Category: Holbrook

My Early Illinois Ancestors

Today is Illinois’ 200th birthday! My family tree has some very deep roots in Illinois. Some interesting Illinois stats from my family tree include:

  • Illinois-home_image-01_byEva_wC-01Three out of four main branches of my family tree have very deep roots in Illinois, spanning at least 5 generations.
  • Six out of my eight great-grandparents were born in Illinois, and 12 out of my sixteen great-great-grandparents lived in Illinois during their lifetimes.
  • My earliest ancestor to arrive in Illinois was William Tompkins and his family, who settled in Champaign County in 1822. (More about him in a minute!)
  • My 4th great-grandfather Alexander Holbrook was another early Illinois ancestor, arriving in probably about 1828.
  • The 3rd great-grandfather Johann Wilhelm Mueller and his family arrived in Chicago in 1856, 15 years before the Great Chicago Fire.
  • The Drake family has lived in DeKalb County, Illinois for over 150 years (and still lives there today!), spanning at least seven generations. They had lived in Illinois since about 1845. My Fish ancestors, who married into the Drake family, also arrived in Illinois about 1846.
  • My Swedish ancestors arrived in Illinois a little bit later, starting with the Johnsons in 1870, and Medine family in 1881.

While many branches of my family tree are rooted in Illinois, I wanted to learn more about my earliest Illinois ancestor, William Tompkins, and his family. Continue reading “My Early Illinois Ancestors” →

Solar eclipses in my ancestors’ time

Today, August 21, 2017, a total solar eclipse will roll across North America. For many, this will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. In Illinois, some people remember the partial eclipse experienced here in 1970 and 1979, but the last time Illinois residents experienced a full total solar eclipse was in 1869. This eclipse was the only time in the history of the state (established in 1818) that a total eclipse had ever been observed! As this Daily Herald article discusses, Illinoisans were building the State Capital building at the time, and attempted to commemorate the occasion with a monument at the capital. Since solar eclipses are such relatively rare occurrences, I wondered, which of my ancestors experienced a solar eclipse during their lifetimes? Continue reading “Solar eclipses in my ancestors’ time” →