One Million Grandparents In Only 20 Generations

In just 20 Generations we have over One Million Grandparents. Think of all the stories all the love that ended in our life.

It is fairly easy to get information on most of our 5th great grandparents to know who they are and how they lived. 

I do have a problem with one line but maybe with more research and time I could figure out something on that line. 

This year I hope to go deeper into each of these generations

Who Are My Great Grandparents

Recently I was talking with a woman in Texas about my age ( early 60's). For some reason I asked her what her grandmother's maiden name was. She surprised me by not knowing what it was. I do not think she was even interested in knowing the information.
I sometimes forget there are two different people. Us who live family history, always thirsting for more information and those who have no interest at all.
How many of your great grandparents can you name?
Here are mine
1. Jonathan Adam Zion b 29 Sept 1861 Decatur County Iowa d 07 April 1927 Craig Colorado
2. Rachel Ann Millsap b 19 April 1862 Mount Ayr Colorado d 13 May 1945
3. Arthur Reynolds Hall b 19 Sept 1863 d 08 July 1919 Colorado
4. Mabel Jane Coleman b 01 July 1872 Greenwood Nebraska d 14 March 1947 Arkansas while visiting family.
5.William Albert Day b 15 Oct 1867Rome New York d Feb 1920 Sacred Heart Minnesota
6. Carrie B Lockwood b 07 October 1870 d April 1946 Minnesota
7. Andrew Daly information unknown at this time b abt 1870's death unknown would think he was born in the LaCrosse Wisconsin area and probably lived and died that. I have hints of who he may have been as a teen but need to work on this in the future
8. Katherine Ellen Gallaher/ Gallagher 10 May 1874 LaCrosse Wisconsin d 19 March 1940 Mora Minnesota

Recently I was reading a post by Randy Seaver and he listed the occupation of his male ancestors back six generations. That would be interesting. I am sure most of mine were farmers. Will have to work on that information in the future.

Thanks for stopping by... grace

Who Were My Great Grandparents Part 8

This the last of my Great Grandparents. Number 8 is Mabel Jane Coleman.

Mabel was born July 1st 1872 in Greenwood, Nebraska to John Henry and Alta Angeline ( Cheuvront ) Coleman. She was the second born of five children having two brothers Elic and Elmer and two sisters Alta and Mary.

The early years of her life was spent in Nebraska. Her parents traveled many times during her youth.

She married Arthur Hall in Denver Colorado August 28, 1891. They had three daughters. The oldest being my grandma Alta.

She was a christian woman being baptised in Nebraska and later years became a member of the Lutheran Church her last twelve years. She spent her last years in the Black Hills territory with her two daughters Mae and Pearl after her husband Arthur passed away.

She passed away March 1946 in Arkansas while visiting her sister Mary Wirsig and is now buried in Crawford, Nebraska next to her husband.

Who Were My Great Grandparents Part 7

I am now at Great Grandparent number 7... This is my great grandfather Arthur Reynolds Hall.

He was born September 19, 1863 to George and Louisa ( Reynolds) Hall in Evansville, Wisconsin.

He was the oldest child of four children. His siblings were Florence, Marcus and George.

Arthur attended the School at Union Township at the Stone School House built in the 1870's. He graduated from from the Evansville Seminary in 1844. After his adventures in Denver, Colorado he married Mabel Coleman on August 28, 1891.

They had three children the oldest my grandmother Alta. They moved to Chicago, Illinois and lived there for seven years. This was during the time of the Chicago World's Fair. He had a small heart shaped souvenir that he gave to Mabel. This has been passed down to me and is one of my most prized treasures..

He was a carpenter most of his life and may of worked on building the fair.

In 1898 he moved to Nebraska and lived in Geneva and Taylor and in 1919 moved to Crawford.

Shortly after he died of hardening of the arteries around the heart while visiting his daughter Alta in Colorado.

He was brought back to Crawford, Nebraska and buried there.

Who Were My Great Grandparents Part 6

This is number six of my great grandparents. Rachel Millsap who married my great grandparent Adam Zion ( great grandparent number five).

Rachel was the daughter of Flavious and Anna (Woodmansee) Millsap who was born April 19, 1862 in Mount Ayr Ringgold, Iowa. She was the oldest of 1o children.

By reading my great grandfather Adam's information all the marriage and children information can be found.

She out lived her husband 18 years living her last years in Washington state with her children.

The following story is from the Zion family cookbook from a family reunion. It was told by my dad's cousin Ray. ( He was named after her)

" Grandma Zion ( Rachel Millsap) she lived in the converted chicken house in Craig, Colorado. She would have a nice hot meal for me, and ply me with Saveway gingersnaps. We would play dominos or checkers or chinese checkers until bedtime. She had a little gas heater in the front room but the bedrooms were unheated. The house had four rooms , a kitchen, a front room and two bedrooms. Grandma always had a bottle of hot water or heated bricks wrapped in a towel to place at my feet in the bed, and lots of beautiful hand quilted comforters to keep me snug and warm through the night. She was a wonderful grandmother.

Her recipe for love .. to treat me as her equal and always do a few little extra things to make me feel wanted or welcome.

I remember the hand made soap she used to do her dishes and clothes. I remember her long white hair that she always wound up in a top knot. I remember her deep blue eyes. I remember I only heard her use one swear word. I did here her use it three or four times when she had cause to be disturbed. It was especially effective because of her rarity of use of such words around me. ( It was a four letter world meaning manure). I remember the winter she fell and fractured her skull, and her almost miraculous recovery.

For some reason she would not eat fish. Near the end of World War two she came to Washington to spend the rest of her days. On one occasion there were quite a few people at the kitchen table for dinner. Salmon patties had been prepared. Grandma Rachel had never eaten Salmon patties before and no one informed her of their content. She was on her third helping when someone asked her if she knew what she was eating. When they told her she said " OMPHH , pushed back the plate with the remaining fish and would eat no more.
She passed away on mother's day May 15, 1945 while visiting one of her sons of a heart attack.

She was brought back to Colorado to be buried next to her husband Adam.

Sounds like she was a warm loving woman. Of course I am to young to have know her but how I wish I could of met her.

Who Were My Great Grandparents Part 5 Jonathan Zion Rachel Millsap

This is the fifth of my great grandparents. My first four great grandparents were from my mother's side of the family. Now I am sharing from my dad's side of the family.

This is Jonathan Adam Zion my dad's grandfather. His son Perry was my father's father.

Jonathan was born September 29, 1861 in Decatur county Iowa to John Henderson and Mary Margaret (Cossill ) Zion. He was called Adam most of the time.

When he was sixteen years old he left home to learn the blacksmith trade. After spending four years as an apprentice he followed his trade for 20 years.

He married Rachel Millsap February 11, 1886 near Lamoni Iowa and soon moved to Kendal Kansas.












Their first child was Perry who was born December 12, 1886. In the winter of 1888 / 89 they moved to Tuskgee Iowa where their second child Norton was born. They moved back Decatur Co where their two daughters Etta and Gertrude were born during that time. They moved to Diagonal Iowa around 1894 where the youngest daughter Bessie was born.In 1900 they moved to Hope Idaho. After this they resided in Minnesota before moving by wagon to Nebraska in 1909. In 1916 they went with many other homesteaders by train to Moffat County Colorado arriving March 22, 1916.

Family memories tell that he like to chew tobacco and raised sheep. One time he turned his back on the big Ram and got butted. He was a large man around the waist. My uncle Joe tells of trying on his pants and he could of gotten them around him twice. Uncle Joe was no small man. Grandma Rachel was probably a great cook.

Adam's health began to deteriorate due to the hard work of being a blacksmith and he retired to the farm.

He developed the family brand in 1907 and this branding iron is still used today by my cousins on their cattle. It is a Z with quarter circle under the Z.

My grandpa Perry is the handsome man on the left

In about 1926 he went to Denver to see the doctors about the cancer he had. He was unable to work after this and spent time with his grandchildren giving them memories that they have passed on to the family.

Adam passed away April 07 1927 and is buried in the Craig Cemetery in Craig Colorado.

Who Were My Great Grand Parents Part 4 Katherine Gallaher

Today is about my great grandmother Katherine Gallaher. Katherine was born May 10, 1873 to Patrick and Johanna ( Riordan ) Gallaher. She was born in Hamburg, Vernon Wisconsin. In 1893 she was married to Appleton Esler December 12, 1893 at the Methodist parsonage in La Crosse Wisconsin. She spent most of her life in the Mora, Minnesota area. She had a total of three children by birth, Grace, Merle and Jesse Wayne. Appleton had two children with his previous wife. They were Tillie and Russell. Katherine helped to raise them. I know very little of her life which is a real shame. She had my grandmother Grace in 1892 out of wedlock. At that time this was a great shame and I am told her parents turned her picture to the wall. She was raised Catholic and left that faith and became Methodist which also I would think strained the relationship with her parents.

Katherine died March 19, 1940 in Ogilive, Minnesota and is buried at the cemetery in Mora, Minnesota next to Appleton. Appleton died in 1938.

My picture is Katherine and Appleton in Ogilive during the 1930's

Who Were My Great Grand Parents Part 3 Andrew Daly

For part 3 to this series I am reposting my brick wall post. This is Andrew Daly he was my grandmother's father. This is all I know for now.

This is my super brick wall. My grandmother Grace was born in July of 1892 in Minnesota, but her mother never married her father. Great grandmother did marry in December of 1893, to a wonderful man who raised my grandmother as his own.
I was never really told much about my grandmother's birth father while growing up.They did tell me his name. We were led to believe that he was a no good scoundrel who took off for Chicago. I wish my grandmother would have talked about him, but she was of another generation. That is all we got, he was no good and went to Chicago.It was not until my mother and uncle were getting older that they finally pulled out a picture of him some time in 2000. My darling uncle even whispered "Our little mama was illegitimate."At least we have a name and a picture. This is one of my great grandfather's. His name is Andrew. I really doubt he went to Chicago.I tried to get my grandmother's birth certificate but no luck as there is none available to the public. I have searched the census in the area where I think he may have lived and may have found him. I even found a cemetery in the area with a grave with the same name as his.But until I find some one with the same photo on the Internet I will really never know that I have found him. All I have is this photo of a handsome young man. His name is Andrew and he is one of my grandfathers. For what ever reason they never married. He probably was a good man who moved on after he and my great grandma never got together. He probably married , had children and died.I do know he saw my grandma Grace at least once. My great grandma's brother had died in an accident in 1911. Andrew came to the funeral. My great grandma said " Andrew this is our Grace"How I wish my grandma Grace had talked about him and anything else she may have known about him and his family. She never did and this one photo is all I have .

Who Were My Great Grand Parents Part 2 Carrie Lockwood Day

This a tin type picture of Carrie Lockwood Day Warner and her sister Mae Lockwood taken about 1875

I want to tell you about my great grandmother Carrie Lockwood Day. Sadly I do not have as much information on her as her husband William Albert. My Uncle Don told me that everyone adored her.


Carrie was born to John Lockwood and Betsy Jane Eddington on October 07 1870 in Blue Earth Minnesota.


Carrie married William Albert Day January 09 1889. Nine months and 22 days later my grandfather was born. Seven more children were born over the next years.

Here she is pictured with her husband William A. Day and my grandfather William H. Day. I love this picture so much. How cute is my grandpa Willie?

If you read her husbands history you see he was an entrepreneur. She was not in the lime light, he was. I would guess she held this family together taking care of the children and the home.



This picture was taken probably in late 1913 or early 1914. Pictured is my grandfather William holding his first child my Aunt Daisy who was born January 26, 1913. My great grandma Carrie is sitting on the left and her mother Betsy (Eddington) Lockwood on the right. This was taken some where in Minnesota. I have this picture in a large size framed in an antique gold frame. It hung in my grandparents home and was passed on to me and now hangs in my home in my bedroom.









This is the family about 1917.

My grandfather is pictured 4 from the left back row.

Above grandma Carrie is pictured with her son Fairfax Day in McGregor July 3, 1942, taken at a lake in McGregor.

She remarried some time after William A Day died to George Warner. She lived in McGregor Minnesota till her death on April 2, 1946.
She is buried at a cemetery outside of Sacred Heart Minnesota next to William A Day.

Who Were My Great Grand Parents part 1 William Albert Day

I want to introduce you to my great grandparents. Each of us has eight great grandparents so that is a lot of research and history. Who were these people? They are part of me. What I am is because of them. My size, features and even health is part of them.

These are people I never knew. They all had passed on before I came on the scene and sadly my family never talked much about them. All I have is a few pictures , a few memories past on by family members and the Internet to gather my history.

This is my great grandfather William Albert Day and one of his little brothers.

William was born October 15 1867 in Rome, New York to Dwight Henry and Betsy Ann Anderson Day.

He met and married Carrie Betsy Lockwood January 09 1889 in Big Stone Minnesota.

Below is the picture of William Albert and Carrie ( Lockwood) Day with Willie ( my grandpa) 1890/1891

This marriage produced eight children Fairfax, Dewey, William Henry ( my grandfather ), Morris Fred, Bernard, Gladys, Grace, Lester.

1902/1903
The above picture is of William Albert's thrashing machine in North Dakota about 1910. Man on far right is his brother Franklin.

In the early days of his marriage William A. Day engaged in farming in the western part of Minnesota. About the turn of the century he moved to Mora, Minnesota in the central part of the state where he engaged in a number of business ventures for the next few years. He had a special touch for money making and would buy a business, keep it briefly and turn it for a nice profit. Such endeavors included a livery stable, a saloon and a combined furniture store and undertaking business.

In the spring of 1911 he launched a successful step that was most unusual even in that day. Along with a co worker whose last name was Pease, he started a bank in Sacred Heart, Minnesota. The community had earlier experienced a bank failure that had been costly for the patrons so such a bold move was indeed a gamble, both for William and the community.

After a slow, shaky start he gradually gained the confidence of the township people. By this time Mr. Pease had become discouraged and departed for other areas. William took his son Morris, as his co worker. They were the President, Teller, Bookkeeper, etc all wrapped in one. There was no secretary and no computers in those days. The damp, musty smelling paper money that gradually arrived in deposits, told its own story. Cautious investors had buried their cash for a time to protect it against loss.

Sacred Heart Bank was a huge success, and not only was William personally successful but he became a very highly respected citizen, active in many community affairs that included an influential School Board Member.

His career was cut short by an early death from Diabetes at the age of 52 in Renville Minnesota. In February 1920 Sacred Heart turned out in record number to bid a final farewell to one they had learned to love and respect.

Here is a copy of his obituary

Renville Star Farmer Renville, Reville County, Minnesota February 19, 1920 Sacred Heart News

Those from out of town who attended the funeral of W.A.Day were: Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Johnston, of Clinton, Mn, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Wiley of Ortonville: Mrs. Betsy Lockwood, of Minneapolis; Mr. John Lockwood of Minneapolis; Mr. and Mrs. R.C. Nolton, Mr.and Mrs. Lonzo Nolton, Mr. Ollie Getchell and Otto Krishbaum and son, Arnold of Granite Falls, and Charlie Hinsch of Granite Falls.

The Funeral of Wm. A Day was held Wednesday at the Trinity Lutheran Church. Rev. Nobbs conducting the service. Mr. and Mrs. Melsness sang a duet and Miss Allie Fieldhammer sang a solo. A large number of friends were in attendance to pay their last respects to the departed. He leaves to mourn his early death, his aged mother, Mrs. Betsy Day, his wife, and eight children, Willie, Dewey, Morris, Fairfax, Bernard, Lester, Grace and Gladys. The Pall bearers were chosen from the business men of town and were: H. O. Skalbeck, J. N. Stenborg, Nels Hove, Torlief Arestand, J. H. Paulson and O. C. Sparstad.

William is buried in a small cemetery on the outskirts of Sacred Heart. His wife Carrie is buried at his side as well. There is also the grave of a baby. I do not know who this is.
The pictures of Sacred Heart , the bank building and their headstone were taken on a trip to Sacred Heart to find his and Carrie's graves in about 2000.