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Part Five:

Final Thoughts


The Future of Sill Genealogy

"So much of our future lies in preserving our past."
                                            Peter Westbrook

Although much has been done, there is obviously much more work to do on the Sill family tree. What remains to be done will be far more difficult than what has been accomplished thus far. I don't know if it's possible, but I would like to try to learn more about John Sill's life and family in England. I would like to learn more about the Nilsson family from Sweden, and the Johnson family from Germany. There are also many branches of the tree that are not filled in. Quite frankly, I doubt that they will ever all be filled in. However, I would like to get as much information as possible. There is also another area that I am interested in. There are Baldwins, Clarks, Pratts, and Wheelers on both my mother's and my father's sides of the family. Although I have not yet found proof, it is not impossible that my mother and father are distant cousins! I am also working on my mother's side of the family as well as helping Cathy research her family. So, as you can see, I will probably be able to keep busy with the family tree for a very long time. I hope to have updates to the family tree periodically, assuming I can find anything more. If anyone else learns of some new family information, I hope you will be inclined to share it as well.

Thanks

Before I finish, I would like to say "Thanks" to everyone who has helped with the family tree project. First I would like to thank my wife Cathy who has not only put up with this maddening habit, but has started researching her family as well! Next I would like to thank my parents John and Patricia Sill for all of their help and encouragement throughout this project. Also for their financial support. Without it you would not be reading a book right now. There is also a long list of other people who have helped me with this project, some a little, some a lot, all appreciated. They have helped through the donation of information, documents, stories, pictures and the identities of people/places in them, time and just plain encouragement. I am sure I will miss someone but here is my Special Thanks list: Mary Arseneau, Bill Barker, Anne Bazinet, Judy Churchill, Ruby Coon, Roger Cramer, Walton F. Dauchy, Walter Dunn, Carol Frazier, Diane Harper, Carole Anne Heller, Mary Jo Henry, John Hoff, Lloyd Johnson, Marjorie Johnson, Margaret Mallicoat, Matthew Nugent, Velda Olson, Leona Pickers, Dawn Rowley, Paul Schilling, Arlene Schmoldt, Cilla and Milton Sill, Gerald Sill, Bill Simpson and Eunice Vanlue. I would also like to acknowledge two organizations: the State Historical Society of Wisconsin and the Rock County Historical Society. Without the vast library of family histories housed at the S.H.S.W. I would never have learned so much about the distant branches of the family tree. And William U'Ren at the R.C.H.S. was very helpful in digging out the old Rock County plat maps and records of Avon, Wisconsin.

Well, that's it. I hope you enjoyed the book. And I hope these stories are not soon forgotten.


Bibliography

"...I have a link with the past and a responsibility to the future."
                                                    King Hussein of Jordan

Books

1. Anderson, Leon W. Hannah Duston. Heroine of 1697 Massacre .... 1973.

2. Andreas, A. T. History of the State of Nebraska. 1882.
Accessed from The Kansas Collection website at http://kuhttp.cc.ukans.edu/carrie/kancoll/.

3. Bodge, George Madison. Soldiers in King Philip's War. Second Edition. 1896.
Accessed on the internet at http://www.usgennet.org/usa/vt/state/philip/.

4. Bryant, George Clarke. Deacon George Clark(e) ... and Some of His Descendants. 1949.

5. Bullard, Edgar J. Bennett and Allied Families. 1931.

6. Burt, Sarah Sill Welles. Old Silltown. Something of its History and People. 1912.

7. Chapman, Rev. F. W. The Pratt Family ... Descendants of Lieut. William Pratt ... . 1864.

8. Cone, William Whitney. Some Account of the Cone Family in America. 1903.

9. Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc. Britannica Junior Encyclopaedia. 1965.

10. Everts, L. H. History of Cattaraugus Co. New York ... . 1879.

11. Fisk, Edward Ray, Sr. Barnes. A compilation of ...descendants of Thomas Barnes.... 1967.

12. Freidel, Frank, for The National Geographic Society. Our Country's Presidents. 1975.

13. French, Esther Griswold and Robert Lewis. The Griswold Family. The First Five Generations in America. 1990

14. Fuller, William Hyslop. Genealogy of some descendants of Captain Matthew Fuller .... 1914.

15. Gunn, Robert R. The Gunns. 1925.

16. Hungerford, Stanley W. A Summary of the Families Hungerford. 2nd edition, second printing, 1982.

17. Jacobus, Donald L., for Eden C. Booth. The Genealogy of the Booth Family. 1952.

18. Jacobus, Donald Lines, for Otis Marble Botsford. An American Family. Botsford - Marble Ancestral Lines. 1933.

19. Kent, Donald F. The Plymouth Legacy. 1997.

20. Lanz, Daniel J. Railroads of Southern & Southwestern Wisconsin, Development to Decline. 1985.

21. Lord, Kenneth. Certain Members of the Lord Family ... Descendants of Thomas Lord of Hartford, Connecticut. 1945.

22. Lovelace, Jayne Pratt. The Pratt Directory. Millennium Edition.

23. Molyneaux, M. Wheeler. The Wheeler Family ... and Some Descendants of Sgt. Thomas Wheeler of Concord.

24. Nelson, Martha Eunice Ensign. Record of the Descendants of James Ensign and his wife Sarah Elson 1634 - 1939. 1960.

25. Randall, W. H. A Genealogical Record of the Descendants of Stephen and Amanda (Locke) Randall and Montgomery and Angelina (Alger) Harper. 1941.

26. Rowley, Ralph Duane and Una (Hicks). One Branch Of The Tree Rowley 1630 - 1986. 1986.

27. Savage, James . A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England. 1860- 1862.
Accessed via the internet through Ancestry.com. 2000.

28. Shepard, Winfred C. Ancestors and Descendants of Albro Dexter Shepard and his wife Alice Zeviah Sill. 1949.

29. Sill, Frederick Schroeder. Sketch of the Ancestors and Descendants of Thomas Sill and Clarissa Treadway of Middletown, CT. 1897. Copied for me by distant cousin Ruby Coon.

30. Sill, Henry A. Genealogical Chart of the Sill Family... 1637 - 1855. 1855.
Copied for me by distant cousin John Hoff III.

31. Sill., Rev. George G. Genealogy of the Descendants of John Sill who Settled in Cambridge, Mass in 1637. 1859.

32. Spencer, Charles. The Spencers. A personal history of an English family. 2000.

33. Spencer, Jack Taif and Edith Wooley. The Spencers of the Great Migration Vol 1. 1997.

34. Trident Press International. The New International Webster's Concise Dictionary of the English Language. 1997.

35. Utley, Robert M. & Wilcomb E. Washburn. Indian Wars. 1987 edition.

36. Ward, Rev. Geo. K. Compiled by Henry King Olmstead, M. D. Genealogy of the Olmsted Family In America ... 1632 - 1912. 1912.

37. Welles, Albert. The Pedigree and History of the Washington Family... 1879.

Census Records

1. 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910 Wisconsin Federal Census. Accessed at Ancestry.com.
Due to a fire, there are no 1890 federal census records for Wisconsin.

2. 1855, 1905 Wisconsin State Census Index. Information found at the Rock County Historical Society.
Due to the Civil War, there are no 1865 Wisconsin state census records.

3. 1920 Washington Federal Census. Accessed at Ancestry.com.

Letters

1. Barker, Margaret (Sill). Letter to Nelson and Edna Sill regarding births, marriages and deaths of members of the family. 1930's.

2. Churchill, Judy. 10 email messages with information and pictures regarding the Sill and Ballou families. 10/8/2004 - 12/3/2004.

3. Duachy, Walton F. Town of Burlington (N.Y.) Historian. Letter to John R. Sill regarding the Church on the Green in Burlington, New York. 2000.

4. Henry, Mary Jo. Three email messages regarding the Lilja family. 4/25, 4/30, and 5/10/2001.

5. Johnson, Marjorie (Sill). Letter to John R. Sill regarding a different family of Sill's who settled in Wisconsin. 2000.

6. Obituary of Datus Montgomery Sill. I don't know if or where this was ever published. What I have seen is a letter version written, I presume, by either Edna Sill or Margaret Barker.

Maps

1. American Map Corporation. Europe. Euro Travel Atlas. No publication date listed.

2. Everts, Baskin and Stewart. Combination Atlas Map of Rock County. 1873

3. Foote, C. M. and Co. Plat Book of Rock County, Wisconsin. 1891

4. Hammond Inc. Hammond World Atlas for Students. 1972.

5. Hennessey and Company. Plat Book of Rock County, Wisconsin. 1904

6. MapQuest.com Inc. National Geographic Road Atlas. 2000.

7. Miller, A. B. and Orrin Guernsey. Map of Rock County, Wisconsin. 1858.

8. Milwaukee Map Service. Southeastern Wisconsin Road Map. 1989.

9. National Geographic Society. A Traveler's Map of Britain & Ireland. 2000.

10. Rand McNally and Co. Road Atlas of Europe. 1981.

11. Rand McNally and Co. United States, Canada, and Mexico Road Atlas. 1985.

12. University of Wisconsin Press. The Atlas of Wisconsin. General Maps and Gazetteer. 1974.

Other Publications

1. Augsburg Fortress. The Word In Season. April, May, June 2001. Vol. 69, Number 2. 2001, and July, August, September 2001. Vol. 69, Number 3. 2001.

2. AVON - Town That Might Have Been. Newspaper article published March 23, 1966.
I found a copy of the article at the Rock County Historical Society but no mention of the newspaper is made in the article. I assume it is from the Beloit Daily News.

3. Avon's Urban Dreams Blasted by Railroad. Published Saturday, November 16, 1929 in the Janesville Gazette Weekend Edition.

4.  Ballantine Books, New York. The Cobra Event, page 13. Published 1998.

5. Obituary of Nelson Sill. Published in the local paper of Salem, Missouri.

6. Obituary of Nelson Alexander Sill. Published, I believe, in the Rockford, Illinois paper, possibly the Register Star.

Unpublished Documents

1. Avon, Wisconsin Cemetary Records. Compiled for the Rock County Historical Society.

2. Golden Jubilee at the Avon Community Church 1892-1942 Sunday August 23, 1942.
Copy of the church program from their 50th Anniversary celebration. Also found at the Rock County Historical Society.

3. Media Research Bureau , Washington D. C., for Nelson and Edna Sill. The Name and Family of Sill(s). Compiled between 1932 and 1938. Years based on the postage found on the original envelope.

4. Schmoldt, Arlene. A compilation of the Kuntzleman, Johnson, Sill and Freedlund families, assembled for a Sill family reunion. 1992.

5. Unknown Compiler. Freedlund Family 1852-1969. 1969.

Websites

I have accessed so many websites that I am sure I will forget to mention some important ones. These are the ones that I can remember. Many of these sites' names have hyperlinks in blue. If you are online, these links will take you to that webpage. As of December 30, 2003, all of the hyperlinks worked. Please remember though, that due to the everchanging internet, some or all of these links may not work at some point in the future. If you find a link that no longer works, please let me know, so that I can fix or remove the link.

1. Ancestry.com: http://www.ancestry.com/main.htm. This site has thousands of databases. I can't possibly remember every one I looked at. I found a lot of information here.

2. Anderson, Fred W. "French and Indian wars," Discovery Channel School, original content provided by World Book Online, 11/22/00, http://www.discoveryschool.com/homeworkhelp/worldbook/ atozhistory/f/210800.html.

3. BBC-History-Scottish History: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/scottishhistory/ darkages/ features_darkages_macalpine.shtml

4. Birth of a Nation-The Picts: http://www.legenca.freeserve.co.uk/history/pict.html

5. Britannica.com: http://britannica.com/. An online encyclopeadia.

6. Brief History of Kent School: http://www.kent-school.edu/admissions/history.html.

7. Clan Buchanan Society International: You can link to their homepage from this site: http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/atoc/buchana.html

8. Clan Gunn of Scotland: http://www.gunnclan.net/.

9. Clan MacNaughton: http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/m/macnach2.html. Link no longer works. To see more
about Clan MacNaughton, go to http://www.tartans.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=133    

10. Clan Montgomery: http://www.tartans.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=285

11. Delaware County, NY Genealogy and History Site: http://www.rootsweb.com/~nydelawa/index2.html. There are two books here both titled History of Delaware County, one by W. W. Munsell, the other by Jay Gould, that have a lot of Harper information.

12. Familiar Quotations: http://www.bartleby.com/100/

13. FamilyHistory.com: http://www.familyhistory.com/.

14. Familysearch.com (Church of the Latter Day Saints Website): http://www.familysearch.com/. There is a lot of information at this website but not much documentation. One must be careful with what they find here.

15. Funny Quotes Universe: http://www.geocities.com/funnyquotesuniverse/

16. Gazetteer of British Place Names: http://www.gazetteer.co.uk/

17. genealogy.com: http://www.genealogy.com/index_r.html.

18. Genealogy of the presidents of the U. S. A.: http://users.legacyfamilytree.com/USPresidents/Index.htm

19. Genealogy of the Spencer Presidents and Princess Diana: http://members.tripod.com/~ntgen/bw/sp_engl_pres.html

20. Harper Sept of the Clan Buchanan: http://harperkay.homestead.com/Clan.html.

21. History of Gaelic in Scotland: http://www.koeln.netsurf.de/~gunnar.karmeinski/scotish.htm

22. History of the Scottish Nation: http://www.electricscotland.com/history/wylie/vol3ch1.htm

23. Index Roll of Buchanan Arms: http://www.esd.co.nz/buchanan/.

24. Indian Wars: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/1094/indian.htm.

25. Johnson, Caleb. "The Mayflower Web Pages", http://www.mayflowerhistory.com/. 2000. Great website with lots of information on Pilgrim families.

26. Ken Gunn's Home Page: http://www.kengunn.com/

27. Lord Family Home Page: http://www.connix.com/~wplord/index.htm.

28. Lost Civilizations-The Picts: http://www.tartans.com/articles/pictcivilization.html

29. McNitt Family History and Genealogical Archive: http://hometown.aol.com/jimmcnitt/macnaught/mcnitt.html.

30. McNutt Family of Saugus, Massachusetts: http://www.macnauchtan.com/saugus/McNutts_of_Saugus.html.

31. Nugent-Baker Genealogy: http://www.geocities.com/monugent. One of the first sites I found, hosted by a distant cousin named Matthew Nugent. It has lots of great information and was extremely helpful in getting me started. This is where I first found the connection between Nelson and Deodatus Sill.

32. Pilgrim Hall Museum: http://www.pilgrimhall.org/plgrmhll.htm.

33. Plimouth Plantation Museum: http://www.plimoth.org/.

34. Poetry of Edward Roland Sill (found at multiple sites):
http://www.geocities.com/spanoudi/poems/sill01.html#1
http://www.geocities.com/spanoudi/poems/2000/s/sill51.html
http://www.geocities.com/spanoudi/poems/2000/s/sill52.html

Back To Biographies Part 3

35. Quoteland.com: www.quoteland.com/

36. Rootsweb.com: http://www.rootsweb.com/

37. Scottish Tartans Society: http://www.scottish-tartans-society.org/.

38. Soldiers in King Philip's War - Index of Chapters: http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/newengland/philip/

39. Tartans of Scotland: http://www.tartans.scotland.net.

40. U.S. Presidential Ancestors: http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/presidents/.

41. William H. McNitt and Marilyn Munsell McNitt Genealogy Pages: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Woods/8049/index.html.
I found a great history of the McNitt family at this website. William has written an article titled The Ancestry and Descendants of Daniel McNitt, Jr. (1788-1854)... . He also has some chapters of a book titled The MacNauchtan Saga (Written by Virgil V. McNitt, 1951) copied onto his website.

42. Wisconsin State Historical Society: http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/. I found lots of information at the Histrical Society. Much of their information is cataloged on the internet, so I could spend time digging at home to see what they had and when I got there I knew exactly what I was looking for.

 

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