Family Stories
Personal narratives, migrations, and the human stories behind the genealogy
The Fabulous "Dogtrot" House!
I don't know about you, but finding an old "dogtrot" house in the middle of nowhere in the western U.S., in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, near the Grand Tetons, was awesome! Now, you might think, why in the world would someone get excited about seeing this? Blame it on genealogy! A "dogtrot" house, or double house or double pen, is basically two single-room or "single pens" house with a central hallway or breezeway between the two pens with a single roof over all of them. [1] One room was generally the
Easter Lilies, April 5, 1942
This Sunday, April 5, 2026, is Easter! In the South, children wake up and see what the Easter Bunny brought them. In their Easter basket, small chocolate eggs or perhaps a large chocolate bunny can be found with other candy such as jelly beans and marshmallow Peeps. It is the time that Christians celebrate the resurrection of their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. People come to church dressed in their best clothes to hear the priest or pastor speak about eternal life, forgiveness, and spiritual r
Leaving Minonk
The Eiben Family and the Road to Texas In the 1880s and 1890s, Minonk, Illinois, sat at the junction of multiple major rail lines. The city of Minonk, located in Woodford County, also had numerous new German immigrants who had come to work in the coal mines, supply lumber to the booming city of Chicago, or farm the surrounding area and nearby lands in LaSalle County. We had decided to detour to LaSalle and Woodford Counties to research my mother-in-law's family, the Eibens. Her great-grandfa