Roots that give you wings

I have to admit that I have a passion for genealogy. I can get lost researching for hours and hours at a time. As I think back to when this all began I realized that it has truly been a lifelong effort. I can remember going to visit relatives in Everett, Washington when I was five or six years old and being put to bed in the living room on the floor. I would stay awake as long as I could to listen to my parents telling stories with Dad's cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandfather about their earlier years. Even though I don't remember the stories, I remember the feelings I had about my family and how important they were and are to me. On one of those visits I remember asking my great grandfather if he came west in a covered wagon. He was born in 1866 and laughed when I asked that question. He said he didn't. My grandmother (his daughter) entrusted her genealogy records to me when I was just 16 years old. I am not sure why she felt I should have them but they have been treasured by me ever since.

I have spent countless hours working at putting our family history together. Along the way I was able to gather pictures here and there.

These are my great grandparents (on my mom's side) Christian Joachim Christopher Dau and Frederica Christine Johanna Giese who were married 28 Nov 1860 in Germany. Until I started my quest to find out exactly where they came from in Germany I did not know that they had twin daughters who died at six months and 18 months - before they came to America in 1866. They came to America with their two surviving children, Mary and August. They went on to have six more children - my grandfather being one of them.

The second picture is of six of their sons. My grandfather is William - seated second from left.

Here is my great, great grandfather (on my dad's side of the family) Amandus Theodor Behlers who married Marie Elizabeth Schwemer on 7 Mar 1866 in Chicago, Illinois. They both came from Germany - he in 1862 and she about 1864. I have never found out if they met in the United States or knew each other in Germany. I couldn't find a picture of Marie but here is a picture of their daughter Emma Fredericka Dorathea Behlers. (She was married to my great grandfather that I asked if he came west in a covered wagon.) She died 36 years before he did and he never remarried.