My great, great grandfather...

A friend of my wife sent this little
newspaper article to her.
I wish I had known about it as I would
have gone to the reunion.
We all knew about Grand-P?re Francois of
course and had big reunions when I was
growing up. Still do sometimes.
The last one I went to, about 10 years
ago, was for the decendents of Francois'
son Benjamin who bought 300 acres in
central MN in about 1875. Around 300 of
us showed up for it. Most of Ben's farm
is still in family hands though none of
it is farmed anymore, other than a
little hay. I grew up there, still own a
small piece of it - bought it from my
aunt, who bought it from my grand dad,
who inherited it from his dad, Benjamin.
My relatives are all around me and keep
an eye on things. Our little road is
still called Frog Alley. We were a bunch
of stubborn Frenchmen who sired big
families and scratched out a farm living
in a sea of Swedes, Finns and Germans.
Click here

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing this bit of history.

I think family re-unions are a great thing to go to. there getting to be a thing of the past. my side of the family quit having them about 10 years ago. the younger generation isn't interested. my wife's family has hers this month. always good to see everyone. nice article.

Holy cow! That?s enough to throw the election!

Explain "Frog Alley" please.

Frog is a term used by some people to describe others of French decent. Typically derogatory, kinda like some other words that are no longer supposed to be used.

Folks thought it odd that people would eat frog legs, thus "frog eaters" or just "Frogs". Or so I was told. Its not meant to be kind.

Free WI-FI will get them to come back. lol.

Ultradog,

That was an interesting read. Thanks for posting the link to your family history.

Grandma was of German descent. Thinking she'd have said a big ol' "Ach nein" to having 25 kiddles.

Probably even an "Ach nein" to half that many kiddles.

You have a pile of relatives! Ron MN

Every now and then I have a dream about family reunions ...... I think most people call them nightmares !!!

Really great family story of hard working people. Wish I could be as proud. My family were cattle thieves in Scotland in the 1800s (MacFarlane), then when they got to the US they started a religious cult. What a fun bunch.

Very interesting. We did family reunions when I was growing up. Families have scattered to the winds and not much has happened for years. Then a 1st cousin in Seattle had done a lot of family research and displayed it at the last reunion held near Mount Pleasant, Mich. which is where most of both my parents families grew up. My parents are buried about 12 miles from Mount Pleasant in a 4 site plot they bought in 1936 when they buried an infant daughter.
Several years ago I discovered that it was a 4 site plot and there is one vacant. My older widowed sister, who lives in New Braunfels, Texas, wants to be buried there. Her husband was buried at sea years ago.
I had the site improved by having new foundations poured for the monuments and some new top soil and grass. I will be visiting the site tomorrow as we are in Mount Pleasant to visit our granddaughter at Centeral Mich. U. She is a senior in the school of meterology. She will be turning 21.
Lastly, part of the information in the family tree was that my Great, Great, Grandfather is buried south of Hillsdale, Mich. Last month we took a trip to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to see the Union Pacific Big Boy #9014. On the way we stopped at the cemetary in Hillsdale and I found the monument. I was named after him. He was born in 1792 and died 1861. Very close to the dates on your ancestor monument.
A newer monument has been placed there and I'm trying to find out who bought it.