (who had been previously convicted of larceny and would be convicted later of mail tampering), 'confessions', jail cell goodbyes with their mother and a fiancee, and an interview with the Governor.  One article mentions a scheme to get the two men freed from jail for a fee.

Another short article describes the life of the widow, Belle Talbott, a few months afterward.

There is even a commercial advertisement which made use of the hangings.

The articles are in our Family Gallery.

To see them, click on "Our Family Gallery".  Then click on "Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott".

Update:  Kollenberg Family Page.

We have new material added for the Kollenberg family in our heritage.

A family record shows our family's Kollenberg heritage from the first generation who came to America.  They were Charles Henry Kollenberg and Emilia (maiden name unknown), both born in 1850 in Germany.  They came to America and lived in Chicago.  Later generations lived in San Antonio, Texas.

Now we have a family tree showing four generations of our Kollenberg family.

To see our Kollenberg heritage, go to our main page and click on "Our Family Gallery".  Then scroll down and click on the link for 'Carl Joseph Kollenberg and Jessie Kathryn (Shore) Kollenberg'.

Update:  Shore Family Page.

An update has been posted to the "Shore Family" page in our Family Gallery.

This is the first update to the "Shore Family" page since 2006.

New information is coming in about our Shore family in England.  We are putting it into our heritage as it is received.

We have more information about John Shore's move from his family home in England to begin his new life in America.

We have modern photographs of the home (still standing) where John Shore's brother, sister-in-law, and their family lived.  Also we have received census records from England, showing the names and ages of the growing children.  They help to explain some of the letters written from the family during the 1840s.

To see the page, click on "Our Family Gallery".  Then click on "The Shore Family".

Carl Joseph Kollenberg, Jr.:  1944-2010.

In sadness we report that Carl Joseph Kollenberg, Jr is gone.

Carl died at his home in San Antonio on 1 December.  He is survived by his widow, Betty (Lackey) Kollenberg.

Carl was born on March 10, 1944 to Jessie (Shore) Kollenberg and Carl Senior.

He is cousin to today's 'senior' generation, and an uncle, great-uncle and great-great-uncle to our younger generations.  We remember him for his kindness and good humor.

Carl's memorial service was held at the River of Life Christian Fellowship in Adkins, Texas on 19 December, and was attended by several dozen of his family and friends.  His cousin James Roberts spoke of his memories of Carl, and also read ones from other family members.

To view scenes from Carl and Betty's life, go to our main page and click on "Our Family Gallery".  Then scroll down and click on the link for 'The Kollenberg Family'.

Added:  Obituaries and Cemetery Records.

We have the obituaries for William Thomas Shore (1898), Sallie (Brady) Shore (1952), and Edna Ianthe Shore (1984).

William Thomas Shore (1846-1898) is the father of Albertus Arthur Shore (1874-1928).

Albertus married Sallie (Brady) Shore (1871-1952).  Their daughter is Edna Ianthe Shore (1909-1984).

Also we have the entries in the pages of the High Creek Cemetery (Watson, Missouri) record book.  It is the cemetery where Albertus and Sallie (Brady) Shore, and their daughter Edna Ianthe Shore, are buried.

The newspaper obituary for William Thomas Shore (1898) also shows a Card of Thanks from his two sons, Albertus Arthur Shore and Jesse Perry Shore.  That card too is now in our family heritage.

Our family's gratitude goes to the kind person of the Tarkio, Missouri Historical Society who went to two newspaper offices, searched their archive records (1898, 1952 and 1984), made the copies of the obituaries, then got the cemetery records, and sent them all to Janet Hawley who forwarded them to us.

Our family is indeed fortunate to benefit from such kindness.

This shows how a family's heritage is more than a collection of things.  It's an achievement by dedicated people who care about moments in human history deeper than 'headline' news.  In these memorials we discover how families lived.  We see what mattered.  We note what was different then, and what remains universal today.  We can learn from the contrasts and connections we make between their lives and ours.

To view the new documents, go to the Family Gallery page for:  William Thomas Shore and Ianthe (Talbott) Shore; and Albertus Arthur Shore and Sarah Susanna (Brady) Shore.

On our main page, click on "Our Family Gallery".  Then scroll down to the link for their page.

Update:  William Thomas Shore and Ianthe (Talbott) Shore.

We have photos of the gravesite of William Thomas Shore.  Now William's and Ianthe's photos are together in our heritage.

Ianthe (Talbott) Shore died in 1880 (age 23).  She was buried at the family's cemetery on the Talbott farm at Arkoe, Missouri.

William Thomas Shore died in 1898 (age 52).  He was buried at the Tarkio Home Cemetery in Tarkio, a few miles from Ianthe's grave at Arkoe.

These photos of William's gravesite are the first ones in our heritage.

Our family's thanks go to Janet Hawley for taking these photos and sending them to our heritage.  Probably her visit to William Shore's grave was the first there by anyone in many years.

On the main page, click on "Family Gallery", and scroll down to the link for William Thomas Shore and Ianthe (Talbott) Shore.  You'll find them also on the "Burial Sites" page.

Our family's gratitude goes to Janet also for her tireless dedication in researching our branch of the Talbott family.  Her book  The Murder of Dr. Talbott  gives many insights into a tragic time in our family.  (It is also a most gripping and dramatic read).  You can find it on the Family Gallery page for Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott.

Added:  USAT "Shawnee" Passenger List.

As a military family, the Roberts family endured many separations.  They lived in three countries while their father was away during two wars.

In March 1939, the father (Joseph Roberts) was assigned from the United States to Panama, while the mother (Margaret Ann Roberts) remained in San Antonio, Texas with their three children.

In October 1940 the family was reunited and living together in Panama.  The mother and children had gone by ship to join their father there.  The United States was still at peace while World War II raged in Europe.

Then in September 1941, with the increasing hostilities in Europe, the father was reassigned to Trinidad in the British West Indies, while the mother and children remained in Panama.

On December 8, 1941, the day after the US entered the war from the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Joseph was further reassigned from Trinidad to Dutch Guiana (now Surinam), South America.  The mother and children still remained in Panama.  The family was then separated in two countries.

Finally in January 1942 the mother and children were evacuated from Panama to the US.  With the United States now at war with Germany, there were U-Boat alerts in the Caribbean and Atlantic oceans.  The ship had blackouts and radio silence, and the children learned how to do lifeboat drills.

Now in our heritage we have the 1942 passenger list showing Margaret and the three children aboard the ship returning them to the US.

The ship was the US Army Transport "Shawnee".  The family embarked at Cristobal, Panama Canal Zone on 14 January 1942, and landed at New Orleans on 17 January.

You can view the ship's document on the Family Gallery page for Joseph and Margaret Roberts.  It is also on our "Odds and Ends" page.

New World Record:  Sheri Rasmussen.

Sheri Rasmussen has set a new world record for high power target shooting.

She has a world's record for accuracy in Fifty Calibre shooting.  The old record stood for eleven years, but Sheri has now surpassed it.

Sheri is the daughter of Carole Ann (Roberts) and Vernon Paul Dormer.  She is married to Lee Rasmussen.

To see the story about Sheri's new record -- and other records Sheri and Lee have set -- go to our Family Gallery.  Scroll to the bottom of the Family Gallery page, and select the page for "The Roberts Family".

On that "Roberts Family" page, scroll down and you'll see the articles written about world's records set by Sheri and Lee.  Our family's congratulations go to Sheri for her newest achievement.

Update:  "Unsolved Mysteries" page.

An update has been posted on our "Unsolved Mysteries" page.

The page has a photograph showing a policeman and two soldiers guarding a building.

The building appears to be a bank.  It has broken windows, and an adjacent building has a broken sign.

There's a billboard, a steam-driven trolley and telephone wires, but not enough information to identify the photograph.

One of the soldiers appears to be Jesse Perry Shore (1877-1950).  He is grandfather of the Green, Kollenberg, and Roberts families.  He is great-great-grandfather to many children in our family today.

In 1916 he was in the US Army at Camp Warren (now Bisbee), Arizona.  The Army was stationed there in response to destructive raids across the Mexican border into Arizona towns by Pancho Villa and his raiders.

We do not know why he saved this photograph.  The notation "Pleasant Recollections" printed on the photo's cardboard frame seems to be ironic, given the scene.

In the photograph, the soldier on the right resembles Jesse Shore.  Perhaps it was he who was stationed there, and that is why he saved it.

It has no other information on it, and remains in our "Unsolved Mysteries" page.

Can you help to identify it?  Where?  When?

New Photos:  Albertus and Sallie (Brady) Shore Family.

Now we have photographs of the family of Albertus Arthur Shore and Sallie (Brady) Shore's family.  They are the first ones we have seen of them.

We have portraits of Sallie's parents, John Brady and Sarah Martha (Cooper) Brady.  More photos show the burial places at High Creek Cemetery, Watson, Missouri for John and Sarah Brady, Albertus and Sallie Shore, and their daughter Edna Shore.

We still do not have any known photograph of Albertus, Sallie, or Edna.  At Edna's death (1984), probably all of the items she had received from her parents Albertus and Sallie (Brady) Shore, and from her grandparents William Thomas Shore and Ianthe (Talbott) Shore, were given into the family, but we do not know any more about them.

To see the new photos, go to our Family Gallery and select the page for "Albertus Arthur Shore and Sarah Susanna (Brady) Shore".

We are grateful to Gail Sutter for these photographs, and for the research she has done in our family's heritage.

New Photos -- Margaret Ann Roberts.

Ten new photographs have been added to our heritage for Margaret Ann Roberts.

They are from a family album, spanning the years 1984-1992 when Ann was living in Florida.  They show visits with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.  Two photos show the family together for her 80th birthday celebration in 1990.

To see the new photos, go to our Family Gallery and select the page for "Joseph Oliver Roberts and Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts".

New Find:  Military Awards and Medals.

A set of military awards and medals has just been sent in to our heritage.

They were awarded to M/Sgt Joseph Roberts (1901-1952).  One, awarded posthumously in 1953, is signed by President Truman.

You'll find them on the Family Gallery page for 'Joseph Oliver Roberts and Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts'.

A New Mystery -- Woman's Relief Corps Medal.

Our 'Unsolved Mysteries' page has a new item.

It's a 'Woman's Relief Corps' medal.  This organization was founded in 1883 for women whose families had served with the Grand Army of the Republic in the Civil War.

It was saved by Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts (1910-2004).  Her grandfather William Thomas Shore (1846-1898) served in the 112th Illinois Volunteers during that war.  We do not know how it came to her.

You'll find in on our "Unsolved Mysteries" page.

Another Sharpshooter Championship for Lee.

Lee and Sheri Rasmussen both hold world records in .50-calibre marksmanship.

Lee has won another contest.  Photographs show his tight cluster on the target -- at 1000 yards.

You'll find the story in Our Family Gallery.

A Mystery Solved.

Our 'Unsolved Mysteries' page has items which we have not been able to identify or explain.

Now one of them has been solved.  On the 'Unsolved Mysteries' page, scroll down to the part about William Brandenburg's trial before the Ohio Supreme Court (1816) for a game of "Hussel Cap".

Our family's thanks go to Larry and Teresa Roberts for finding the answer to that puzzle.

Newspaper Account of Resaca Battle.

An 1864 newspaper article has been posted to our heritage.  You'll find it in the Family Gallery for William Thomas Shore.

At age 16 William Thomas Shore enlisted in the Civil War, serving in the Illinois Volunteer Infantry.  He was wounded at the Battle of Resaca, Georgia, a month after his 18th birthday.  He was evacuated to Chattanooga and then to Knoxville, spending eleven months in hospitals before being mustered out at the war's end.  He contracted an intestinal ailment which ended his life years later.

Now we have several accounts of that battle, as well as a letter from the battlefield.

Mailing Our Family Heritage CD.

Our Family Heritage CD is going in the mail to the family now.

With it goes a hearty 'Thank You!' for all of the contributors to our heritage who have helped in so many ways:  with tangible items like photographs, records, and scans; and equally important, for all of the ideas, suggestions and encouragement along the way.

Many More New Items.

Dozens of new items have been added into our heritage.  You'll find them in the Family Gallery pages and on the Odds and Ends page.

They are far too many and varied to list here.  If you haven't visited your heritage site recently, you might want to look especially in the Family Gallery as it contains many new items.

Many New Items.

Over twenty new items have been added into our heritage.  They are too many and varied to list here.

You'll find them on the Family Gallery pages for

"Jesse Perry Shore and Anna Agnes (Gaffney) Shore"

"The Winn Family"

"Marshall Winn and Louisa Cedelia (Shore) Winn"

"Joseph Oliver Roberts and Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts".

And on:

"Unsolved Mysteries".

May and Bennett Families Heritage.

Now we have the May and Bennett families in our heritage.

Lila Jean (May) and her husband James Roberts have sent items from Lila's family.  We have photographs and records going back to her great-grandparents in the 1800s.  There is also a photograph of a May-Bennett family reunion, taken about 1939.

You'll find these new items on the Family Gallery page for "The Roberts Family".

You'll also find the families now in our family tree.  On the main page, click on "Our Family Tree" or "Our Family Ties".

Our family's thanks go to Jean and Jim for sending these treasures.

Jesse and Anna Shore:  New Items.

We have over a dozen new items:  cards, letters, a school promotion, and membership cards of the Spanish-American War Auxiliary.

Especially touching, we have a set of "Lines of Love" poems, and Jesse's and Anna's renewal vow after 33 years of marriage.  It is witnessed by one of their children.

These treasures are well worth seeing.  You'll find them on the Family Gallery page for "Jesse Perry Shore and Anna Agnes (Gaffney) Shore".

Jesse Shore:  School Memories.

We have some items from Jesse Shore's school years.

Jesse received an autograph book for Christmas 1888.  He was eleven years old.  Through the next year his schoolmates, teachers and friends wrote their autographs with messages to him.

The book's earliest message is from his cousin Edgar A. Winn.  Jesse was reared in the home of his uncle and aunt Marshall and Louisa (Shore) Winn, together with their son Edgar.

He saved the book along with calling cards he received from his cousin, classmates and friends.

He also saved an invitation to the 1895 Graduation Commencement for the Wyoming, Illinois High School.  Every one of the school's nine graduating students gave a presentation at the ceremony.

You'll find these new items on the Family Gallery page for "Jesse Perry Shore and Anna Agnes (Gaffney) Shore".  Scroll about three-quarters of the way down the page to find them.

William and Sarah Winn:  Photo.

A photograph of William and Sarah (Hoppock) Winn has been added to our heritage.  It dates from about 1890.

William Winn is a brother of Marshall Winn, who married Louisa Cedelia Shore and reared the child Jesse Shore from two years of age to adulthood.

Marshall, William and the rest of the Winn family are descendants of Thomas and Mary Winn, pioneers in the early settlement of what is now Stark County, Illinois.

The photo has written on the back by Jesse Shore:  "Uncle William Winn and Wife Sarah."  William Winn married Sarah (Hoppock) Winn after the death of his first wife, Nancy (Sheffer) Winn.

You'll find this new photograph on the Family Gallery page for "The Winn Family".

Unsolved Mysteries.

We have new photos of people whom we cannot identify.

They date from the late 1800s to possibly the early 1900s.

They were saved by Jesse Perry Shore (1877-1950) and passed down into the family.  He saved many records and photographs, and wrote descriptions on the backs of many of them.  These have no writing, and they do not match or resemble others in our heritage.

You'll find them in the "Unsolved Mysteries" page.  Text on the page describes some of the possibilities.

Jesse Shore:  New Photos.

New photographs of Jesse Shore (1877-1950) have been added to our heritage.  They show him as a baby and as a young boy.

His mother Ianthe Shore died in 1880 when Jesse was just two years and ten months old.  He was then reared in the family of his aunt Louisa Cedelia (Shore) Winn and her husband Marshall Winn.

The infant photo was taken when his mother was still living; the others date from his time in the Winn family.  Probably all of the photos were preserved by his aunt Louisa and given to him as he reached adulthood.

You'll find these new items on the Family Gallery page for "Jesse Perry Shore and Anna Agnes (Gaffney) Shore".

Updates:  Gaffney, Kollenberg, Winn.

Extensive updating has been made in our heritage for the Gaffney, Kollenberg, and Winn families.

Names, dates and places have been researched in the public U.S. Census and Social Security Death Index records.  New facts have been added into several dozen places where only blanks were before.

You'll find the new information throughout the Family Tree, Heritage, Kinship, and Birthday reports on the main page.

Gaffney Heritage:  New Photos.

We have photos from the University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures, showing a history of early Irish settlers in Texas.  They outline the kind of life settlers like our Gaffney relatives had when they arrived at Refugio and San Patricio in the 1830s.

You'll find these new items on the Family Gallery page for "The Gaffney Family".  Scroll down to near the bottom of the page.

Byers Family:  Updated for "Rocky Mountain News" Closing.

Today the newspaper "Rocky Mountain News" published its final edition.

The newspaper was founded by our relative, William Newton Byers, who carried the first printing press west of Iowa by oxcart, settling in a log cabin at Cherry Creek in "Denver City" in what was then Kansas Territory.  Setting up the press on the second floor of a tavern, he published its first edition on April 23, 1859 within a week of his arrival.

Today the newspaper closed after nearly 150 years of continuous publication.

You'll find excerpts from its final edition on our Family Gallery page for "Moses Watson Byers and Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Byers."

Shore Family:  England 1841-1901 Census Records.

We have some pages from the 1841 to 1901 census records for the towns of Devizes, West Lavington, Trowbridge, and Westbury, Wiltshire County, England.

John Shore came to America in 1832.  The English census records show several Shore families living in those towns from 1841 to 1901.

Letters written in 1843, 1849 and 1850 to John Shore in America from his brother Thomas Shore and sister-in-law Mary Shore, show them living in those towns.  Thomas Shore was a cabinetmaker there.  His brother John Shore was a cabinetmaker when he came to America and settled in Illinois.

Some of the names and dates in the census records agree with those in the family letters.  If they have living descendants today, they are our relatives.

You'll find the census images and the letters on the Family Gallery page for "The Shore Family".

New 'Odds and Ends':  Stark County Marriage and Pioneer Women.

You'll find two new items on our "Odds and Ends" page.

They are from an 1887 history of Stark County, Illinois.

That is where John Shore and Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore settled, buying 82 acres of land in 1839.  Our family is descended from them.

One article is appropriate for Valentine's Day:  it describes the incentives young men had to not remain bachelors, but to find a woman and marry her.

The second article describes the life and responsibilities of pioneer women.

When the articles were written in 1887, some of the early pioneers were still living.  Their children had by then become adults in the communities, and the articles came from their recollections.

They are delightful reading.  You'll find them on the "Odds and Ends" page.  You'll see an index at the top of the page.  Look in it for the "Stark County, Illinois" section.

New Items:  Photo, Telegram, Japan Notes.

Several new items are in our Family Heritage today.

We have a photo showing a group of airmen assembled in front of an aircraft, apparently a C47 transport.  Possibly it shows Joseph Roberts during his service in the US Army Air Corps, before it became the Air Force.  The photo has no date or writing.  He might be in the second row, third man from right.

We have a telegram sent in October 1940 from Joseph Roberts in Panama to his wife Margaret Ann, traveling with their children aboard the US Army Transport Chateau Thierry enroute to Panama.

We have a 1950 Thanksgiving Day menu from Nagoya Air Base, Japan that belonged to Joseph Roberts.  He had been assigned there at the outbreak of the Korean war.  It contains a moving tribute to those who are in battle.

In 1951 Margaret Ann and the four children traveled by ship to join Joseph in Japan.  We have two booklets created by the Department of Defense to introduce military personnel and their families to Japanese life and culture.

You'll find the photo and telegram on the Family Gallery page for "Joseph Oliver Roberts and Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts".  Another view of the telegram is on the "Odds and Ends" page, along with the Japan booklets.

Our family's thanks go to Jim Roberts for discovering these treasured items and sending them into our family's rich heritage.

New Photo:  Louise Shore, Carl and Jessie (Shore) Kollenberg.

We have a new photo of Louise Shore, Carl Kollenberg, and Jessie (Shore) Kollenberg.

Louise Shore lived in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1941.  She and her earlier husband Billy Copp had a large cotton field and pasture for horses.  She kept horses and enjoyed riding them on her fields.

Now our heritage has photographs showing Louise and her horses.

That was several years before her marriage to Carl DeFord Green.  Her final marriage to Carl lasted many years until their deaths.

Now we have a new photograph.  It shows Louise and her first husband, with her sister Jessie (Shore) Kollenberg and husband Carl Kollenberg enjoying a horseback ride on her fields.

This new photograph was sent in by Louise's son Carl Thomas Green.  It was found in Louise's family heritage collection.

An identical photograph is in her sister's, Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts' collection.  This new photograph is in better condition and has been added to our family heritage.

As always, you'll find it by starting at "Our Family Gallery" page.

Our family's thanks go to Tom Green for sending this new photo in to our heritage.

New Photos:  Shore, Kollenberg.

Some new photos have been added into our Family Heritage.

We have a photo of Louise Shore, taken about 1940 before her marriage to Carl DeFord Green.  It's a candid photo made by a sidewalk photographer.

We have three photos, taken in 1944, showing Carl Kollenberg Jr at six weeks of age, held in the arms of his mother Jessie (Shore) Kollenberg and aunt Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts.

We have six photos showing a billfold and its contents, belonging to Ernest James Shore.  It contains a 1945 World War II ration booklet with his military address.  It also has a photograph of Carl Kollenberg Jr.  It shows that Jessie sent her new baby's picture to her brother who was stationed in Europe during the war.  It must have been reassurring to him to see that amid the destruction around him the family at home were safe.

Our family's thanks go to Tom Green for sending these photos into our family heritage.

As always, start on "Our Family Gallery" page which links to all of the families in our heritage.

Roberts Family's Home in Tokyo.

We have two new photos of the Roberts family's home in Tokyo, Japan.

"Dad" Roberts (Joseph Roberts Sr.) was stationed there with the US Air Force during the Korean War.  "Mom" Roberts and the family's four children went there in December 1951, going by railway from Texas to San Francisco and then by ship to Yokohama.  The sea voyage took 10 days.

When they arrived, they moved into "US House 656" in the Harakuju district, Tokyo.

When the car pulled into the new driveway and 'Mom' Roberts saw the new three-story house, she asked her husband which floor the family might have as theirs.  The family had never before lived in such a large and luxurious house.

She was informed that the family had the whole house, three stories and a basement, with a maid and 'houseboy'.

The maid "Sachiko-san" was 20 years old; the houseboy "Yago-san" was 18.  Yago's responsibility was to keep the furnace stoked (it was December); Sachiiko's was to wait on Margaret's ("Madame-san's") needs.

Margaret Ann Roberts made her new house into a loving home.  She treated the 'maid' Sachiko and 'houseboy' Yago with dignity, recognizing their good work and respecting them as individuals.

On a family afternoon she showed them how to cook Texas Enchiladas.  They remarked that they had never had so much good food to eat.  It was their first experience with Americans as individual people and good families, after the war.

It was an example of respect and kindness, warmly received by all in the family and household.

The family's brief and happy home life in Japan waa interrupted by their father's death, six months after their arrival.  The family returned to the United States after the death of "Dad" Roberts in July 1952.

Now we have two new photos not seen before in our heritage.  They show the house and street as they appear in later years.  They were taken by James Roberts during his 1965 visit to Tokyo.

You'll find the photos on the Family Gallery page for "Joseph Oliver Roberts and Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts".  Scroll all of the way down, and you'll find the family's homes near the bottom of the page.

Our family's thanks go to Jim for sending these photos into our family's heritage.

Jesse Shore's Retirement.

We have a newspaper article announcing Jesse Shore's retirement from military service.

The article is from a San Antonio newspaper of April 14, 1932 announcing his retirement for the end of that month.  Jesse's own records show he was eligible as of March 31, and he mentioned a retirement date of April 1 in one of his service summaries.

His military career spanned thirty years.  He served in the Spanish-American war in 1898-99 and Mexican border incursions of 1916-17.  He was sent in 1917 to Camp Dix, New Jersey for transport to Europe for World War I but the war ended before he shipped over.

Our family's thanks go to Jim Roberts for scanning these from the newspaper's microfilms and sending them in to our family heritage.

You'll find the newspaper article on the Family Gallery page for "Jesse Perry Shore and Anna Agnes (Gaffney) Shore".

Names in Concrete.

Jesse Shore built a concrete channel across the back yard of his home in San Antonio, to conduct rainwater.

Before the concrete set hard, the family wrote their names in it using sticks and twigs.  Three generations are marked there.

That was in 1942.  In October 2008 we visited the home, and with the current owner's permission, took photographs.

More than sixty-six years after they were put there, the names are weathered, but still can be read.

You'll find the photos on the Family Gallery page for "Jesse Perry Shore and Anna Agnes (Gaffney) Shore".  Scroll most of the way down the page, until you come to "Names in Concrete".

To go there, click on "Our Family Gallery" on the home page.

Carole Ann: 1938-2008

In sadness we report that Carole Ann (Roberts) Dormer left us on Monday, 3 November 2008.

Doctors had given her '3 to 6 months' in her battle with cancer, with 6 months being an outside chance.  She survived for 6 months plus a week.

Although heavily sedated against the great pain, especially over the last weeks, she still managed her warm smile and hugs of love. She was a beautiful combination of gentleness and strength.

Talbott Names in our Heritage.

We have two lists showing all the Talbott family names in our heritage.

One is the complete list of all of our Talbott kin.

The other shows the relationships of everyone in our family today to our Talbott heritage.  It extends at least back to Richard Talbott, 1620 in England.

Our Shore family heritage is descended from the marriage of Ianthe Talbott and William Thomas Shore in 1873.

Ianthe is a daughter of Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott.  Dr Perry Talbott was murdered in 1880, and two of his sons were hanged for the crime in 1881, following a notorious and controversial trial.  The remaining Talbott children grew to adulthood and raised families.

We have received many enquiries and requests for more information from people who have a Talbott heritage.  All of the information we have is here in our family heritage site.

You'll find all of the Talbott names we have, on the page for "The Talbott Family".  Click on "Our Family Gallery" on the home page.

Photos of Family Trip to Japan.

We have new photos of the Roberts family trip to Japan, 1951-52.

They show the ship departing San Francisco and arriving in Japan in December 1951.  More photos show the family in Tokyo during the spring of 1952.

You'll find them in the "Trip to Japan" part of our "Odds and Ends" page.

Our family's thanks go to Debra Tasker for scanning these photos and sending them into our heritage.

New Gravesite Photos.

We have new photos of family gravesites in San Antonio, Texas.

They were taken in July 2008, showing the graves of Joseph and Margaret Roberts, Carl and Jessie Kollenberg, Jesse Shore, Anna Shore, Frances Shore, and Ernest Shore.

You'll find the 'Burial Sites' link on our main page.

New Items from Thomas Green in Our Heritage.

Our Family Heritage has new items received from Carl Thomas Green.

Tom is the son of Carl DeFord Green and Mary Louise (Shore) Green.  He's the cousin of Joseph, James, Carole Ann and Cheryl Sue Roberts, and Carl Joseph Kollenberg.

Tom sent in over 180 items:  photos, cards, records, a billfold, and album pages.  All of these have been scanned and they are now going into our heritage pages.

Some photos are easy to identify from writing on them.  Others are identical to ones that were saved by other family members, showing how our family shared their treasured moments and exchanged their keepsakes.

Some are photos of people we know.  We haven't seen those photos previously in the family.  Now we see them recording new moments in their lives.

And some faces are new -- people we haven't seen anywhere else.  They meant something to have their photographs saved through previous generations, but have no writing or idenfification on them.  They're a mystery.

All of these items show more of our family's rich heritage.

Gratitude from all of our family goes to Tom for sharing these items and making them available for our future.

New 'Odds and Ends'.

We have some new entries on the 'Odds and Ends' page.

These are morsels and side stories, gleaned from research into your family.

You're invited to read them, and to send in new ones you find.

You'll see the 'Odds and Ends' link on the main page.

Death Certificate for Belle Riley (widow of Perry Talbott).

We have a copy of the Death Certificate for Belle Riley.

Belle is the widow of Perry Talbott, a pioneer and prominent doctor and legislator who was murdered in 1880.  Two of her sons, Albert and Charles, were convicted of the murder and were hanged for it in 1881.

Belle subsequently remarried to Robert McClellan Draper and was widowed again in 1894.  She married again to Phillip Riley, divorcing by 1900.

By 1900 she was living in Faribault, Rice County, Minnesota.  Her eight surviving children were by then adults, and none was living with her or near to her.

Her final years were as an 'inmate' at the Rice County Poor Farm, near Faribault.  She died there on 30 January 1910.

Now we have her death certificate, recorded by the Minnesota Department of Health.  

The attending physician misspells her name, misstates her age and birthplace, and writes the names of her father and mother as 'unknown'.  It was perhaps a lonely ending to her life.

To find this new item in our heritage:  go to Our Family Gallery.

You can find the account of Belle's life, and her death certificate, on the page for "Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott".

What a life she had.  Belle married as a young woman, gave birth to twelve children, and had a prosperous life.  Then she saw her husband murdered and sons hanged for it.  She remarried and was widowed so soon again, finally ending her years at a 'poor farm', virtually unknown.  It is a deeply touching account.  What a story she could have told, if anyone were there to hear it.

Charles Gaffney's Land Deeds, Bexar County, Texas.

We have a record of Charles Gaffney's land purchases and sales in Bexar County, Texas.

In the early years of the 20th century Charles made a fortune in oil wells in Texas and Mexico.  He purchased and sold homes and lots around San Antonio, Texas.

We have a record of his land deeds, with transactions made within the Gaffney family and with others.

The record includes a home he bought for two of his sisters on Denver Boulevard, San Antonio, across from Denver Heights Park.

The deeds show the two sisters, Margaret Camille and Katherine Mary Gaffney, purchasing the property in November 1921 (for $4,000.00).  A month later in December 1921, they sold it to Charles (for $10.00).

To find the new item in our heritage:  go to Our Family Gallery, then click on the page for "The Gaffney Family".

Burial of the Two Talbott Sons:  Newspaper Article, 28 July, 1881.

We have a copy of a Nodaway Democrat newspaper article of 28 July, 1881.

The article reports the burial of the two Talbott sons, Albert and Charles.  They had been convicted of the murder of their father, Perry Talbott, had been hanged on 22 July, and were buried the next day.

It gives a touching description of the procession and burial, ending with a message from the sons' mother, Belle Talbott.

The article also provides a drawing of the Talbott Family Cemetery, on the family's farm near Arkoe, Missouri.

One location it shows is that of the grave of Ianthe Talbott, who had died in 1880.  She had married William Thomas Shore at age 17, had two children, and died at age 23.  Everyone in our family today is descended from their marriage, or is married to someone who is descended from it.

Our family's gratitude goes to Janet Hawley for finding and sending in this newspaper article, and for her dedication and research into the Talbott family heritage.

To find this new item in our heritage:  go to Our Family Gallery.

Then you can find the newspaper article on the page for "Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott", and on the page for "William Thomas Shore and Ianthe (Talbott) Shore".

Photos of Owen Gaffney's Headstone, San Patricio, Texas.

We have new photos of Owen Gaffney's headstone.

Born in Ireland in 1814, Owen was one of two Gaffney brothers who came to America.  He settled in Refugio, Texas and then in San Patricio.  (His brother Charles Gaffney settled in New Britain, Connecticut.)

Our family's thanks go to Michael Westergren for sending these photographs.  Mike is a great-great-grandson of Owen Gaffney.

To find the new items in our heritage:  go to Our Family Gallery, then click on the page for "The Gaffney Family".

New Talbott Family Information in Our Heritage.

Now we have photographs from the town of Arkoe, Nodaway County, Missouri.

Arkoe was laid out by our ancestor, Perry Talbott, on what had been open land.  Doctor Talbott and Belle Talbott owned extensive land around the area and built their home there.  The home was modeled on the "House of Seven Gables", and Doctor Talbott named the town "Arkoe" from a book in his library.  The details are now in our heritage.

The family was well known in the area:  Doctor Talbott served two terms in the state legislature, published a newspaper, and gave the keynote address and nomination speech at his party's presidential convention.

In 1880, his murder and the subsequent trial and conviction of two of his sons were widely reported.  Today that event still appears in Missouri state histories.  Information newly added into our heritage pages makes for gripping reading.

Perry and Belle Talbott had twelve children.  All of them were born in the home.

Their daughter Ianthe Talbott married William Shore in 1873.  Their son Jesse Perry Shore (1877-1950) is grandfather and great-grandfather to our family's current generation.

To find the new material in our heritage:  go to Our Family Gallery, then click on the page for "Perry Hoshor Talbott and Belle (McFarland) Talbott".

Gaffney Memorial at Odem, Texas.

The town of Odem, Texas has a memorial plaque dedicated to James Owen Gaffney.

Among other services he gave to his community, James Owen Gaffney was San Patricio's surveyor and assessor.  In 1903 he mapped the roadways throughout the county.  The plaque commemorates his work.

Our family's thanks go to Michael Westergren for his research and for sending these photographs.  Mike is great-grandson of Michael Thomas Gaffney, who was James Owen Gaffney's brother.

New Items in Our Heritage.

Our heritage has been updated with new items.

Photographs, scans, public records and newspaper accounts go into our heritage when they are received.  Several new ones have been added since you received your Family Heritage CDs.

When you visit, take some time and check the pages for new articles about your branches of our family.

And of course, if you have fresh ideas and information about any part of our heritage, feel free to let us know.  You can click on the E-Mail link at this Web site.

In Memoriam -- Sarah Golda Sitz (1904-2006).

A memorial to Sarah Golda (Brandenburg) Sitz is now in our Family Heritage.

Sarah Golda Sitz died on 19 October 2006, at 102 years of age.

She was a dedicated historian for the descendants of Wilhelm Heinrich Brandenburg -- our family.  She authored two books, and offered her help generously to others who have been researching this rich heritage.

Her last words have been noted by Robert and Marian Brandenburg:  "I love you.  Take care of yourself."

Golda will be missed, but the legacy she leaves will inspire and benefit family members for years to come.

Her memorial was written and contributed by Patricia Bristley.  You'll find it on our Brandenburg Family page.

Mailing the Family Heritage CDs.

Our new Family Heritage CDs are going out in the mail today to everyone in the family.

For 2006 our family has two CDs:

• Our Family Heritage -- all of our history, records, and photos.



• Our Family Mini-CD -- an easy way for you to lookup any names, dates, and relationships.

If you have the original CD from May 2005, please discard it.  Everything that was on the old CD is on these new ones, and a lot more.  Also, errors and omissions in the original CD have been corrected in these new CDs.

...  The original CD will only be confusing to family members years from now.  If you still have the original CD, please discard it and use only the new ones when you receive them.

The new CDs are going to twenty households in our family.  These are the twenty adults -- parents and grandparents -- who, in September 2006, are the living descendants and the inheritors of our family heritage.

...  This heritage has always been yours.  Now it is in your hands.

...  Now you can see all that is in it, to treasure it and pass it on to your next generation.

So many people have given their time, hard work, ideas, and encouragement.  It has truly been a family project.  This includes people in our family, and also includes people who, while not in our immediate family, have given freely of their time and expense to take photographs and find records for us.

In a time we can't foresee, future generations may want to know how their family lived and cared.  They might be even more grateful for all that so many people have done, over the years, to put this heritage into their hands.

Assembling the 2006 Family Heritage CDs.

The new Family Heritage CDs are being made today.

All of our Heritage is updated now to the best information we have found.

For 2006 we will have two CDs:

• Our Family Heritage -- all of our history, records, and photos.



• Our Family Mini-CD -- an easy way for you to lookup any names, dates, and relationships.

The new CDs will be going out in the mail to everyone in the family.

So many people have contributed to this family project.  This includes our family members and others who gave their time and expense to find records and take photographs for us.

Starting cleanup for new Family Heritage CDs.

All of our Heritage is in review and editing from inputs received from the family.

Names, dates, and other information in our Heritage are being cross-checked.  Final photos are going into the Heritage as they are received from our family.

Photos from La Fayette Cemeteries.

Photos are now in our heritage showing our relatives' burial sites in La Fayette, Illinois.

Seventeen new photos are in our heritage.  They show our relatives' memorials in the Himes Cemetery and La Fayette Cemetery.  (Both cemeteries are in La Fayette, Illinois.)

Himes Cemetery:

    Cora Mary Shore, first wife of William Thomas Shore, their daughter (also named Cora Mary), and their son Winfred.  Cora had died two weeks after giving birth to their daughter, and the child did not survive to her second birthday.

La Fayette Cemetery:

    John Shore, his wife Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore-Baker, and two of their four children:  Althea Sedale Shore, and Sarah Amanda Shore.  Their first child, Althea had died at two years of age, barely three months after Sarah's birth.  Thus the mother and father endured the loss and burial of their first child while caring for their newborn.

These photos tell of difficult and poignant times in the lives of our relatives.  Inscriptions on some of the headstones are most touching.  They remind us of the deeply moving events that build a family's bonds of love and fortitude in every generation.

You can see these photos on our Burial Sites page.  You can see them with more details on the Family Gallery pages for:

John Shore and Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore
William Thomas Shore and Ianthe (Talbott) Shore

Our family is grateful for these photos.  They were taken and sent to us by a volunteer at her own expense, in Stark County, Illinois.

Items From Our Dormer-Roberts Heritage.

More than thirty new items were added today.

Now we have photos of Carole Ann (Roberts) Dormer and her family -- first as growing children, and then as adults with their own friends and families.

Our family's heritage is growing so much richer now for future people to see and learn about.

There are far too many items to list here.  To see them, go to the Family Gallery page for:

The Roberts Family

Thanks to Carole Ann, 'Chip' Dormer, and Mike and Susan Ward.

New Items From Our Gaffney Heritage.

More than two dozen items were added today into our Gaffney heritage.

They include records, historical documents, and news articles from the San Patricio, Texas and southwest Texas area.

There are stories of immigration -- from Ireland to New York, and then to the pioneering colony on the bank of the Nueces River.  There are accounts of early life in their homes, and of relations with the Mexican government and later with the Republic of Texas and the State of Texas.

There are items showing Gaffney family members being the town's mayor, surveyor and tax assessor, court judge, and editor of its first newspaper.  Other accounts describe how the families relaxed after their long days of work.

There are stories also about how other Gaffney relatives left southwest Texas, moved northeast, and settled in Connecticut -- because the climate there more resembled Ireland.

It's another part of our family's rich heritage.

There are too many items to list here.  To see them, go to the Family Gallery page for:

The Gaffney Family

Our family's thanks go to Jim and Jean Roberts for finding these materials and sending them into our heritage.

More New Photos.

Photos are continuing to arrive from our family.  Today, twenty-seven new ones were added into our heritage.

There are too many to list here.  To see the new photos, go to the Family Gallery pages for:

Carl DeFord Green and Mary Louise (Shore) Green
Carl Joseph Kollenberg and Jessie Kathryn (Shore) Kollenberg
Joseph Roberts and Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts
The Roberts Family

Many New Photos.

Dozens of new photos have been added to our heritage.

They are from families who are descended from the marriage of Joseph Roberts (1901-1952) and Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts (1910-2004).  The photos show their grandchildren, now grown up today, with homes and families of their own.

The photos range in dates from 1967 to 2006.  There are too many of them to list here.  To see them, go to the Family Gallery page for:

The Roberts Family

Kollenberg Family Record.

A Kollenberg family document showing three generations of the family is now in our heritage.

The record shows the Kollenberg and Fischer families from 1850 in Germany.  Henry Kollenberg married Mary Fischer about 1906, settling in San Antonio, Texas.

We have had U.S. Federal Census records showing the family, but now we have an actual family document.  It had been kept in the family's bank box.  It has been provided by Carl Kollenberg, Jr (grandson of Henry and Mary Kollenberg).

The record is on the Family Gallery page for:

Carl Joseph Kollenberg and Jessie Kathryn (Shore) Kollenberg

Our family's thanks go to Carl for providing the document, and to Carole for making the fine scan.

Photographs of William and Catherine (Long) Brandenburg's family locations.

Now we have 22 photos taken by Pat Bristley and sent in to our heritage.  They show the area in Erie County, Ohio where William and Catherine (Long) Brandenburg lived and brought up their family.

William and Catherine are ancestors to everyone in our family today with these surnames:  Green, Kollenberg, and Roberts -- and to their children and grandchildren.

We are descended from William and Catherine's daughter, Mary Ann Brandenburg, born 1815.

A family chronicle written by their daughter, Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore-Baker, mentions that her father moved the family from Maryland to Erie County, Ohio in 1836, settling "three miles west of Sandusky City".  That is the site of present-day Venice, Ohio.  Our family has letters written later to Mary Ann, postmarked from family members in Venice, in the 1880s.

These 22 new photographs show scenes from Venice and Castalia, Erie County, Ohio.  They show an old millrace, an old city block and stores.  The two towns remain small villages today.

Mary Ann Brandenburg married John Shore in Erie County, Ohio, on 14 February 1838 (Valentine's Day).  These new photographs show the only two churches in the vicinity.  Chances are that Mary Ann Brandenburg and John Shore were married in one of these churches.

These new photos also include views of Castalia cemetery where some of our Brandenburg relatives are buried, with pictures of their headstones.

Pat has also provided an index that describes each photo.

You can find the photos on the page for:

William Brandenburg III and Catherine (Long) Brandenburg

Pat took the time and expense to travel to these sites and take these photographs for us.  Our family's gratitude goes to her for her dedication, hard work, and generosity in providing these items for our heritage.

Photographs of John Shore, Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore, and William Thomas Shore.

Now we have photographs.of John and Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore, and their son William Shore.

One photo is a family picture, showing John and Mary Ann Shore with their son William at about four years of age.  It dates from about 1850.

The other photo shows William as a young man in his uniform of the 112th Illinois Volunteers, taken about 1863.

The photo of the Shore parents and child is on the page for:

John Shore and Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore

Both photos are on the page for:

William Thomas Shore and Ianthe (Talbott) Shore

Our family's gratitude goes to Carl for furnishing the photos, and to Carole for making those superb scans and sending them into our heritage.

Update:  Family Tree.

Our Family Tree page has a new update.

The page shows everybody in our family, through the years to today's generation.

Several new names, birthdates, marriage dates, and other facts have been added.

To see it, go to our main page and click on the link for:

Our Family Tree

Note:  It's an Adobe "PDF" document.  Chances are that your PC will open and read it automatically.  If it doesn't, you'll find a link there for getting the Adobe Reader program.  It's a free download.

When you view Our Family Tree, you have some handy tools.  You can "zoom" it to make it larger and easier to read.  Also, if you click on the little "binoculars" icon, you can search for any name in the tree (including yours).

Transcript of Slater-Long Family List.

Now we have an easy-to-read transcript of this document.

It is a list of family names and birthdates, apparently made by Conrad Slater and Hannah Slater.  The last date written on it is 1846, and it mentions John Shore (who died in 1861), so it probably dates from between those years.

The document mentions "Grandmother Long is still living yet".  Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore's mother is Catherine ("Kitty") Long, who died in 1847.  It might be referring to Mary Ann's maternal grandmother.

The document also mentions how to contact relatives at "Loviettsvill Post Office, Loudon County, Virginia".  It could shed some light on Mary Ann's mother and the Long family.

Now we have a transcript of it in plain text that's easy to read.  Thanks go to Carole for doing the original scan and for helping with the difficult areas of the handwriting.

To see this item, go to our Family Gallery page and click on the link for:

John Shore and Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore

More Items, courtesy of Patricia Bristley.

We have received a dozen new items from Patricia Bristley.

(See the 'What's New' entry for 12 May 2006 for an introduction to Pat and her work.)

Pat has furnished a dozen more photographs from her research into the Brandenburg heritage.  They show some of the descendants of Alexander Henry Brandenburg, the older brother of our ancestor William Henry Brandenburg.

These people were pioneers, and many of them settled around Sandusky County, Ohio.  They lived near the area where our ancestor Mary Ann Brandenburg arrived as a young woman (age 20), traveling in 1835 with her father and family from Maryland.  These were aunts, uncles, and cousins.

To see the new items Pat has sent, go to our Family Gallery page and click on the link for:

The Brandenburg Family

Our family's gratitude again goes to Pat for sharing her research with us.

Many Items, courtesy of Patricia Bristley.

Our family has been fortunate to meet Patricia Bristley.  Pat is a dedicated researcher of the Brandenburg family heritage, having explored many sources in Europe and America.  She has kindly furnished key items from her research to our family heritage.

Pat is descended from Barbara Brandenburg, daughter of Alexander Henry Brandenburg (b. abt. 1721).  Our immediate branch of the family is descended from William Brandenburg, son of William Henry Brandenburg (b. 1722).

Alexander Henry and William Henry are brothers.  Pat and her family, and we in our family, are 'distant' cousins -- going back eight generations.

Pat has furnished photographs, poetry, biographical sketches, and accounts of her research.  Her materials give insight into the lives of our relatives who came to America, who lived, worked, married and brought up their families in the new land.

To see the new items Pat has provided, go to our Family Gallery page and click on the link for:

The Brandenburg Family

Our family's gratitude goes to Pat for sharing her research with us.  It's also a great pleasure to be discussing our mutual heritage with her -- family stories and anecdotes are abundant in this family with such a rich heritage.

Photos of Joseph and Ann Roberts Family.

Twenty-four more photos have been added to our heritage.

The photos date from 1934 to 1952, and show the family of Joseph and Ann Roberts.  They show their four children growing up.

To see these new items, go to our Family Gallery page and click on the link for:

Joseph Oliver Roberts and Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts

Our family's thanks go to Carole for scanning these photos and sending them to our heritage.

Photo of Ernest James Shore.

A new photo of Ernest James Shore has been added to our heritage.

Ernest is the son of Jesse Shore and Anna (Gaffney) Shore.  He is the brother of Mary Louise (Shore) Green, Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts, and Jessie Kathryn (Shore) Kollenberg.

This photo shows Ernest in the Texas oilfields.  It adds to others we have of him at his work there.

To see this new item, go to our Family Gallery page and click on the link for:

Ernest James Shore

Our family's thanks go to Carole for scanning this photo and sending them to our heritage.

Gaffney Family Prayerbooks.

Two new items have been added to our Gaffney heritage.

James Owen Gaffney's prayerbook, "Glories of Mary" is now in our heritage.  It was printed in 1852 and bears his signature.

James Francis Xavier Gaffney's prayerbook, "Garden of the Soul" is also now in our heritage.  It has an inscription: "Present from Rev. Mother De Pazzie, Dec. 25, 1892". James Francis was then 12 years old.

To see these new items, go to our Family Gallery page and click on the link for:

The Gaffney Family

These two prayerbooks were passed down from Anna Agnes (Gaffney) Shore to her daughter Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts, and from her to Carole Ann Roberts.  Carole is the great-granddaughter of James Owen Gaffney, and grandniece of James Francis Xavier Gaffney.

Our family's thanks go to Carole for scanning these family treasures and sending them to our heritage.

More items to our Shore-Gaffney heritage.

Two new items have been added to our heritage.

Anna Gaffney's Baptismal Certificate is now in our heritage.  It shows her date of birth and baptism.  It gives her birthplace as Refugio, Texas, stating it like this: "The Gaffney family was an old family of Refugio, and it is certain that Annie Gaffney was born at Refugio, or nearby."

Jesse Shore's calling card from about 1899-1900 is now in our heritage.  It shows his photograph, taken at a San Francisco studio either before his trip to the Philippines or on his return.  It describes him as in the "U.S. National Army."

To see these new items, go to our Family Gallery page and click on the link for:

Jesse Perry Shore and Anna Agnes (Gaffney) Shore

More items to our Brandenburg Heritage.

Several more items from our Brandenburg family heritage have been added.

A letter is written 15 Jan 1855 by William Brandenburg to his cousin Louisa Cedelia Shore.  Louisa was born 7 Feb 1844, so she received this letter just before her 11th birthday.  She saved the letter and passed it down to her nephew, Jesse Shore.

A list of names in the family of Hannah (Brandenburg) Slater has been added.  Hannah is Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore's sister.  It mentions that "Grandmother Long is still living" -- but there is no date on the document.  "Long" is Mary Ann's mother's maiden name.

Two more letters written by Naomi (Brandenburg) Shepard have been added.  She handled much of the correspondence for the Brandenburg family in the late 1880s, during their efforts to claim titles to the Brandenburg estates in Germany, and for claiming title to land in Baltimore.  The Baltimore property had been owned by Mary Ann's great-grandfather Wilhelm Heinrich Brandenburg, and he had leased it about 1790 (he died in 1796).  The lease was for 99 years, and was due to expire in April 1889.  Naomi's letters describe what the family is doing in these efforts.

To see these new items, go to our Family Gallery page and click on the link for:

The Brandenburg Family

Our family's thanks to Carl for making these items available, and to Carole for scanning them and sending them to our heritage.

Jesse Shore's Land Deed in Illinois.

A deed showing Jesse Shore's land in Illinois has been added to our heritage.

It is a mortgage deed signed in 1899.  Jesse Shore is selling property in Wyoming, Stark County, Illinois to two persons.  He is to receive the sum of four hundred dollars, in one year, for the mortgage of the property.

How he had acquired the land is presently not known.  Possibly he inherited it from his Shore family, as his father William Thomas Shore had died in 1898.  Possibly he might have purchased it.  He had been reared in Wyoming, Illinois by his aunt Louisa Cedelia (Shore) Winn and Marshall Winn.  In 1899 he was headed to The Philippines as a soldier in the Spanish-American War.

To see this new item, go to our Family Gallery page and click on the link for:

Jesse Perry Shore and Anna Agnes (Gaffney) Shore

Letter from James Owen Gaffney.

A new item has just been received from Mike Gaffney.  It is a letter written by James Owen Gaffney in 1893.

This is the first writing we have seen by James Owen.  It's a letter to his cousin, a touching remembrance of his uncle Charles Gaffney, who had just died.

In addition to the personal feelings the letter shows, it also provides some hitherto unknown facts about our family heritage.

It's written on James Owen's stationery showing he was a Judge of the County Court in Refugio, Texas.

It shows that Owen Gaffney (born 1814 in Ireland) was not the only Gaffney to come to America.  It establishes that Owen had at least one brother, Charles Gaffney who settled in New Britain, Connecticut.

It might also begin shedding light on the "unknown" faces in photos in our Gaffney family.  Those photos were taken in New Britain.

To see the letter, go to our Family Gallery page and click on the link for:

The Gaffney Family

Our family's thanks to Mike for providing this important new item to our Heritage.

Photo of Thelma Gaffney.

A photo of Thelma Gaffney has been added to our Heritage.

Thelma is the daughter of John Bernard Gaffney and Jennie Lee (Hudgins) Gaffney.  We have had photos of her and her two brothers as children.  This new photo is the first one showing her as a young woman.

To see this new item, go to our Family Gallery page and click on the link for:

The Gaffney Family

Our family's thanks to Mike Gaffney for sending this new item to our Heritage.

Land Deeds of John Shore and Mary Ann Baker.

As early as 1840 John Shore purchased a land lot in La Fayette, Illinois.  From then to at least 1853 he acquired more properties in Stark and Knox counties.  Besides acquiring two more lots in the La Fayette village, he purchased other properties ranging in size from one-half acre to more than eighty acres.

After his death in 1861, his wife Mary Ann (remarried to Richard C. Baker) had at least two more land transactions in her name.

In 1872 she purchased land from Adam and Mary Dick, who were parents of her son William Shore's first wife Cora (Dick) Shore.  Cora had died just one year before, at the age of 18, while giving birth to their daughter.

In 1876 she deeded part of the Shore land to her husband, R.C. Baker.  The deed is signed by Mary Ann and her children: William Shore and his wife Ianthe Shore, and Louisa Cedelia (Shore) Winn and her husband Marshall Winn.  It's the only document found so far with Ianthe's handwriting, and is quite a remarkable document with all of the family's signatures.

All of these deeds are now in our Family Heritage.  To see these new materials, go to our Family Gallery page and click on the link for:

John Shore and Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore

Our family's thanks to Carl for making these items available, and to Carole for scanning them and providing them to our heritage.

Ianthe (Talbott) Shore's Land Deed; Jesse Shore's Quit-Claim.

A record of Ianthe (Talbott) Shore's land deed, and her son Jesse Shore's quit-claim to it, has been added to our Family Heritage.

Ianthe's parents deeded her 80 acres of land in Nodaway County, Missouri in 1874.  Her parents stipulated that it was to be "for her sole and separate use free from the interference or control of her present or any future husband during her natural life time and at her death to her heirs and their assigns forever."

Ianthe died on 1 Feb 1880, leaving her husband and two young sons age 5 and 2.

In 1907 an attorney notified Jesse Shore, Ianthe's younger son (then age 30), that the family no longer had claim to the land.  It was being occupied by another person who was not in the family.  A quit-claim deed was given to Jesse and his wife Anna Shore, with compensation of $10 to them if it would be signed and returned.

To see these new materials, go to our Family Gallery page and click on the link for:

William Thomas Shore and Ianthe (Talbott) Shore

Our family's thanks to Carl for making these items available, and to Carole for scanning them and sending them to our heritage.

John Shore's Last Will and Testament.

John Shore's Last Will and Testament has been added to our Family Heritage.

John wrote his will on 25 June 1860.  He died eight and a half months later, on 7 March 1861.

He left all his estate and personal property to his "beloved wife", Mary Ann Shore.  He stipulated that at her death, it would go to his three children: Sarah Amanda, Louisa Cedelia, and William Thomas Shore.

Images of his will, with the letter settling the estate after his death, and the receipt issued to Mary Ann for the county clerk's fees, are all in our heritage now.

To see the new materials with the details, go to our Family Gallery page and click on the link for:

John Shore and Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore

Our family's thanks to Carl for making these items available, and to Carole for scanning them and sending them to our heritage.

Update:  The Gaffney Family page.

James Michael Gaffney (Mike) has sent in new information for Owen Phillip Gaffney and his wife Helen (Jordan) Gaffney, and their descendants.

Mike put it all together on a spreadsheet -- parents and children, with their names and dates of their births, marriages, and deaths.  He has added new information right up to and including today's generation.

In Anna (Gaffney) Shore's household, Owen and Helen were fondly known in the family as "Uncle Bud and Aunt Helen".

Thank you, Mike!

Photo of Helen (Jordan) Gaffney family (1945).

James Michael Gaffney (Mike) sent a photo of his branch of the Gaffney family, taken in December 1945.  It shows Helen (Jordan) Gaffney, her three sons, and grandson.

Helen Jordan married Owen Phillip Gaffney (Anna Agnes Gaffney's brother).  The photo shows her with her sons Charles Malcolm (Mike's grandfather), Owen Jordan, and James Russell Gaffney.  The young boy is Jack Owen Gaffney (Mike's father).

Newspaper article about Michael Hugh Gaffney's retirement (1953).

Mike also sent a newspaper clipping describing the retirement of Michael Hugh Gaffney (another of Anna's brothers).  It dates from 1953.

Michael Hugh Gaffney was an oilman with Gulf Oil Company.  He mentions how, in the early oilfields, the work was done by "iron men and wooden derricks" -- whereas modern fields have "wooden men and iron derricks".  The article also mentions the Gaffney family's heritage in Texas.  It's a great read.

To see the new materials, go to our Family Gallery page and click on the link for:

The Gaffney Family

Our family's thanks to Mike for sending these items.

Update:  William T. Shore (160th Anniversary).

Sunday, 16 April 2006 marks the 160th anniversary of the birthday of William Thomas Shore.

William Thomas Shore is the only son of John Shore and Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore.  He was born 16 April 1846 in La Fayette, Stark County, Illinois.

He is the great-grandfather of:

Joseph Roberts, Jr (b. 1933)
James Roberts (b. 1936)
Carole Ann Roberts (b. 1938)
Carl Kollenberg, Jr (b. 1944)
Cheryl Sue Graves (b. 1945).

He is, of course, also great-great-grandfather to their children.

He enlisted in the 112th Illinois Volunteer Regiment in February 1861, at 16 years and 10 months of age.  He was wounded at the Battle of Resaca, Georgia on 14 May 1864 and spent the next 11 months in hospitals.

William died on 18 October 1898.  During his short life he was twice married, and buried both of his young brides and two of their four children.

To see the information about William Thomas Shore, go to our Family Gallery page and click on the link for:

William Thomas Shore and Ianthe (Talbott) Shore

His page in our Family Gallery now includes a receipt he signed at age 13 for the purchase of two hundred pounds of flour.

Update:  All pages.

All of our Family Heritage pages have been updated.

Everything you see in the Family Tree, Heritage, and Kinship pages -- names, dates, relationships, places, for all branches of our family -- photos, documents, and records -- is everything we have found so far.

Feel free to offer any suggestions for improvement, and please keep sending in new information when you find it.

Update:  "The Gaffney Family" page.

Significant changes and additions have been made to our Gaffney family page.

The page is now updated with the Gaffney Bible information sent in by James Michael Gaffney.  Mike is the great-grandson of Owen Phillip Gaffney and Helen (Jordan) Gaffney.

Names, dates, births, and marriages have all been updated, thanks to this new information from Mike.  To see the information (and the Bible images), go to our Family Gallery page and click on the link for:

The Gaffney Family

We are still working on putting the information into the larger family tree, heritage, and kinship pages.  That should be completed in about two days, so watch for an announcement here.

Pages from Gaffney Family Bible.

Seven pages from a Gaffney Family Bible are now in our heritage.

The images were sent in by James Michael Gaffney.  Mike is the great-grandson of Owen Phillip Gaffney and Helen (Jordan) Gaffney.

To see the Bible images, go to our Family Gallery page and click on the link for:

The Gaffney Family

The Bible has the names and dates of family births, marriages, and deaths, and even shows the times of the day.  It shows baptisms with the dates and names of the baptismal priests and sponsors.

A treasure of this kind is more than a resource in a family heritage -- it lets us touch the faith and caring the family had for each other.

The Bible's record fills gaps in our family knowledge.  There are many examples, and here are just three:

• We had census records which let us estimate the year when some of our relatives were born; now we have their exact birthdate and even the hour of their birth.



• We have photos sent to our family from family members with 'nicknames', but we did not know their names.  Now we know.  For example, we have photos from John Bernard and "Lee" Gaffney, but we did not know who "Lee" was.  In this Bible record, now we see that John Bernard Gaffney married Jennie Lee Hudgins on November 6, 1909.



• We had found in census records that Margaret T. O'Reilly was born in England.  From the census, we estimated her birth year to be about 1850.  We did not know her birth date or place, nor the date of her marriage to James Owen Gaffney.  The answer is found in the Bible record -- she was born in Wolverhampton, England on November 19th, 1850.  She married James Owen on Sunday, October 26th, 1869 in San Patricio, Texas.  The priest was Rev. St. Jean.

There are many new facts coming from the entries the Gaffney family wrote into their Bible.  We are now updating our heritage pages with this new information.  When it's done, it will be announced here.

Our family's thanks go to Mike Gaffney for making this treasure available for future generations, and to Jim Roberts for initiating the communication that brought it to light.

Letter and poem to Louisa Cedelia Shore from her cousin Alfred Thomas Shore.

A letter and poem written to Louisa Cedelia Shore, signed by her cousin Alfred Thomas Shore, is now in our heritage.

His poem is "The Evergreen", describing that tree as a symbol of love.

To see it, go to our Family Gallery page and click on the link for:

Marshall Winn and Louisa Cedelia (Shore) Winn

It's also shown in our "Letters" page.

Jesse Shore's envelopes for Illinois properties.

Two envelopes have been added into our heritage.

These envelopes dated 1906 and 1909 show correspondence between Jesse and persons in Illinois.  On one, Jesse has written on the back:

"Release on brick house not recorded yet"

These might show Jesse's interest in determining titles to his grandparents' home and land in Stark County, Illinois.  Newly married and now with a growing family, Jesse and Anna might have looked into the titles of those properties.

To see the envelopes, go to our Family Gallery page and click on the link for:

Jesse Perry Shore and Anna Agnes (Gaffney) Shore

Poem to Louisa Cedelia Shore from her friend Carrie.

A poem written to Louisa Cedelia Shore, signed by her friend "Carrie", is now in our heritage.

Carrie's family name, and the date when she wrote the poem, are not known.

The poem, "I Could Not Call Her Mother", was published in 1853 in a collection titled "Songs the Whalemen Sang".

To see the poem, go to our Family Gallery page and click on the link for:

Marshall Winn and Louisa Cedelia (Shore) Winn

New photograph of Michael T. Gaffney.

A new photograph of Michael T. Gaffney has been added to our Gaffney heritage.  Our thanks go to Michael Westergren for sending this photo.

Michael T. Gaffney (b. 1846) is a son of Owen Gaffney and Catherine (Fadden) Gaffney, early settlers of San Patricio, Texas.  Mike Westergren is descended from Owen and Catherine.

Many of us are descended from Owen and Catherine's other son, James Owen Gaffney (b. 1839) and Margaret (O'Reilly) Gaffney.

Today, we are cousins in our Gaffney heritage.

This photograph sent by Mike matches another that we have from Anna Agnes (Gaffney) Shore, who is daughter of James Owen Gaffney and Margaret (O'Reilly) Gaffney.

To see the two photographs of Michael T. Gaffney, go to our Family Gallery page and click on the link for:

The Gaffney Family

The two photos are from the same sitting at the photographer's studio, and have come into our heritage through two branches of the Gaffney family.  Mike's photo has been given color by the photographer's artist and is framed, while Anna's is a sepiatone and unframed.

Jim Roberts' correspondence with Corpus Christi Cathedral rector.

In March 2006 a discovery was made which has added important new knowledge to our Gaffney heritage.

James Roberts, Anna (Gaffney) Shore's grandson, wrote a letter to the rector of Corpus Christi Cathedral requesting information the cathedral staff might have about the Gaffneys.  A remarkable exchange of letters and e-mail resulted in finding some of our Gaffney relatives.

Welcome to Mike Gaffney and Mike Westergren, our Gaffney family cousins.

These two gentlemen have provided much new information and insight.  We have a new portrait of Michael T. Gaffney.  We have images of pages from a family Bible that gives new information about births, deaths, and marriages in the Gaffney family.

Among the other information, we not only have Anna Gaffney's birthdate confirmed:  the Bible records her being born "between the hours of three and four o'clock A.M. Wednesday the 7th day of February A.D. 1872", and gives the date and names of the priest and her sponsors for her baptism.

We are working on getting our newly found cousins into our family tree and heritage.  Look for new announcements here soon.

We are also working on the new photographs, and on the images of the Gaffney family Bible, to get them into our heritage.

Jim's communication with the rector of the Corpus Christi Cathedral is now part of our family heritage.  Go to our Family Gallery page, and click on the link for:

The Gaffney Family

You'll find Jim's letter, the rector's reply, and Jim's e-mail announcement to the family.

John Shore poem of 1836.

A poem written by John Shore in 1836 has been added to our heritage.

Born about 1802 in England, John came to America about 1832.  He married Mary Ann Brandenburg in Ohio on 14 February 1838 (Valentine's Day).

Prior to finding this poem, we had no record of John going to Ohio.  We do have a letter by Mary Ann describing her family moving to Ohio, but until now we had nothing to link John Shore there.

Now with this poem we have a record of him in Ohio as a young man, before marrying, in his own handwriting.

Our family's thanks go to Debra Tasker for transcribing the poem and a lot more:  she researched the location where John Shore wrote the poem ("Cats Creek, Ohio"), and provided insight into what life must have been like for him at that time.

You'll find it on the "Letters" page, and also in the Family Gallery page for John Shore.

New Kollenberg family photos.

New photos for the Kollenberg family have been added to our heritage pages.  To see them, go to the Family Gallery.  Then click on the link for:

Carl Joseph Kollenberg and Jessie Kathryn (Shore) Kollenberg

A portrait of Mary Kollenberg from about 1910 is included, along with many pictures of Carl and Jessie, and of the Kollenberg family together.

All of the Kollenberg family photos that we have are now in the heritage.  If you have any that you'd like to see included, please send them in.  Also any letters, notes, recollections and remembrances of the family are certainly welcome and will be appreciated by future generations.

More new photos for the Green family.

New photos for Louise (Shore) Green and her family are now in our heritage pages.

To see them, go to the Family Gallery.  Then click on:

Carl DeFord Green and Mary Louise (Shore) Green.

Many thanks to Carl for these photos and to Carole for the excellent scans.

New photos for Kollenberg and Roberts families.

More than a dozen new photos for the Kollenberg and Roberts families have been added to our heritage pages.

To see them, go to the Family Gallery.  Then click on one of these pages:

Carl Joseph Kollenberg and Jessie Kathryn (Shore) Kollenberg

Joseph Oliver Roberts and Margaret Ann (Shore) Roberts.

Many more photos have been received from Carl and Carole, and they will be coming into our heritage pages soon.

New "Quick View" page.

Now you can get a quick view of our family from the time they immigrated from England, Germany, and Ireland.

It's a good introduction for visitors who might not be familiar with our family's heritage.

You'll see the "Quick View" link near the top of the main page.

Image of Jacob Brandenburg's signature.

Jacob Brandenburg's signature has been found and added to our heritage.

Jacob came to America in 1766 on the ship "Sally".  The ship sailed from Rotterdam, Holland, stopped at Portsmouth, England, and arrived at Philadelphia on 4 November 1766.

When the ship landed in Philadelphia, male passengers 16 years of age or older were required to take the oath of allegiance to their new country.  Their signatures were witnessed by the Mayor of Philadelphia.

Now we have a picture of that document with Jacob's signature on it.

Jacob was the younger brother of William Henry Brandenburg, who had come to America with his wife Anna fourteen years earlier, in 1752.

Our family is descended from William and Anna Brandenburg.  They raised their family in Frederick County, Maryland.  Jacob also lived in that area, and married there.  The two families grew together, so possibly Jacob's descendants today have records and documents that mention our family.

You can find the new document in two places.  It's in our Family Gallery for "The Brandenburg Family", and it's also on the "Odds and Ends" page.

Image of William Henry Brandenburg's signature.

William Henry Brandenburg's signature -- his own handwriting -- has been found and added.

He came to America in 1752 with his wife Anna and brother Mathias.  He was 30 years of age at that time.

They sailed in the ship "Two Brothers" from Rotterdam, Holland, stopped at Cowes on the Isle of Wight, and landed in Philadelphia on 15 September 1752.

When the ship disembarked in Philadelphia, male passengers 16 years of age or older were required to take the oath of allegiance to their new country.  Their signatures were witnessed by the Mayor of Philadelphia.

Now we have a picture of the document with William's signature on it.  Mathias (age 14) did not sign it.

Today our family is descended from the marriage of William and Anna Brandenburg.  If you're in our family today, you are their direct descendant or you're married to someone who is.

You can find the new document in two places.  It's in our Family Gallery for "The Brandenburg Family", and it's also on the "Odds and Ends" page.

Carl and Jessie Kollenberg photos.

More photos of Carl and Jessie Kollenberg and their family have been added to our heritage.

Now we have some photos of Carl and Jessie as a young man and young lady.

There's also a formal photo of Carl's parents, Henry and Mary Kollenberg, dressed for their wedding day.  That photo must date from before 1910.

Our thanks to Carl for sharing these photos with the family, and thanks also to Carole for making the scans.

You'll find the new photos in the Family Gallery.  On that page, click on the link for Carl Joseph Kollenberg and Jessie Kathryn (Shore) Kollenberg.

Photos of Ernest James Shore.

New photos of Ernest James Shore have been added to our heritage.

Our thanks to Carl for making the photos available for the family.  Thanks to Carole for the excellent scans.

You'll find them in the Family Gallery.  On that page, click on the link for Ernest James Shore.

Photos of Louise (Shore) Green and Thomas Green.

More photos of Louise (Shore) Green and her son Thomas have been added to our heritage.

Our thanks to Carl for making these photos available, and to Carole for scanning them.

You'll find them in the Family Gallery.  On that page, click on the link for Carl DeFord Green and Mary Louise (Shore) Green.

Biography of Winn family.

A new biography of the Winn family has been found and added to our heritage.

You'll find it in the Family Gallery.  On that page, click on the link for Marshall Winn and Louisa Cedelia (Shore) Winn.  It's about halfway down the page in their heritage.  Look for the entry called "Marshall and Louisa Biography".

It's a long biography, covering the Winn family in Stark County, Illinois.  Scroll about halfway down, and you'll see the part about Marshall Winn.

Marshall and Louisa took their nephew Jesse Shore into their home, after the death of his mother in February of 1880.  Jesse was then two years and 10 months old.  They brought him up from a small child, through his boyhood to young adulthood, in their home.

This new biography mentions some of the life of Marshall and Louisa (Shore) Winn.  It shows them as members of their community, active in civic and church organizations.  It shines some light on the kind of home life Jesse knew as a boy.  Jesse is briefly mentioned in it, by name.

All members of our family today are descended from Jesse Shore, or are married to someone who is descended from him..

Letter from William Thomas Shore (John Shore's nephew).

William Thomas Shore's letter added to our heritage.

(See the 'Help Needed' entry, 4 Feb 2006.)

The letter, written 1850 by a soldier in the field, is not easy to read because of its handwriting and English dialect.

Debbie Tasker transcribed the letter and now we have it in our Family Heritage.  Our family's thanks go to Debbie for taking on the task and doing a marvelous job with it.

You'll find it on the Letters page, and also on John and Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore's page in the Family Gallery.

More Photos of Stark County, Illinois.

New photos have been added showing scenes in Stark County, Illinois.

John and Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore settled on 82 acres of land in 1841, at La Fayette, Stark County.  They brought up their children there.

As adults the children lived in La Fayette and Wyoming, Stark County.  Family records were kept at the courthouse in Toulon, the county seat.  We have some new photos of these towns.  You'll also find some aerial photos and maps.

All of this is on your "Odds and Ends" page.  At the main page, click on "Odds and Ends".  Then click on "Stark County, Illinois".

1752 Ship's Passenger List.

We now have a partial list of passengers on the ship that brought our ancestor William Henry Brandenburg, his wife, and his younger brother to America in 1752.

It's from a 1934 book that lists the passengers from the original courthouse record.

In 1752 only the "adult male" passengers (males age 16 or over) were recorded.  William Henry sailed with his wife Anna and his brother Mathias, who was then just 14 years of age.

You can find it on the "Odds and Ends" page.  At our main page, click on "Odds and Ends".  Then click on "Brandenburg Notes -- America".

Brandenburg Biography.

We now have a biography of a Brandenburg relative, and it mentions our own family.  Today we are all cousins to the family in the biography.

It's from a 1910 book that shows our family among the early settlers in Frederick County, Maryland.

Perhaps today their descendants might have a Bible, letters, or other records about our family.

You can find it on the "Odds and Ends" page.  At our main page, click on "Odds and Ends".  Then click on "Brandenburg Notes -- America".

Early Home Life description.

We have a description of the home life of the early German settlers in Frederick County, Maryland.

It's from an 1910 book, and it lists our Brandenburg and Bussard ancestors among the early settlers.  (Our family is descended from the marriage of William Henry Brandenburg and Catherine Bussard.)

You can find it on the "Odds and Ends" page.  At our main page, click on "Odds and Ends".  Then click on "Brandenburg Notes -- America".

Picture of Frederick County Courthouse.

We found an early picture of the Frederick County, Maryland courthouse.

It's from an 1899 book describing "life of a hundred years ago" in the Washington D.C. and Maryland area.

Several of our Brandenburg ancestors were born in Frederick County.  They lived there, married there, and had children there.  Probably that little building held their family records.

It's on our "Odds and Ends" page.

Help Needed:  to Read a Letter.

Can someone help in reading a letter?

Note: 3 Mar 2006

Debbie Tasker has transcribed the letter.  Now you can read it in the Family Gallery, on the John Shore page.  Thank you, Debbie!

This letter was recently found in Carl's materials.  It was scanned and sent in by Carole.

It's written from Mullingar, Ireland, on June 29, 1850 by William Thomas Shore.

It's apparently written to his uncle and aunt, probably John Shore and Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore, who were living in Illinois.  It was passed down in the family to their grandson, Jesse Shore.

Note ... John and Mary Ann named their only son William Thomas (born 1846).

It isn't easy to read, but it describes his service and being wounded as a British soldier in Ireland.

Can you help by trying to read this letter, and typing out a transcript in plain text?

Question:  Did more Shore family relatives come to America?

A letter was sent in by Carole recently.  It adds to the possibility that some of John Shore family relatives came from England to America.

We are all descended from the marriage of John Shore and Mary Ann Brandenburg in 1838 (or we're married to someone who is descended from them).  Until now we have found John Shore as the only Shore family relative coming to America.

Now some more information has surfaced.

Here's the letter:  Page  1  2  3

This letter sent in by Carole was found in Carl's materials.  It is written from Albertus Shore to his brother Jesse Shore (they are John Shore's grandchildren).  The letter is dated September 29, 1918.  It mentions two Shore men being "wounded in action" (probably in World War I), and says that one of them might be a Shore relative living in North Carolina.

The letter continues:

"... as I have heard father speak of his father having a bro start from England, to land somewhere down the coast there."

We already have letters written in the 1850s to John Shore in America from his brother Thomas in England.  They asked for John's help in getting Thomas's family to America.  Unfortunately John Shore died in 1861, so we don't have any letters after that.

We also have some empty envelopes addressed to John Shore and his family.  Some are postmarked in England, and others are postmarked in New York and Chicago.  They have the same handwriting.

All we have are the empty envelopes; the letters have not been found yet.  It's curious that letters postmarked in England and in America have the same handwriting.  It was suggested that maybe they were handed to someone who was sailing from England to America, and then were just mailed in America.

Now this new letter found by Carole and Carl raises a new chance that maybe someone else in the Shore family did come to America.

Here we have a new letter.  In it, a son remembers his father saying that his father talked about another Shore relative coming to America.  This is the first time we've found anything like that.

If that did happen, it must have been John Shore who had talked about it, and he died in 1861.  We could have new cousins living here today.  Their families might have some letters and photos, maybe sent to them from our family.  Also, they might like to see the ones we have.

We need someone to do some searching, maybe in some Carolina census records.

Free Software is Available.

We still have some free Genealogy software to give away.  It's available to anyone in our family who wants it.  With it you can do your own family heritage research.

There are several programs.  They use a universal format, so you can swap and share genealogy information with others.  If you're interested in having one of these programs, please send an e-mail to Joe.

About this "What's New" page.

The Family Message Board has been replaced by this "What's New" page and our E-Mail link.

If you have some family news, photos, announcements, and anything else you'd like to share in the family, please let us know by E-Mail.