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Please don't hesitate to send corrections, info or to even ask for a transfer. My goal on this site is to help other people with their ancestry and unite the memorials I've created with their families regardless of relation link. I don't hoard my memorials and will usually transfer anyone not related to me.

PHOTO REQUESTORS: I enjoy helping families by completing photo requests. Help me to help you. Please take the time to contact the cemetery to get the detailed burial info (Section, Block, Lot, or however it's marked) prior to submitting your request. Whether or not they have a headstone is also extremely helpful.

I love this site but this is one point I find very frustrating. The last few years I've been spending most of my time in Oakridge-Glen Oak cemetery in Hillside, IL. It currently has well over 50,000 burials and 400+ photo requests that contain no plot info for the photo volunteer. How do you expect someone to find and get a pic of your loved one when they don't know where to start looking?

NOTE: Please don't assume that all cemeteries have a public database to look up the info. There are a lot that don't yet. Oakridge doesn't have one and the office staff is not helpful to photo volunteers. They only give info to family members.

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FAMILY INFO & BIO

The Surnames I'm connected to so far are Shaw, Spafford, Briggs, Pennington, Maser or Masear, Pritchard, Hardy, Shoemaker, Kerwin, Boice or Boyce, Simmons, Dishman, Baird and Reed.
Please don't hesitate to contact me if you may have info about my family tree. Even the smallest bit could help solve a mystery and close a door....which then, as we all know, usually opens up 3 more LOL.

My third great grandparents, James Shaw and Eleanor Hardy, were early settlers in Joliet, Illinois. They came from New York or Canada and resided in the Bremen, Cook County area (1850 census) before moving to Joliet. Shortly after arriving in town, my grandmother died in March, 1852. I found her death notice in the Joliet Signal and it indicates they had only been in town a few months. My Grandpa James had 14 children; 11 with my Grandmother. They were married about 18 years at the time of her death. Her final resting place and the names of her parents are unknown. Their Canadian marriage record says that there was a Nicolas Hardy who witnessed but I haven't yet been able to determine the specific relationship.

After my grandmother's death, my grandfather married Alice Williams in October, 1852. (I also have a copy of the handwritten document.) Per the 1860 census, they had two children - Firman and Alice. In 1870, the two children still appear in the household with my grandfather but wife Alice does not. What happened to her and her final resting place are unknown. I lose track of daughter Alice after 1870 and Firman died in early December, 1872, about 6 weeks before James.

I'm also certain my grandfather was married once before he married my grandmother. From the 1850 census record, James had a son, James Jr. born abt 1829, whose birth pre-dates his marriage by banns to my grandmother in 1834. My assumption is that he was married to James, Jr's mother, whose name is unknown, and that she probably died either in child birth or of sickness. By 1860, he no longer resides with his father and I lose track of him.

My 4th Great Grandfather's name was Joseph who was a Wagonmaster per the 1860 census, the lone document where I have found his name. In addition, per the same census, he was residing alone in the household with his son James, which means he was probably widowed by that time. My 4th Great Grandmother Shaw's name and their final resting places are unknown.

My grandfather was an intelligent man and expert Brickmaker. Sometime in the mid 1850's, James started a successful brick company on the Eastside of Joliet. All of his sons had learned the trade, but only Silas and Josiah (or J.E. as he seemed to go by) continued the business and operated it long after his death in January, 1873. My grandfather rests at Oakwood Cemetery in Joliet, with two of his sons, Nicholas (Mother Eleanor) and Firman (Mother Alice). His son Silas and his family also rest nearby in the same section. I descend down thru one of James's younger sons, Isaac Shaw who married Mary Maser (or Masear) in 1869 in Indiana. They are also buried in Oakwood cemetery, Joliet, IL.
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Please don't hesitate to send corrections, info or to even ask for a transfer. My goal on this site is to help other people with their ancestry and unite the memorials I've created with their families regardless of relation link. I don't hoard my memorials and will usually transfer anyone not related to me.

PHOTO REQUESTORS: I enjoy helping families by completing photo requests. Help me to help you. Please take the time to contact the cemetery to get the detailed burial info (Section, Block, Lot, or however it's marked) prior to submitting your request. Whether or not they have a headstone is also extremely helpful.

I love this site but this is one point I find very frustrating. The last few years I've been spending most of my time in Oakridge-Glen Oak cemetery in Hillside, IL. It currently has well over 50,000 burials and 400+ photo requests that contain no plot info for the photo volunteer. How do you expect someone to find and get a pic of your loved one when they don't know where to start looking?

NOTE: Please don't assume that all cemeteries have a public database to look up the info. There are a lot that don't yet. Oakridge doesn't have one and the office staff is not helpful to photo volunteers. They only give info to family members.

*****************
FAMILY INFO & BIO

The Surnames I'm connected to so far are Shaw, Spafford, Briggs, Pennington, Maser or Masear, Pritchard, Hardy, Shoemaker, Kerwin, Boice or Boyce, Simmons, Dishman, Baird and Reed.
Please don't hesitate to contact me if you may have info about my family tree. Even the smallest bit could help solve a mystery and close a door....which then, as we all know, usually opens up 3 more LOL.

My third great grandparents, James Shaw and Eleanor Hardy, were early settlers in Joliet, Illinois. They came from New York or Canada and resided in the Bremen, Cook County area (1850 census) before moving to Joliet. Shortly after arriving in town, my grandmother died in March, 1852. I found her death notice in the Joliet Signal and it indicates they had only been in town a few months. My Grandpa James had 14 children; 11 with my Grandmother. They were married about 18 years at the time of her death. Her final resting place and the names of her parents are unknown. Their Canadian marriage record says that there was a Nicolas Hardy who witnessed but I haven't yet been able to determine the specific relationship.

After my grandmother's death, my grandfather married Alice Williams in October, 1852. (I also have a copy of the handwritten document.) Per the 1860 census, they had two children - Firman and Alice. In 1870, the two children still appear in the household with my grandfather but wife Alice does not. What happened to her and her final resting place are unknown. I lose track of daughter Alice after 1870 and Firman died in early December, 1872, about 6 weeks before James.

I'm also certain my grandfather was married once before he married my grandmother. From the 1850 census record, James had a son, James Jr. born abt 1829, whose birth pre-dates his marriage by banns to my grandmother in 1834. My assumption is that he was married to James, Jr's mother, whose name is unknown, and that she probably died either in child birth or of sickness. By 1860, he no longer resides with his father and I lose track of him.

My 4th Great Grandfather's name was Joseph who was a Wagonmaster per the 1860 census, the lone document where I have found his name. In addition, per the same census, he was residing alone in the household with his son James, which means he was probably widowed by that time. My 4th Great Grandmother Shaw's name and their final resting places are unknown.

My grandfather was an intelligent man and expert Brickmaker. Sometime in the mid 1850's, James started a successful brick company on the Eastside of Joliet. All of his sons had learned the trade, but only Silas and Josiah (or J.E. as he seemed to go by) continued the business and operated it long after his death in January, 1873. My grandfather rests at Oakwood Cemetery in Joliet, with two of his sons, Nicholas (Mother Eleanor) and Firman (Mother Alice). His son Silas and his family also rest nearby in the same section. I descend down thru one of James's younger sons, Isaac Shaw who married Mary Maser (or Masear) in 1869 in Indiana. They are also buried in Oakwood cemetery, Joliet, IL.
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