Like most Americans, my family heritage is a melting pot of national origins and religion. From 1620 to 1900 my ancestors immigrated from countries as diverse as England, German, and Russia. Freedom of religion was often the ostensible reason for emigrating. The desire to make a new life in a new country was the common thread. Discovering their stories has been an adventure in American History. Like most immigrants to America, my ancestors and their children served in the defense of their (new) country. Jonathan Ingraham died during the French and Indian War, Philip Ingraham, Timothy Johnson, John Snyder and Simon Riegel (Emerich line) served in the American Revolution. Paul Salter served in the War of 1812. Ulrich Tolstedt (newly arrived inthis country) and John Doage Ingraham served in the Civil War. Walter Candy, George Gochnaur, Orlando Gochnaur, Walter Gochnaur, Arthur Tolstedt, Lewis Herrmann, Lester Everett, and Harold Everett served in World War I. Edmund Lind served in WWI, WWII, and Korea! Grandon Tolstedt, Donn Herrmann, William (Bill) Tolstedt, Ronald Tolstedt, Donald Tolstedt, Donald M. Tolstead, Warren Johnson, Kathryn Mitchell, Jack Bradley, W.L. Tolstead, Glen Tolstead, and Howard Tolstead served in WWII. (I know I've missed many others!)
| The memories return |
| For my mother, Ethel Everett Lind |
| April 1900 - March 1987 |
| "Don't worry," |
| Rachel said, |
| "if your memories of your mother |
| disappear. |
| After a few months |
| they will be back |
| fresher than ever." |
| It's true. |
| The memories of her last difficult days |
| have faded. |
| Two days ago she appeared to me |
| wearing the green & white striped cotton dress |
| she had when I was a kid, in the l940's, |
| in her forties, |
| her lovely dark hair |
| yet to be lovely silver. |
| Today I wore her string of pearls, |
| knowing that wearing them against the skin |
| renews their lustre. |
| (Published in The Orphaned Adult: Understanding and Coping with Grief and Change After the Death of our Parents, by Alexander Levy, Perseus Books, c1999) |
Genealogy is like a jigsaw puzzle with missing puzzle parts. Our memories are often not accurate, families drift apart, time distorts incidents, and retelling of stories often modifes the content. My family has been blessed with many generations of story-tellers.
You will find herein links to a variety of items related my own ancestry. This webpage is personal and is not intended to "teach" genealogy or to go beyond my own family lines. For those of you that do not have family tree software, on the "Links" page you will find links to down-loadable family tree programs, some of which are free, and other genealogy sites that I found to be useful.
In each section below you will find a brief family history, a family tree, a photo section, and a section for biographies, shared memories, and data. As you will note, many of the sections are still under development. Any help or suggestions you have will be greatly appreciated.
All family trees have been "privatized", i.e. cleansed of significant dates for living individuals. If you are a member of the family and would like a complete copy of the family tree (both ancestry and descendency), please e-mail me.I can send you a GEDCOM file that can be read by any family tree program.
The family trees are only as accurate as the data I have recorded and my typing skills. While efforts have been made to verify information and proofread, there are likely to be errors. If you find an error, or incomplete information, or if you have new information, please contact me.