August 2011
This blog and my journey are both works in progress. I find that I now have time to devote some of my energies on family history research – a topic that has always fascinated me. As a child growing up, and as an adult, I spent a lot of time with my mother’s family. We spent summers together, holidays at my grandparents house, birthday celebrations, and camping and fishing trips with my aunt and uncle and cousins,. Later, when my brother and I were married and had children, they all joined in the fun as well.
I never knew my father’s family. My dad, Jack Henry Keller, left home when he was 17, and never really went back. He was born in Peoria, Illinois in 1923. His family moved from there to Muskegon, Michigan for a while (as subsequent census searching on my part would show), and then back to Peoria. When my dad left high school (I’m not sure if he graduated) he went to Chicago and found work at the Hiram Walker distillery. He went back home once, and took his mother some money, but she refused it, saying it was dirty money. My dad went back to Chicago, joined the Navy and never saw his mother again. When she died in 1953, he went back to Illinois to help his two half-sisters clean up her papers and personal effects. (I have only recently found out where his father was during this time. It turns out that Ray left Illinois in the mid forties, and had been living in Sacramento, CA for 15 or so years before he passed away in 1959. During that time, my parents, brother and I were living in the San Francisco Bay area – only a couple of hours away. My father never knew this; he just thought his father had disappeared.)
All of this my father told me. I knew the names of his parents – Raymond Henry Keller and Louise Amelia Winter – but I don’t remember how I learned that, and I really knew nothing else of his family. He used to say that his mother’s family was from France, but this would turn out not to be true. He also said that there was a Keller tradition of giving sons the middle name of Henry. The little research I have done seems to point to this tradition being of the Howard family – my grandfather Ray’s mother’s family. So, even the little bit of information my dad gave out seems to be misleading.
With this information in hand I have begun the search for my missing family. For now I am searching the Illinois area, but may soon have to branch out to other states, and other countries. It turns out that my grandmother – Louise – was German, not French as my father believed. Her father (Gustav Winter) was born in Germany and her mother (Elizabeth Schwinn) was born shortly after her parents (Henry Schwinn and Anna Marie Mueller) arrived from Germany.
About 10 years ago I connected briefly with a second cousin on one of the genealogy website boards. His grandfather and mine were brothers! Imagine my excitement when I found out that there really was a Keller family out there after all. But he and his parents had little information on the Keller branch; they had stayed in touch with the Howard branch of the family. Unfortunately I have since lost contact with him, but hope to re-connect soon. So – now that I am able to devote some quality time to this venture, I am about to take off on a road trip to Illinois! I have never been there, and I think it is high time that I go see the land of my ancestors. I am going to spend 3-4 weeks on the road (I’m driving out on Route 66 as much as possible!) and go find the stories that are waiting.
Please follow me along this journey – there will be many twists and turns, I’m sure!
Debbie
This blog and my journey are both works in progress. I find that I now have time to devote some of my energies on family history research – a topic that has always fascinated me. As a child growing up, and as an adult, I spent a lot of time with my mother’s family. We spent summers together, holidays at my grandparents house, birthday celebrations, and camping and fishing trips with my aunt and uncle and cousins,. Later, when my brother and I were married and had children, they all joined in the fun as well.
I never knew my father’s family. My dad, Jack Henry Keller, left home when he was 17, and never really went back. He was born in Peoria, Illinois in 1923. His family moved from there to Muskegon, Michigan for a while (as subsequent census searching on my part would show), and then back to Peoria. When my dad left high school (I’m not sure if he graduated) he went to Chicago and found work at the Hiram Walker distillery. He went back home once, and took his mother some money, but she refused it, saying it was dirty money. My dad went back to Chicago, joined the Navy and never saw his mother again. When she died in 1953, he went back to Illinois to help his two half-sisters clean up her papers and personal effects. (I have only recently found out where his father was during this time. It turns out that Ray left Illinois in the mid forties, and had been living in Sacramento, CA for 15 or so years before he passed away in 1959. During that time, my parents, brother and I were living in the San Francisco Bay area – only a couple of hours away. My father never knew this; he just thought his father had disappeared.)
All of this my father told me. I knew the names of his parents – Raymond Henry Keller and Louise Amelia Winter – but I don’t remember how I learned that, and I really knew nothing else of his family. He used to say that his mother’s family was from France, but this would turn out not to be true. He also said that there was a Keller tradition of giving sons the middle name of Henry. The little research I have done seems to point to this tradition being of the Howard family – my grandfather Ray’s mother’s family. So, even the little bit of information my dad gave out seems to be misleading.
With this information in hand I have begun the search for my missing family. For now I am searching the Illinois area, but may soon have to branch out to other states, and other countries. It turns out that my grandmother – Louise – was German, not French as my father believed. Her father (Gustav Winter) was born in Germany and her mother (Elizabeth Schwinn) was born shortly after her parents (Henry Schwinn and Anna Marie Mueller) arrived from Germany.
About 10 years ago I connected briefly with a second cousin on one of the genealogy website boards. His grandfather and mine were brothers! Imagine my excitement when I found out that there really was a Keller family out there after all. But he and his parents had little information on the Keller branch; they had stayed in touch with the Howard branch of the family. Unfortunately I have since lost contact with him, but hope to re-connect soon. So – now that I am able to devote some quality time to this venture, I am about to take off on a road trip to Illinois! I have never been there, and I think it is high time that I go see the land of my ancestors. I am going to spend 3-4 weeks on the road (I’m driving out on Route 66 as much as possible!) and go find the stories that are waiting.
Please follow me along this journey – there will be many twists and turns, I’m sure!
Debbie
