I invited my friend Alden from Santa Fe to the campout this year and I had this idea to ask people how he was related to the Walker's as he and I look a bit alike. Last night he gave me a booklet he received from his father-in-law that was a genealogical story of early Walkers. I pulled up some of the work from H. Ray and was floored to realize that there was a common ancestor. In fact H. Ray had found the same book compiled in 1930 and deposited at the Indiana State Library. He had typed the information from the book in duplicate. That is meticulous work in a time when ready access to a copy machine was not common.
Alden's late wife Carolyn was a granddaughter of Laura (Walker) Ames. That means that Carolyn and I are 5th cousins. Believe it or not, Alden married into our extended family. The common grandfather of us first cousins was Raleigh Clinton Walker born in 1865. His great-grandfather Robert Jr. was a brother to Richard, and Richard is from whom Carolyn was descended. In other words Carolyn and I shared a g-g-g-g grandfather whose name was Robert Walker (Sr.) born in 1748 and was from North Carolina.
It gets even better. One of the descendants of Richard Walker (Mary, b 1846) married Eli Keefer. Eli and Mary had 6 children, Bert, Mamie, Edna Emma, Leona, Charles, & Earl. Some of you may recognize the Keefer name in our family.
It is indeed a small world. We are looking forward to seeing many of you on Friday and more on Saturday.
Tom
6 comments:
My mother's maiden name is Keefer.
Welcome to the family, Alden. I look forward to meeting you.
Coleen, you do realize that this could mean that your father and mother are cousins? Are you sure they are not from the Hollers of Kentucky? Do you know your grandfather Keefer?
My mom's dad was Glen Dale Keefer and was born in Warsaw, IN. He also had a brother Hershal and a half brother, Melvin Keefer. I didn't know my grandfather Keefer. He died when I was one. Mom'm mom died when mom was 4 years old. She was raised by her aunt and uncle, Myrtle and Bill Bateman. That is who I called Grandma and Grandpa. Mom looked in the family Bible, and found that they came from Pennsylvania and some settled in Ohio. Mom's grandfather was named Francis Everret Keefer, born Dec 29, 1872. Mom will plan to bring her family history to the reuion this weekend. See you then!
Tom,I know that I have told you this story before but will relate it to the rest of the family. We also have a distance cousin on the Moore side in New Mexico. One of the Moore's (I forget which one) moved to Iowa from Indiana. As I recall that is her great(maybe great-great) grandfather. I haven't talked to her for about seven years so I don't have an any more recent information from her. She is an actress that portrays historical persons. She was portraying Susan Shelby Magoffin, the first Anglo woman, to travel down the Santa Fe Trail and down into Mexico via the Chihuahua trail. It is from here diary that the name for Las Cruces was chosen for the townsite in 1849. Susan talks of their rest stop near the place of the crosses (las cruces in spanish). Susan Magoffin was the granddaughter of Gov Shelby of Kentucky. Any way, Van Ann Moore did an excellent job of portraying her and I listened to her recollection of the Moores.
Tom,I know that I have told you this story before but will relate it to the rest of the family. We also have a distance cousin on the Moore side in New Mexico. One of the Moore's (I forget which one) moved to Iowa from Indiana. As I recall that is her great(maybe great-great) grandfather. I haven't talked to her for about seven years so I don't have an any more recent information from her. She is an actress that portrays historical persons. She was portraying Susan Shelby Magoffin, the first Anglo woman, to travel down the Santa Fe Trail and down into Mexico via the Chihuahua trail. It is from here diary that the name for Las Cruces was chosen for the townsite in 1849. Susan talks of their rest stop near the place of the crosses (las cruces in spanish). Susan Magoffin was the granddaughter of Gov Shelby of Kentucky. Any way, Van Ann Moore did an excellent job of portraying her and I listened to her recollection of the Moores.
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