Even though I have already posted I should introduce myself.
I have lived in Iowa my entire life and although I do not live in the same part of the state I grew up in. I grew up in the Northeastern corner of the state (Clayton Co., Iowa) in a small river/railroad town just across the river from Crawford and Grand County in Wisconsin. One of those towns where if you weren't related to everyone by blood or marriage then they were some sort of a "relative of a relative". A typical small town that was about 80% Catholic, 15% Lutheran and the other 5% were spread between any of the other denominations.
My late father instilled in all of kids the knowledge of who are ancestors were. It was easy for him to do since they settled in the the area in the early 1860's and a good share stayed around the general area until the 1940's. My paternal Grandmother was one of twelve children who reached adulthood. I met some of my paternal grandmother's brothers and sisters and those I did not meet my father told stories about them.
My mother was an English war bride who met my dad during WWII. He was in the US army and she in the ATS.
Some of the surnames in my family tree are:
KNOEBEL (various spellings I've come across in documents Knaebel, Nobel), ENDERS (Endres, Andres) , BRAENDLIN, MAURER, OLLIVER (OLIVER) LAWRENCE (LAURENSON), KELLY, LENNOX, GILLESPY, ROBERTSON, and ARTHORSON
Places my ancestors are from
EHRENSETTEN, GRAND DUCHY OF BADEN, SANDUSKY, OHIO, MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, EASTERN IOWA (CLAYTON, CEDER, DUBUQUE COUNTIES), SHETLAND ISLANDS OF SCOTLAND, LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, BIRKENHEAD, CHESHIRE, ENGLAND, CUMBERLAND, ENGLAND
