Author: Connie Kelly
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Ken E. Starr
Feb 1st 2026 is the 35th anniversary of the death of my paternal grandfather, Ken Starr. Ken Starr was born on 1/19/1919 and died on 2/1/1991. He was the 2nd son of Ernie and Ina Holden Starr. Ernie and Ina had married in 1914 and their first son, Clifford, was born in July of 1915.…… Read more
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January 30, the day of the birth of my Grandma and the day of the death of her Grandma
Today would have been Grandma Carroll’s 108th birthday. It’s easy math for me as she was 50 years and 5 days older than me. It’s also the anniversary of her grandma’s death. My 2x great grandma, Nancy Hendricks, died on this day in 1967, one year before I was born. I’ve written a few different…… Read more
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The Webster line- A Famous Dictionary and Half-Hanged Witch
My great grandmother, Ina Holden Starr’s mother was Grace Mabel Webster, born in 1873. I had been told she descended from the same Websters that we all know from the dictionary, Noah Webster, so I wanted to confirm this with my own tree. I traced the Webster line back to my 14x great grandfather, John…… Read more
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The Easley Line- French Huguenot Refugees
My 10x great grandfather, Robert Easley Sr was born about 1655 in England. He came with his father, Henry, to London from France after the St. Bartholomew Massacre had made France unsafe for Protestants. It’s believed other branches of the family went to Switzerland where they were silk merchants (there called Islyn). His grandfather, Claude…… Read more
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US Presidents in my Family Tree
By connecting your family tree to the giant family tree on Family Search . com you can see how you’re related to all sorts of famous people from history. Some of the connections are iffy, but I found several that seem likely, including more than 2 dozen US presidents: Twenty one are via the Starr…… Read more
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Happy Birthday John Howard Carroll
My maternal grandfather, John Howard Carroll was born on this date in 1915, 110 years ago December 13th. He was born in Peoria, to 18 year old Ruth Taylor. Ruth had married his father, Patrick Carroll, a soldier home on leave, but found out too late he was already married to someone else. Ruth put…… Read more
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The Greenes of Rhode Island
My 9x great grandfather was once the Deputy Governor of Rhode Island colony, his great grandson went on to be the second governor of the state of Rhode Island, serving during the American Revolution, from 4 May 1778 to 3 May 1786. Deputy Governor John Greene was born 15 August 1620 in Salisbury County WIltshire…… Read more
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Clema Alberta Myers
My paternal grandmother died 39 years ago today, Nov 3 1986 at the age of just 62. She had fought cancer for several years prior to her death. Clema Alberta Myers Starr was the youngest child of Raymond Jasper Myers and Margaret Evelyn Thompson. Born 10 December 1923 in Danville, Illinois, her father Raymond abandoned…… Read more
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Solving the Kearney mystery, how refugees from Northern Ireland settled in the heartland of Illinois
My maternal grandfather’s grandmother was Mary Kearney. She married Patrick Carroll in La Salle, Illinois in 1866 when she was 20 years old. Her married name then, was Mary Carroll, the same as my own mother’s given name. But finding her origins has been a bit of a journey. Mary and Patrick’s son, John T…… Read more
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Emma Fogle Reynolds
I have been trying to find the origins of my 3x great grandmother, Emma Reynolds since I joined ancestry . com. My cousin had put together a tree that I copied back when I first started my tree, but after a bit of digging it became clear the parentage of Emma wasn’t set. We knew…… Read more