Family Story Finder

The sweep of family history across the generations

Bradley homestead in Wapello County, Iowa
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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

Life on the Western Reserve
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Families from Connecticut settled northeastern Ohio in the early 1800s

The Meeker Massacre
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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

Young man on the make in the Roaring Twenties
  • March 1919 - September 1929

Walter Ruby hustled his way as a traveling silver salesman, with some career side trips into boxing promotion and medicinal alcohol.