Despite cleaning the attic so I can attempt to create homemade Christmas Cards this year (it was something my mom had done the last several years of her life and I, along with my sister, are attempting to carry on this tradition of hers this year), I did take some time this past week to work on my genealogy during Family History Month.
What I Worked On
This past week I found myself drawn to my maternal grandmothers paternal side. I had not really delved in as much once I figured out who her father really was since taking my DNA test. I discovered that a part of my family really was embedded in the area of the world I live in, where I thought most of my relatives are from Pennsylvania (don’t get me wrong – 75% of my family is from Pennsylvania – and one day I’ll find my way out of Pennsylvania), and thinking all had arrived here in Ohio in the late 1800’s or early 1900’s, I found out on my great-grandfather’s dad’s side, they had been settled here for a while.
The Dailey’s and the Geer’s
Amelia Dailey is my 3rd-great-grandmother and she was born on 14 Mar 1844 in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. In entering her and her father into my Legacy Family Tree software I found out that he, Andrew Dailey, was a founding family of Summit County, Ohio. Summit County was formed from 3-other counties (Portage, Medina and Stark) in 1840. I found this to be rather exciting because when I joined the Summit County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society, I didn’t think I had any longtime family members in the area, and here I found out I did.
Andrew Dailey’s mother, my 5th-great-grandmother, Margaret Cackler was the daughter of Christian Cackler, a published author and founder of Portage County, Ohio. His book, “Recollections of an Old Settler”, is his interactions as a new settler coming to the area with Native Americans in the region. I was lucky it is a Google book and I was able to download it for free.
Amelia Dailey married William Harrison Geer in 1865. William was also born in Summit County on 2 Apr 1840 (he was born in Akron). He fought in the Civil War being mustered in on 24 Dec 1863, his grandfather, Captain Samuel Geer fought in the War of 1812 and his father, Captain Gurdon Geer fought in the Revolutionary War. So quite the historic branch of service I have on this one direct line of my family tree.
So it wasn’t a ton of time I spent on my family tree but I felt I learned a great deal in the past week on this new branch of my family. I am looking forward to learning more about these fascinating people in the weeks to come. Hopefully you made some exciting discoveries about your own family during this fabulous month dedicated to what I feel is the world’s greatest hobby.
Helping History Come Alive 