Family Story Finder

The sweep of family history across the generations

Adventures in Israel—Walter and Joanne

Two of the Ruby offspring went back to Israel for significant periods.

Bradley homestead in Wapello County, Iowa

Widow Patty Smith Swett and six children by two husbands were among the first settlers who staked claims in Wapello County near Ottumwa in May 1843

Demise of the cultured Lewi family

1902 - 1942

Five siblings who stayed true to German ideals until the bitter end

Eilertsens by the lake

Ed was the rector at Saint Martin's By the Lake in Minnetonka Beach, Minn. The family was raised in towns around the lake region west of Minneapolis, including in the church rectory

Helga in the League of Women Voters

Helga expressed a commitment to liberal values in her lifelong work for the League of Women Voters.

Kindergarten campaigner

In 1955, Helga led a committee of parents to open a preschool in Vestal.

Life on the Western Reserve

Families from Connecticut settled northeastern Ohio in the early 1800s

Love conquers all as Gerhard marries Ilse

1931 - 1939

Two young Berliners make a modern marriage—with lasting consequences

Mel Brenner

Mel accomplished many things in life, but his life’s greatest moments happened during the Battle of the Bulge

Stan at Brant Lake

Stan summered at a Jewish summer camp in the Adirondacks.

Social reformer Nathan Meeker was among nine men killed in an uprising of Ute Indians at the White River reservation where he was serving as U.S. agent. His wife and daughter—Smith family descendants—were held hostage for three weeks