Family History Notes and Photos by Bob Mesenbrink

Being from Iowa and living in Colorado, I don't think of my ancestors as being mariners. Most of them were farmers or at least had roots in farming. Those who immigrated to America, came by ship. And my father, Russell Mesenbrink, served aboard the battleship West Virginia in World War 2. But aside from that, I was unaware of any other significant amounts of time ancestors spent on the ocean. Some of my family lines go back to colonial times. Most notable was Captain James Davis, who, had fortunes been reversed, would be as famous as his contemporary, Captain John Smith. Smith wrote of a family of Welsh sailors, most likely Davis, his brother Robert and others. Davis was chosen as captain for an attempt to colonize in the new world by the Virginia Company of Plymouth. His group of colonists landed in what is now Maine just a few months after Smith's competing Virginia Company of London founded Jamestown. Davis' group formed the Popham Colony at Sagahodoc in 1607. But du...

On my mother's side, is an ancestor named John Griest. He lived in Pennsylvania from 1694 to 1751. John's daughter, Sarah, married William Squibb. While most of us will leave no evidence of our existence, John Griest did leave a few things to remember him by. Probably most significant is the office building at the Susquehanna Memorial Gardens near York, Pennsylvania. This building was originally larger, and at another location in York. This beautiful picture was taken by Diane Bowders and published on Yorkblog.com. John Griest built this building around 1740 at its original location on what is now the Lincoln Highway in York. In 1962 it was taken down to make way for a shopping mall and rebuilt at the cemetery. At that time the building looked something like this: The sturdy building was known as Ye Olde Valley Inn, Beard's Inn, etc. and was originally built to protect John's family from Indians, with whom he didn't always have the best relationship. Gries...

When I got my DNA results back, the biggest surprise I had was in all the people from the southern states who I shared DNA with. I'm pretty sure that a lot of it is from Salucia Sophronia Squibb , but that certainly doesn't explain it all. The only other unknown line, is that of Martha Brennan Davis , mother of Lillian Davis Stephenson, who was mother of my grandfather, Fred Stephenson. I have thought she was Irish, probably an Irish immigrant, and probably related to other Brennans of Galesburg, Illinois, but there is evidence she was from Indiana. Besides the unexplained southern DNA matches, I have little Irish DNA on this line, not enough for Martha Brennan to be full blooded Irish. But more importantly, the Stephensons had dark complexions. I honestly don't know beyond that where the dark hair and eyes came from. Here is a picture of Lillian Davis Stephenson, my great grandmother. Notice the dark hair, deep set, dark eyes. She doesn't look Irish. Her featur...

I thought I knew the important events of my Mom's life. But this year I learned something about her that I never would have suspected. I had known that Mom had a stillborn baby, Allen Leroy, the year before I was born. And I learned more recently that Mom lost twins during pregnancy before my brother was born. But this year I found that Mom became pregnant before she was married to my Dad. She gave up the baby for adoption. These were things that Mom didn't talk about. I don't blame her. They weren't pleasant things. She didn't want me to know about her early pregnancy, but now when I think back, there were things she did say to me that tie back to that event. And I can't help but think that that event changed her. I discovered that Mom was mother to another child through the use of Ancestry DNA. After contacting a close, but unknown, DNA match, and doing a little research, I suspected Mom had another child. And then I confirmed the story with relatives. It ...

A lot of families have stories about having a great grandmother or other ancestors who was a Native American. My family doesn't. And my DNA shows no Native American ancestry. But that doesn't mean they didn't have a part in the story. When one people colonizes another's land, pushes them out, and takes over their land, there are interactions to say the least. But my ancestors were settlers, not frontiersmen. They were immigrants, not colonists. They were farmers, not soldiers. But not in every case... The following are various bits and pieces that I've gathered over the years on my ancestors. It may seem a bit rambling and disconnected, but my hope is it helps the reader put Indian relationships with our family in perspective.I use the term "Indian", rather than "Native American", since I think that is what my ancestors would have called them. I think my brother still has a big old Indian doll that he collected on some family trip. And my dad...

Several years ago, my mother and I joined several of my aunts and cousins for a "tour" of some of the Crawford county area farms where my grandparents lived and raised their children. The help of my aunts, Edna and Lois, was invaluable since they lived in this area their whole life and the locations were still fresh in their mind. As the oldest children of Fred and Maude Stephenson, they knew more about where the family lived than anybody else still living. The trip covered an area between Denison, Dunlap, and Castana, but mostly places just north of Dow City and Arion. But rather than describe that trip, I thought I would try to put together a timeline of the Stephenson family, using what I gathered from that trip. The pictures were taken on this trip, which I would guess to be around the year 1990. Fred Stephenson was born in 1886 near Dunlap. Dunlap itself is just across the county line inside of Harrison county, Iowa. Fred could have been born in Dunlap itself, but ...

Maude Turner was my grandmother. She was born July 1, 1887 near Charter Oak, Iowa, married Fred Stephenson, July 4, 1912, in Arion, Iowa, and died in Denison, Iowa on January 11, 1965. I was pretty young when she died, but I certainly remember her, but I can't say that I knew her well. Fortunately, the Denison Review published a feature article on her on January 11, 1965. There is probably no finer tribute to her than this, and it includes her own words. So, here is the article: Maude Stephenson recalls early days Preface:  Although Mrs. Maude Ste phenson passed away shortly  after the reporter interview ed her and prepared the  story and the newspaper  photographer took her pict ure, we run it now in honor  of the family and the de ceased. BY RUTH BURNSIDE With a big family, its  hard to know very far in ad vance just how many or who  it will be that will drop in to  spend the day or just an hour  or two. Mrs. Maude Stephen so...