In almost every set of pictures we come across one or two photographs which we have no idea who it is. The above is one of my two photographs which I still have yet to confirm the identity of those in the photo. Due to the time of which the photo was taken (ca 1860), it is suspected that those in the photo are Samuel and Martha (nee Browen) Beasecker.

If you can help me identify this photograph, please email me at bill(at)wheelergenealogy(dot)com.

My mother told me stories of the families which she visited with as a family when she was young. One of those families was the Luce family. Despite all my research, I could never find the connection.

In preparation of the Genealogy Cruise 2006 and my meeting with Eileen O'Duill, I have been trying to locate as much information about Michael McGinty and his wife Nellie Carolan. I was curious about the Carolans and while looking around I stumbled on an obit for Mary ("Mattie") (nee Carolan) Luce:

"Mary A. Luce, 5029 N. Major avenue, beloved wife of the late John R.; dear mother of John, Ruth, Edward, and Dorothy King; fond grandmother of Mary and Nancy Luce. Resting at funeral home, 120 S. Northwest highway, Park Ridge, after 4 p.m. Sunday. Funeral mass Tuesday, Dec. 20, 10 a.m., at the Church of St. Juliana. Interment Mount Carmel. TAlcott 3-1223."

Having found Mary I later found her husband John R. Carolan and all of her children: John, Ruth, Edward and Dorothy. I have so far found that all of Mary's children married with the exception of Ruth.

If anyone has any information on the Luce family, please let me know!

In addition to conducting family research for the Wheeler family, I help others reconnect with family through RAOGK and Find-A-Grave. I was reminded again today about why I volunteer. Robin Parker was kind enough to fulfill a request of mine to take photographs of headstones for my great grandfather (John Edward Wheeler) and my great grandmother (Carra Inez Tuttle Wheeler). Located in the same plot were the headstones of my grandaunt Hazel Wheeler, my granduncle Harry Wheeler and my granduncle Waldo Wheeler. Those photos have been added to the site.

The site continues to grow albeit slowly. We have now more than 16,000 individual in the database. I am currently focusing on the Robinson family and the McGinty family. I will hopefully be getting some news from Eileen O'Duill at the Genealogy Cruise in November.

When I originally brought this site online, I recycled a domain name (URL) which I previously used for my consulting business. Since I no longer used the domain name and it was already working, I figured I would use it for my new found genealogy hobby. However, the domain name does not have much relevance to the information in the site. Furthermore, people often have issues with the "-" (dash) in the domain name. Given these issues, I decided to bring a domain name up that was more relevant to the reseach. The site can now be reached by going to www.wheelergenealogy.com. Over time I will be phasing out the domain name. Email? I can be reached at bill"at"wheelergenealogy.com.