Tributes and Remembrances

I have added a new Blog to my collection. Entitled the same as this post, it is intended to serve (for me) as a continuing tribute to those family and friends that have passed away. It is my intention to post at minimum the actual obituary for each member of the family. These posts will be made verbatim as published. Any corrections necessary will be marked with * and the correction will appear as a 'comment' to that post.

Some things I'm looking for...

I'm hoping that it doesn't take too long for visitors on Cyndi's List to find the web site that this blog is attached to. As I stated on the site, my personal genealogy project encompasses more than just my own individual biological lineage. There are a number of reasons for that. One being the fact that I was raised from age 8 by my mothers second husband Robert Starkey, a man whom I have never looked at as anything other than my father. Another reason is that I'm trying to set this particular project up in a way that will allow for the creation of possible 'leads' that can grow into more information for others in my family who may want to do their own personal searches.

I realize it's just me, but I personally don't think you can have enough information about your family heritage. That's another reason I chose the name "Heritage House" for my Genealogy Site. Because it's not really just about me, it's about the history of my family and everyone that is involved in it. I did not want to limit myself to only specific names, at least within the actual title of the site.

Biologically speaking my father was Merland Martin Miller (aka Bud Miller), any information obtained about him and his family is important for a lot of reasons. Medical reasons would be probably foremost when it comes to him as an individual. When talking to my sister Marg about him, she told me that she had heard from somewhere that his mother had died at an early age from breast cancer. This type of information is always useful and appreciated. Neither Marg nor I know what her name was.

We know that he was living in a nursing home at the time that he passed away. I believe that he died of liver problems. There are other children that he fathered. I believe that one of the girls names was Crystal and there was a boy named Billy and I think there was another boy named Danny, but I'm not real sure on that one. I don't know who their mother's were, it was before he married my mother Carol Ann Hostetter. It was rumored that he had actually fathered a total of 16 children with different women, the names of which I do not know.

There is not a lot of information that I count as 'verified' when it comes to our biological father. I know that he had a sister named Helen. She married a man named Paul Rentz(Spelling?) and that they had at least two children. One girl, Jenny and one boy, whose name I do not recall at this time. There was also a sister named Margie. I know she was married, but cannot remember the exact name. I don't know if she married someone named Floyd or if their last name was Floyd or Lloyd. I think they had three daughters, but I do not know their names. I believe that they lived somewhere in Indiana at one time. I believe that Bud was the only son in that family, I currently have no information about an uncle from that side of the family.

Additionally, I am looking for any information about the Starkey family. My mother married Robert Wallace Starkey, I was 8 years old at the time. His mothers name was Erma, I do not know her maiden name. I do not know his father's name. I believe that Mom said that the family had moved to the Rogers, Ohio area from Mannington, WVa when Robert was a child. He had three sisters Jeri (don't know for sure if her given name was Geraldine) who married Jack Hurst; they had a daughter named Cyndi. Another sister is Jackie, she married Thomas Gumble and they had a son, Thomas Jr and a daughter, Patricia Ann (I believe that is her middle name). They made their home in Rogers, Ohio. The other sister is Janet, she married a man whose last name is/was Burson (Spelling?) and they lived in Rogers, Ohio at least for a time. There were no other sons in this family.

Other family names listed as 'key words' on my site are Gorby, French, Hostetter and Hughes.

The Gorby name is of interest to me because it is the surname of my Great Grandfather Norman Leroy Gorby. He was born the son of John Clark and Lydia Jane (Dyke) Gorby and married Mabel Ellen French who was the daughter of Milo Adam and Mary Bell (Ward) French.

My biologial grandfather on my mother's side was Clyde Richard Hostetter Sr. He was also married to Dorothy Jean Gorby. Her parents were Bartlett and Lillian Gertrude (Wilson) Gorby.

The Hughes surname is from my Grandmother Margie Eilene (Gorby) Hostetters' second marriage to Ernest Walter Hughes. They had four children together, Mary Ellen, Suzanne Marie, Roger Allen and Robert Lynn. Grampa Hughes had a sister named Doris, she married a man that I only know as "Gab" Martin. I do not know his real first name. They had two daughters, Joyce, Gayle (I believe) and a son whose name is Chris. Right now I am unaware of any other siblings in Grampa Hughes' family.

If anyone has any information about these people, please feel free to post here. Thanks in advance!!

Heritage House Journal Notes...

I've just spent the better part of this day working on the Heritage House web site. Trying to make it look the way I want it to look. I've just double checked all the links to make sure they work correctly.

This is a really fun project for me. I can't wait until I get my taxes!! I've already downloaded the trial version of "FlipAlbum" and I love it!! It creates realistic looking books on your screen and allows you to click on the cover and pages and you can watch them turn as if you are turning the pages in a literal book. Right now while I have the free version I can only create books, I can't share them.

Also, I want to buy another scanner. I opted for the one I have now because at the time I needed a fax machine and couldn't find one that was also a flatbed scanner. I've had too many paper jams to trust trying to scan or make copies of pictures. Preston bought me a stand alone fax machine, so I think I'll just find a printer/scanner/copier and leave the faxing by itself.

The Heritage House Blog Introduction

I created this blog and posted it on Facebook as a way of sharing some of my experiences in the journey into the historical past of our family heritage. I have often in the past referred to my "Family Tree" as the "Family Orchard" because there are so many family lines contained within this research. Unlike some researchers, I have included searches into the ancestry of those who are "through marriage' relatives as well.

As an individual who grew up in a family where we would sometimes joke about the "yours, mine and ours" when it came to the children; I have to say that in reality it did not matter to us. We were all one family and that was all that mattered.

I hope that everyone takes advantage of what this blog as well as the Heritage House web site can do as a means of sharing information about our family. Visit as often as you want, just read it or make your own comment if you would like.

I want to say thank you in advance for any information that is shared because I really appreciate any help I can get on this project.