52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge: Week 1 - FIRST

I have had an interest in my family's history since I was in high school. My mother's sister had created an outline of their side of the family on their mother's side. It was mostly names and dates, but listed great-grandparents down to my generation. On my father's side, there had been a rough outline made that went back to my dad's great-great grandfather.

Through the years, my dad's parents always said they were probably 5th or 6th cousins. In 1998, I decided to find out exactly what that relationship was. In taking that step, it created many, many firsts for me.

My paternal grandparents, Flossie Elizabeth Wallington and Vernon Lance

I went to the Medina Library to start my research. I had no clue what I was looking for or even where to look for it. My grandparents were both born in Medina County so I felt that was the obvious place to look. I did find some books written by Sharon Kraynek Beachy that were newspapers snippits from different years. I was busily taking notes. I did not have a cell phone to take pictures. After awhile, a lady came in to the genealogy room and started pulling microfilm rolls. She knew what she was doing! Of course, we got to talking, and I told her I was researching the Lance and Halliwill/Halliwell names. She said, "Oh, there's lots of those around!" She gave me the names of 3 or 4 people to contact while we were talking. Before she left, she gave me her business card - she was Sharon Kraynek Beachy! I went home and started calling the names she had given me. Each one of them said, "But, you need to talk to the lady in Michigan." So, I called the lady in Michigan. Her husband was a Lance. She knew immediately who I was talking about and inquiring about. She asked if she could call me back in a few minutes because she had to get her 4 inch thick book. I said certainly.

Before she called me back, I knew back to my great-great grandparents on my dad's side. There was some uncertainty about my 2nd great grandmother's maiden name as she was listed as Sarah Lance in everyone's records. When Rosemary Lance called me back, within a very few minutes, she had me back to my 4th great-grandfather! I was in heaven. She then offered to send me the pages of the book that pertained to my family. And, within a few days they arrived in the mail. I was getting hooked in this thing called genealogy!

 One find lead to another find. Was I destined to be the next family historian? Information and pictures and other things seemed to flow to me. Within the first year, I obtained so many things that I felt like I needed to put an addition on the house for a museum.

My mother's grandmother's wedding nightgown

I finally decided that I needed to join a group that was involved in genealogy. I found the Lorain County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society which was local to me. I joined the group wanting to know that I was doing my genealogy the right way and to learn more about how to do it. Within the first year with this chapter, I was asked to be president. Hey, wait a minute - I'm new to this stuff, what do I know about being a president? After giving it some thought, I agreed. The first year was a real challenge for me. I did not like public speaking, my knees shook when I was in charge of the meetings, I could not eat on the day of a meeting. I had to make sure everything was just right. I served 2 terms (4 years) as president. By the end of that time, I could eat and even take a nap the afternoon before the meeting! I went on to serve another term as president and have served as their treasurer, and am currently their webmaster.

Meanwhile, I started working on my family in earnest. I had also become a member of the Medina Genealogical Society, in Medina, Ohio. They were just starting their lineage societies. I worked on my paperwork to be accepted. There were a few things I still had to learn. Donna Gruber was the lineage chair for the society. She was a certified genealogist and very detailed in what she expected. My main shortfall was a lack of source citations. I didn't know about them! Remember, I was still new to this. But, I sure learned in a hurry! I had the documents, but not necessarily the source information and I did a lot of backtracking to obtain that very information. It is now my priority to source anything I find so it saves me from the backtracking I had to do before.

Being involved with the Medina Genealogical Society, I was asked to be their president. I accepted. For awhile, I was president of both Lorain and Medina at the same time. Both chapters grew and prospered.

At the time I became president of the Lorain County Chapter, there was a representative from the Ohio Genealogical Society called a District Trustee. She was in charge of the Cleveland District encompassing 5 counties: Lorain, Medina, Cuyahoga, Ashtabula, and Lake. Her name was Jean Barnes. Jean was there from the beginning. She always said she thought she was going to have to scoop me off the floor during my very first meeting of being in charge. I think it came close.

As my friendship developed with Jean, she took me under her wing. Little did I know what she was actually grooming me for. She took me to other meetings within the Cleveland District. I learned so much from that experience. I met new people, I learned new things. Always learning. Ultimately, Jean was grooming me to replace her as the Cleveland District Trustee. The first step was become a Trustee for the Ohio Genealogical Society. Now, it is getting serious. Upon election as a trustee, I also was asked to be Membership Chair for the society. I agreed, but have to admit, I didn't accomplish much in that position. I changed to Education Chair. Much better. I joined other committees. My biggest joy was being on the planning committee for the building of the new Samuel D. Isaly Library of the Ohio Genealogical Society. How totally gratifying to see everything come together to create one of the finest genealogical libraries around. Eventually, I ran for first vice-president of OGS. I debated long and hard about running for president. I finally felt the time was right to do so and in 2014 I was sworn in to the office of president by Jean Barnes. It has been a humbling and gratifying experience. The horizons expanded beyond my expectations.

Another member of the board when I first joined was Susan Zacharias. Susan encouraged me to go to a FGS conference with her. We went to Springfield, IL for that illuminating experience. She introduced me to many of the national speakers and others involved in FGS. It was at this conference I met for the first time, George G. Morgan and Drew Smith. They ended up having supper with Sue and I one night and a life-long friendship has resulted.

George G. Morgan was the chair of the membership committee for FGS at that time. He asked me to serve. I did serve for about a year and a half. Thank you, George, for that opportunity.

I am currently the lineage chair for Lorain County. I am also the lineage chair for First Families of Ohio, where applicants have to prove their family was in Ohio prior to 1820. I created Century Families of Ohio for the Ohio Genealogical Society. For Lorain County, our family is the only family currently with 4 generations in their lineage groups. A very proud accomplishment.

But wait, let's go back to the beginning of this story. I wanted to find out the true relationship of my dad's parents, remember? It turns out that they were full 3rd cousins. The Lances and the Halliwills/Halliwells intertwined from the time of my 3rd great-grandparents. Each set of 4th great-grandparents had 12 children. They were neighbors. I actually have 3 sets of great-great grandparents that were 1st cousins. My 2nd great-grandfather, John Lance married his 1st cousin, Sarah Lance. So, her maiden name was her married name.

When I started on this journey, I said that I was on a path and I did not know where it was going to take me, but I was going to enjoy the journey. I have so enjoyed this journey. And, I have to really thank everyone that has a part in making it happen. I couldn't have done it without you! I am still following the path.