Library Happenings

Henning School

I am reading the book “Books & Islands in Ojibwe Country” by Louise Erdrich.  This book is about the land from which Erdrich’s ancestors came from, the people and way of life that was made before her.  She has mixed realism, mysticism and storytelling into a fantastic book that has made me think about my ancestors, in particular, my  Irish ancestors.  

I like to think of myself as the keeper of the family.   I love to research family history and learn all I can about who came before me.  

In May, my husband and I went on a trip through Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri finding my ancestors’ graves.  Many months  were spent researching  the grave’s location.  I gathered the supplies needed and  we drove to Monroe County, Iowa, to the cemetery where my great, great, great grandparents George and Mary are buried.  

In 2022, a bad tornado had gone through this area and had toppled over many headstones. I did not realize the amount of emotion that would corse through me as we began to clean. These sandstone headstones that were installed in 1868 and 1875.   Who were these people who had 18 children?  Was there no family still in the area that could take care of these headstones?  And why are so many headstones in cemeteries neglected?   

George was born in Ireland in 1800.  During that time, there was an uprising between the Protestants and the Catholics. My great, great, great, great grandparents sent their children  ages 14, 12 and 7 alone on a ship to the new land.  Mary was born in 1803 and she was on the same ship that George was on when they sailed across the ocean.  I imagine that Mary’s parents took George and his brothers under their wings and on the journey of life a love was formed between George and Mary and from that came 18 children and 81 grandchildren.  

One of these children is my great, great, grandmother Sarah Francis who is buried in Nebraska. To not be able to read the words on the headstone and know who is buried there bothers me.  When we finish painting in the words and numbers and see the headstone restored, it moves me to tears. This person matters to me. Because of them, I am here today.

  I will continue my keeper of the family journey next summer with visits to Illinois and Ohio. We will eventually end up on the east coast and maybe one day back in Ireland.