Effie L Stephens - To Soon Gone

It is always the little ones that tug at my heart when walking a cemetery in search of relations and ancestors. My mind has been flitting back to little Effie L Stephens all day long. She was so small and so young when she died there would never be any descendants to remember her. Her short life might never be recorded if not for this little blog.

Effie was the daughter and first child of Almond Michael and Elizabeth Ann (Bosanko) Stephens. She was born about September 26, 1877 and lived only fourteen days, dying on October 10, 1877. I don't know the cause of death - whether she was sickly from the start or died suddenly without a symptom. I only know her death must have been devastating to her parents and relatives. A great loss to everyone.

We will never know the person she would have become because she never had the opportunity to be more than a sweet angel in her mother's arm. At least, for now, she is not forgotten.

Hillside Cemetery, Platteville, Wisconsin

~ Becky

Starting a New Project With a New Outlook

Just a quick note to say I'm anxious to embark on my new adventure in family history research and writing. I have done some work of these families - Davey, Ellstrom, Stephens, Christiansen -  in the past but haven't focused on them for a few years. I've already begun the process of looking over what I already have and determining what I need to do next.

The Davey and Stephens lines are both from Cornwall, England, the Ellstroms are from Sweden, and the Christiansen line is from Denmark. I'll be looking into those areas to some degree but, as is my usual way, the focus will be the family is this Country. The Davey and Stephens are mostly Dodgeville and Platteville, Wisconsin and the Ellstrom and Christiansen lines settled in Marquette and Ishpeming, Michigan.

I'll be looking at each line separately, of course, but I'm also interested in how they came together to eventually produce the center it all, Alice Davey.

Alice Davey abt 1933

Just in case you noticed, I changed the color scheme of this blog, it's because blue was Alice's favorite color.

I hope you'll come along with me on the journey.

~ Becky

My Leisure Book Is Out

Check out my post on my Leisure Family blog to get information for printing  the book. Also, information about getting the free PDF file.

Will soon begin a new project!

One Inspirational Person

Life sometimes places special people in your path, people who inspire you to accomplishment without any direct communication. I’m not talking about famous philosophers or well-known celebrities. I’m talking about people who go through their lives not even knowing the great affect they have on others.

Recently one of those exceptional people in my life, Sandy Granholm, passed away far too soon.

I had just seen her at the Elgin Genealogical Society’s (EGS) meeting in late January where she presented her third family history book to the Gail Borden Public Library. She appeared in good health and was her normal, jovial, smiling self. We had a short but interesting conversation about publications.

Researching, writing and publishing are the areas in which Sandy inspired me the most.  She had been a leader of EGS long before I joined in 1995 and was well on her way towards publishing her findings even when I was just a fledgling. She didn’t flaunt her abilities but gave quiet encouragement. She was simply Sandy going about her business and, by example, motivating others.

Since having met her I’ve published, in various forms, two family lines and two individual’s stories. I’m currently trying to decide how to best publish my Leisure line. This one I aspire to be as profession as Sandy’s work. I’ll miss not being able to get more advice from Sandy but am so happy I had the opportunity to know and learn from her.

~ Becky