In The Bleak Midwinter, February 1, 2012

This is my family.

I found it, all on my own.

It's little, and broken,

but still good. 

Yeah, still good.
~from the movie "Lilo and Stitch"

Hello Family and Friends,

Greetings to all of you from San Diego, California on the eve of Ground Hog Day! We have had unseasonably warm weather here, even for us. It may be bleak midwinter in some places, but temperatures near 80 degrees have been our lot in recent days. I know it has been quite a different story for some of you, as the following will attest.

Surgery for Cathrina Clark. Our love and warmest wishes go out to Jerry and Cathrina Clark. Just yesterday Cathrina had back surgery in Lubbock, Texas. Jerry tells me "the surgery went great. Many prayers were answered. She is in pain but in very good shape."

Cindy Shepard. Tomorrow, Feb. 2, is the birthday of Cindy Dillon Shepard, my brother Gary's wife. Cindy and Gary live in Western Washington, near the town of Oak Harbor. They have lived there since 2003 when Gary retired in San Diego and they moved to the great Northwest. After a fairly mild beginning to winter this year, they have recently seen lots of rain and wind and some ice and snow.

This has not been a healthy start to the new year for Cindy. A few weeks ago she was quite ill with Colitis, and was even hospitalized for a short time, requiring time off from her job. She has no sooner recovered and gone back to work, when she took a nasty fall on the ice and broke her arm and sprained her ankle. It was not a simple break, but a very painful one that will incapacitate her for some time. The doctor tells her she will be off work for at least a month, maybe two. In the midst of all that we wish her a speedy recovery and offer her Happy Birthday wishes!

The first picture shows Cindy with her husband Gary in a picture that was taken last summer at the Shepard Family Reunion in Anacortes, Washington. Some of the reunion attendees can be seen in the background, including Jerry, Darrell, Pat, Chris, Nicole, Linda, Logan and Maida.

Flashback 31 years for the second picture. It was taken in San Diego in 1981 at the home of grandma Nola Shannon Gower who is on the far left. In the middle are Gary and Cindy Shepard, with our son Nathan on her lap. That is me on the far right, back in the days of big hair and big glasses.

"Destiny of the Republic." I don't often review books in these blog posts, but I do want to recommend a book that I read recently. Many of us who have Shepard, Davis or Kilpatrick blood also have a connection to the Church of Christ or the Christian Church. One of the most famous people of this religious tradition was our 20th President, James Garfield, who was assassinated early in his presidency, 130 years ago. Garfield was not just a member of what was called the "Restoration Movement", he was an active minister, as well as the President of one of our church colleges, before his call to politics. He was also from Ohio, the home of many of our Davis and Shepard ancestors.

"Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President" (2011) by Candice Millard, tells the story of Garfield's murder, its effect on our nation, and the unique time in history when it occurred. It is an excellent work of non-fiction that is at the same time heartwarming, heartbreaking and eye opening. The author's scholarship is remarkable to go along with her ability to write a work of history that reads like an exciting mystery novel. You don't have to share Garfield's religious affiliation to appreciate this astounding American story. Anyone with a love of family, a heart for America, or even a slight interest in history will find this a memorable read. I heartily recommend it.

- - -

Steve

Other Shepard Kin, January 27, 2012

I don't know who my grandfather was;
I am much more concerned to know
what his grandson will be.
~Abraham Lincoln

Hello Family and Friends,

Today is the 120th anniversary of the birthday of my great aunt Sadie Shepard Pruett who was born January 27, 1892. She was born in Alton, Illinois just like her older brother and only sibling (my grandfather) William Shepard, who was 4 years her senior. She and William were just teens when their parents left Illinois and settled in Beaver County, Oklahoma in the first decade of the 20th century. Interestingly, also like her brother William, she died within days of her 88th birthday. Sadie died in 1980, William in 1976.

The late 19th century was a time when large families were common. A family from that time period with just two children is an interesting anomaly. My grandmother Bura Davis, for example, (born 1896) was one of 7 children. My grandmother Nola Shannon (born 1902) was one of 9 children. And my grandfather Leroy Gower (born 1899) was one of 7 children. It was unusual then for Sadie Shepard to be one of only 2 children, she and her brother William.

Like most of our ancestors, William's parents William Elmer Shepard and Elvira Owens were country folk for whom one more child meant one more worker on the family farm. But every couple is different, with unique physical and emotional needs and limitations.

To be fair, there seems to have been two other siblings of William and Sadie Shepard who died in infancy: a boy they named Elmer and a girl they named Eva. Losing a child can be a devastating experience, but losing two children can make a couple hesitant to have any more.

Sadie later married Levy Pruett and had 3 daughters, Alberta, Gayle and Twila. The first picture I am including shows Sadie at 23 years old with her first two daughters Gayle and Alberta. This lovely picture was taken in June, 1915 when her brother William Shepard and his fiance Bura Davis were married.

The second picture shows my grandfather William Shepard (bottom right) with his wife Bura Davis next to him. At the bottom left is his sister Sadie whose husband Levy Pruett is in the middle of the top row. Also in the picture are two Pruett daughters, Gayle (bottom row) and Twila (upper right), and Gayle's husband Glenn Barker (upper left). As you can see on the far right, this picture was taken in 1946 in Tijuana when the Pruett family came to San Diego to visit the Shepards.

Sad to say, I have not had much contact with the descendants of Sadie Shepard Pruett. 20 years ago when my dad and I visited Oklahoma we visited his aunt Sadie's daughter Alberta Pruett Getz and her husband Pat, but I have not maintained contact with them over the years.

I did have a phone conversation earlier this week with Alberta's son Norman Getz, who still lives near Elmwood in Beaver County, Ok. He mentioned that his parents Alberta and Pat are now gone, and that few members of the Pruett family remain.

Sadie and William Shepard's mother Elvira Owens was from the Owens family of Madison County, Illlinois. I recently connected online with a 3rd cousin, Richard Olen Young II, who is also descended from that same Owens family and lives today in Maine. I look forward to that connection and learning more about family members of today and of long ago.

- - -
Steve

From Utah to Missouri, January 23, 2012

None of us can boast
about the morality of our ancestors.

The record does not show

that Adam and Eve were ever married.

~Edward W. Howe

Hello Family and Friends,

Happy Anniversary today to Havilah Colgain Wardle and her husband Kevin, who live in West Valley City, Utah.

Havilah: Thank you so much for thinking of us on our anniversary! We are heading up to Lava Hot Springs, Idaho to celebrate. Can't wait to soak in the mineral hot springs and relax! Kevin and I experienced rough times this past year trying to start a family, but have finally found a caring doctor who is proactive and eager to help us. Come what may, we are enjoying a beautiful relationship and life together. We are preparing our house for the market; once it sells we are off to a warmer and more tropical climate! We're excited to see our dreams come to fruition, and even more so for all the unexpected, but equally wonderful surprises life brings.

Havilah is one of the Ggrandchildren of Will and Bura Davis Shepard, and the daughter of Joan Shepard of Dixon, California and Art Colgain. Her grandfather Elmer Shepard is the senior member of our Shepard clan.

Blue Springs Update. Speaking of descen- dants of Will and Bura Shepard, I have an update on Jeremy and Desiree Ortiz of Blue Springs, Missouri. I mentioned in my last post that Desiree, who is pregnant with twins, was in the hospital. The latest news is that she is now home and doing much better, as are the twin babies that she and husband Jeremy are expecting in June. When the twins are born, they will be the 12th and 13th GGgrandchildren of Will and Bura Davis Shepard.

Grandma Kim Boyd Clark reports on Desiree: She came home Friday night. She still feels bad but not depressed as she was in the hospital and can smile a little now. The babies are doing good. She has seen them a lot, being in the hospital doing sonograms. They are very active. She is starting to be able to eat a little bit. She goes back to the Dr Thursday and a nurse will come to our house once a week to check on her. She is still on a pic line for food.

Our best wishes are extended to Desiree and Jeremy and their whole family. The second picture was taken last summer and shows, from left to right, Kim Boyd Clark, Amanda Ortiz, Desiree Ortiz and Damian Ortiz.
- - -
Steve

Milestones, January 18, 2012

We owe it to our ancestors

to preserve entire those rights

they have delivered to our care.

We owe it to our posterity

not to suffer their dearest inheritance

to be destroyed. 

~Junius (1769)

Hello Family and Friends,

Greetings to all of you, wherever you may be, from San Diego on this fine winter's day in Southern California.

Missouri Anniversary. Congratulations to Jeff and Kim Boyd Clark who are celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary today! Jeff and Kim live in Blue Springs, Missouri, with Kim's son Jeremy Ortiz, his wife Desiree and their 3 children. The recent good news from their household is that Desiree and Jeremy are expecting twins in June. More recently, however, Desiree has developed some health problems.

Kim: This is anniversary #5 for Jeff and me. We still have a full house and we just seem to stay busy with all the activity going on here. We will probably just go to dinner to celebrate our anniversary. 

Desiree is still in the hospital unable to keep any thing down. She has what they call a false brain tumor due to extra hormones caused by twins. Dr is hoping when she has the babies the tumor will go away on it's own. The babies are still doing good with strong heart beats and are very active. They did a sonogram and she could see them facing each other touching their feet together. We still don't know when she can come home so I'm being grammy and mom right now. Jeremy has been staying at the hospital and sleeping there.

Our prayers and best wishes to them all, especially Desiree and Jeremy, while we celebrate with Jeff and Kim on their wedding anniversary!

Oklahoma Birthdays. Happy Birthday wishes this Saturday to both my cousin Dane and his son Nathan Shepard of New Castle, Oklahoma, who were both born on January 21.

Dane: Thanks for the greeting and request. I am attaching a picture that we recently took. 

As it turns out, we will be going to Texas again on our birthdays. I will be participating in an annual gospel singing and the family has been invited as well. It will be a nice break for us. Nathan will turn sixteen and will be taking an English course at the local junior college this semester. He remains active in bowling and band. We got him a drum set for Christmas which he thoroughly enjoys. 

Dad [Elmer] is about the same. They are still adjusting his meds to try and stabilize his agitation. He does better when he is not around a lot of people. His appetite remains good. Thanks again for all your work.

Flashback 38. The third picture that I am including today is an old Shepard family photo taken Christmas 1973, somewhere in the San Diego area. It includes a couple of the people pictured above. It shows Dane Shepard (upper left), Kim Boyd and infant Kelly Shepard (on the leopard skin bean bag chair), and Jason Shepard with his uncle Darrell Shepard on the right. Anyone recognize the home where this picture was taken?
- - -
Steve

Happy Friday the 13th, January 13, 2012

Genealogy:

An account of one's descent from an ancestor

who did not particularly care to trace his own.

-Ambrose Bierce

Hello Family and Friends,

Greetings to all of you from San Diego, California on what appears (so far) to be a wonderful Friday the 13th. There will be no paraskevidekatriaphobia here.

Happy Birthday tomorrow to Eric Russell, who lives with his wife Ruthie in Red Rock, Nevada, outside Reno.

Eric, born in San Diego in 1965, is

• the first (and only) child of Rex and Ellen Russell,
• the first of the 3 grandchildren of Bill and Pauline Shepard Russell,
• the first of the 21 Ggrandchildren of Will and Bura Davis Shepard,
• the first of over 100 GGgrandchildren of James Brooks and Callie Spear Davis,
• and probably the first of the several hundred GGGgrandchildren of Charles and Malinda Wright Davis.

I added the word "probably" in the above sentence because that gets us to the level of 4th cousins, and includes such a large number of descendants that I do not know who they all are, much less who is the first born among them all. But I'll bet it's Eric!

Eric's wife Ruthie wrote me recently: We are doing fine. Hope all is well with you and yours. The weather has been beautiful here in Reno. Should feel guilty, but we don't. We had so much snow and rain last winter that we are loving this mild weather. I am sure it will change soon. Nothing new to report except that Eric will be a year older on Sat. the 14th.

I'm embarrassed to say that [the picture of us] was taken in 2005. Eric is a little thinner and a lot less hair now, but aside of that he looks the same. We are approaching our 19th wedding anniversary this year. Thanks for thinking of us. Best Wishes!

Thanks to Ruthie for sending me the two pictures above. The first one shows Eric when he was a youngster back in 1966. The second picture (referred to in the previous paragraph) shows Eric and Ruthie just a few years ago. The third picture shows a proud and happy Bura Davis Shepard with her first Ggrandchild Eric in 1966.

Special Note Regarding Email Addresses. On a few occasions recently I have had some of you request the email address of a family member. I want to remind you that the emails I send out do not normally show the email addresses of every one on my mailing list. But I am always glad to share an email address with any family member who requests one from me.
- - -
Steve

New Year Birthdays, January 7, 2012

Until the 12th of Never,
I'll still be loving you.
~sung by Johnny Mathis

Hello Family and Friends,

Greetings to all of you from cold but sunny Flagstaff, Arizona, near the Grand Canyon, where Cindy and I are spending the week with friends George and Diane Andrews of Tucson, Arizona.

Happy Birthday to my wife Cindy who celebrates her happy day today, January 7!

The first birthday gift I ever gave Cindy was on her 18th birthday, as her friends gathered at the Harris home on Burgundy Street in San Diego. Most of her friends were youth from her family's church, the Allied Gardens Church of Christ. I was her new friend from a church across town, having met her just a few weeks earlier, and was something of an outsider.

My gift to her at that party was a couple of LPs by the popular singers "Peter, Paul and Mary", and Johnny Mathis. If you even recognize those names, you can guess at how long ago that was! "Peter, Paul and Mary" were the singing social conscience of the 1960s, and Johnny Mathis was a young crooner whose love songs we all adored. "LPs", by the way, were "Long Playing" records, known these days simply as "vinyl", and were the media of choice for recording music, back in the days before iPods, CDs, or even cassette tapes.

Cindy and I are not sure whatever became of those LPs I gave her 46 years ago today. They may still be in a dusty box somewhere in granny Harris's house which is still on Burgundy Street. Or they may have simply gone the way of most LPs - into the trash bin. After all, besides a few die-hard lovers of vinyl (like our son Nathan), who even has a record player these days? One thing I do know is that even though the particular media is not popular, the music itself endures. And thankfully so. Hence my gift to Cindy this year of an iTunes gift card for the music of those same singers, that she can play on her new tablet computer.

Cindy spends her time these days enjoying the retired life in San Diego where we live (not far from Burgundy Street). And traveling to wherever we can find time to travel, including far off, exotic places like Flagstaff, Arizona (okay, maybe not so exotic). She also makes time for the loves of her life, her two grandchildren Preslea and Logan, children of Nathan and Chenda Shepard.

The first picture shows Cindy with our grandson Logan. The second picture shows our granddaughter Preslea with her father Nathan riding the Carousel at Belmont Park in San Diego. Happy Birthday to Cindy!

Happy Birthday Mary! Birthday wishes also go to Mary Medina Shepard this coming Tuesday, January 10. Mary and her husband Darrell live in Kirkland, Washington not far from their kids Christopher, Rachel and Patrick (and soon to be daughter-in-law Nicole). The third picture I am including shows Mary with her husband Darrell. Also sneaking into the corner of the picture is our brother Gary Shepard. This picture was taken last summer at the Shepard family reunion in Anacortes, Washington.

In addition to birthday greetings, congratulations to Darrell and Mary on their 29th wedding anniversary which they celebrated just last Saturday on New Year's Eve.

More New Babies! In my last post I mentioned some babies that would be born in 2012 in our family. I also asked if anyone knew of other expectant mothers. Jerry Clark wrote to tell me that his daughter and business partner Susan Clark Cox will also give birth this coming June to a new baby (Jerry's 6th grandchild!). Congratulations to Susan and Andrew Cox of Lubbock, Texas on this happy news.
- - -
Steve

Happy New Year, 2012!

One resolution I have made,

and try always to keep:

To rise above the little things.

~John Burroughs

Hello Family and Friends,

Greetings to you from San Diego on this last day of 2011!

Congratulations to Chenda Shepard whose birthday is tomorrow, New Year's Day! She and husband Nathan with their children Preslea and Logan live in Alameda, California. Chenda and family have been in San Diego all this past week enjoying this week after Christmas. The first picture shows Chenda and Nathan when they visited the Grand Canyon back in November.

Looking Ahead. With the new year 2012 beginning tomorrow I am thinking about several things related to family.

Babies! I think about the excitement already surrounding the new babies that will be born this year in our family. Chenda and Nathan are expecting a new baby this coming July to make 3 babies in 3 years. Jeremy and Desiree Ortiz (Kim Clark's son and daughter-in-law) of Blue Springs, Missouri are expecting twins this coming June. Are there any others expecting? Congratulations to those families.

Our favorite nonagenarian. At the other end of the spectrum, I think about the senior member of our family, Elmer Shepard of Norman, Oklahoma, who will turn 94 in May and who is in the sunset years of his life. I am grateful for his son Dane and family who are caring for him. The second picture shows Elmer and Dane in a recent picture.

Also as 2012 begins, I think about the fact that it has been four years since I began writing this genealogical blog. It was the last week of December, 2007 that I first began writing about our family. My original intent was to write for about 6 months, until the Family Reunion in the summer of 2008. But I soon discovered that there is much more to be said about this wonderful, crazy, diverse family of ours. And so the stories and pictures continue, and will for God only knows how long.

And finally, I think about 2012 being the 70th anniversary year of my Gower grandparent's move from Oklahoma to San Diego. They followed my Shepard grandparents by just 2 years in a move that was strikingly similar, not least of all because it was the final family move they made. I look forward to several opportunities to comment on this anniversary as we move through 2012. The third picture shows my grandparents, Leroy and Nola Shannon Gower, in 1971.

For now, may 2012 be a very prosperous and joyful year for each of you!

- - -

Steve

The Work of Christmas Begins, December 26, 2011

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins.

~Howard Thurman

Hello Family and Friends,

Greetings to all of you on this day after Christmas from San Diego, where the stockings are no longer hung, the presents are all unwrapped and, in the words of Howard Thurman, "the work of Christmas begins."

Anniversary. Tomorrow Cindy and I will celebrate 43 years of marriage. It has been quite a ride, from that Friday evening in 1968 when we were married at the La Mesa Church of Christ, to the day Nathan was born in the spring of 1977, to our retirements just a few years ago, to the births of our grand kids, and all the many, many experiences in between.

The first picture was taken earlier this month and shows Cindy and me enjoying ourselves on the beach in Carlsbad, California. (Thanks to friend George Andrews for taking this picture.)

In 2008, on our 40th anniversary, we were just a family of 3: the two of us and our foot loose and fancy free son Nathan. In the 3 years since then our little family has evolved beyond our imagination, and there are now 6 stockings over the Christmas fireplace, and next Christmas we will make room for yet another!

The second picture I am including was taken Christmas day at Granny Harris's house on Burgundy Street in San Diego. It shows Cindy in the middle holding our grandson Logan. Next to her is her mother Paula Harris with me in front. On the left is our son Nathan holding daughter Preslea, and momma Chenda in front of them.

Birthday. Wednesday, December 28, is the birthday of my late aunt Pauline Shepard Russell, who was born 95 years ago this week in Beaver County, Oklahoma. She was the first child of William and Bura Davis Shepard and the first grandchild of James Brooks and Callie Davis. At 11 years old her family moved to Two Buttes, Colorado where a few years later she met Bill Russell. One week after her 18th birthday she and Bill were married in Colorado. In 1940, after their two children, Rex and Beverly, were born they moved with the rest of Pauline's family to San Diego, California where they lived the rest of their lives. Pauline died in 2000.

The third picture I am including was taken in a restaurant in San Diego about 1942, during World War II. It shows Pauline Shepard Russell and her husband Bill Russell on the right. On the far left is Pauline's brother Eugene Shepard in his Coast Guard uniform. A reliable source tell me that next to Pauline is Bill's sister Louella Russell with her husband, also in uniform.

Pauline and Bill Russell have two grandchildren alive today, Shannon Wilk who, with daughter Emma, lives in Atchison, Kansas; and Eric Russell, who with wife Ruthie, lives in Red Rock, Nevada.

What is the "work of Christmas" that Howard Thurman refers to in the lines at the top of this post? In the rest of his poem he tells us.

The work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the people,
to make music in the heart.

- - -

Steve

Born On Christmas Day, December 19, 2011

Love came down at Christmas;

love all lovely, love divine.

~Christina Rosetti

Hello Family and Friends,

Greetings to all of you on this special week of Christmas! Nathan, Chenda, Preslea, Logan, Cindy and me -- together we wish you Happy Holidays and a very Merry Christmas!

On Christmas Day, 1888 my grand father William Shepard was born in Alton, Illinois. He was the one chosen by a Davis woman (Bura Davis) to be her husband, which forever connected the Davis family to us Shepards. Even later, their son Eugene Shepard was the one chosen by a Gower woman (Maida Gower) to be her husband, which forever connected the Gower family to us Shepards.

William Shepard's family left his hometown of Alton, Illinois in the early 1900s and settled in Beaver County, Oklahoma, where William met and then married Bura Davis in 1915. 13 years later, with three children in tow, they moved to Two Buttes, Colorado where their fourth child Thelma was born. In 1940 William and Bura and their family made a major move from Colorado to San Diego, California.

Thelma and William Shepard, about 1940

The picture of William that I am including today was taken around the time they made that move and may even have been taken in the mountains of California as they made their way into San Diego. This picture shows 4 year old Thelma Shepard, with her father, a spry 51 year old William Shepard.

What I like about this picture is that it represents my grandad very well: dressed like a workingman, stern in demeanor, resolute in appearance, careful guardian of his youngest child, a no-nonsense kind of guy. What I also like about this picture is that it shows my grandad as I never knew him. I was born just 8 years later, but I do not remember him standing up so straight and appearing to be so slim and robust. He is carrying his 51 years well.

My grandad William learned how to be a man from his father, William Elmer Shepard, who did not have a happy upbringing himself. William Elmer never knew his father, who died in the Civil War. He was raised by a older step father who made life so unbearable that William Elmer ran away from home as a teen, never to return. (Read more about that here.) William Elmer's unhappy childhood was probably reflected in his son William's sometimes serious and humorless demeanor. It may also help to explain why William, as a young family man, was something of a wanderer like his father and was away from his family for extended periods of time.

His wanderings made for great storytelling later in life. I remember him telling us grand kids about carrying a sixshooter, riding a horse, and chasing after the renegade Indian Cochise in the dangerous badlands of the southwest, and other such stories. On the other hand his wanderings must have made life difficult for his family that was left at home.

William and Bura Shepard, Christmas Eve, 1973

In a recording from near the end of his life, grandad William talks with great fondness about his father William Elmer and the warm relation- ship they shared in the months leading up to William Elmer's death from cancer in 1915. William missed something in his early life by being raised by one who had been a fatherless war baby. But he was compensated by the influences of a mother, Elvira Owens, and a wife, Bura Davis, who both were from strong, healthy families. See picture of William and Bura Shepard on Christmas Eve, 1973.

As we near the 123rd anniversary of William's birthday I am grateful for the memory of my grandfather, and for the love of family he learned and shared with his children and grandchildren.

May your Christmas be filled with warm memories and happiness!

- - -

Steve

"Thanks To All Willing To Share", December 12, 2011

OUR history begins before we are born.

We represent the hereditary influences of our race,

and our ancestors virtually live in us.

James Nasmyth

Hello Family and Friends,

Greetings to all of you wherever you may be, and however you may be surviving the December rush through Advent and Christmas.  Cindy and I find ourselves in Carlsbad, California vacationing this week with friends George and Diane. We are all of 30 miles from home!

I have written before about a family project to replace the headstones for two ancestors of ours, my GGGgrandfather Alexander Davis (1819-66) and his daughter Elizabeth (1843-67). They both reside beneath weathered and broken headstones in Spencer, Indiana. My second cousin Jerry Davis was the instigator of this project this past summer. He now tells me that we have raised the total amount needed from descendants of theirs. The headstone has been ordered and its creation is underway!

Jerry: I am getting anxious to get the stone in place and completed. I certainly appreciate all your assistance in helping to bring this to completion and that Alexander and Elizabeth will have a permanent grave marker. A BIG Thanks to all those who were willing to share with their contributions to see this completed.  We are blessed with such a loving and caring family.

Following is a list of relatives who were willing and able to contribute. Their names are in bold. Pictured are five of the donors: Jerry Davis, Stan Guy, Becky Davis, Gary Millikan and Thelma Boyd.

Descendants of Alexander Davis/ Charles Edward Davis/ John E. Davis:

• Stanley Guy (Dallas, Texas) - grandson of John Davis  
• Jon D. Guy (Arnett, Ok.) - grandson of John Davis
• Milfred W. Davis (Amarillo, Texas) - son of John Davis
• William P. "Bill' Davis (Alamogordo, N.M.) - grandson of John Davis   
  
• Jerry D. Davis (Grand Prairie, Texas) - grandson of John Davis  

Descendants of Alexander Davis/Charles Edward Davis/James Brooks Davis:  

• Jim and Nancy Bushong (Oologah, Ok.) - great grandson of J.B. Davis
• Becky Davis (Bartlesville, Ok.) - granddaughter of J.B. Davis
• Gary Millikan (Tulsa, Ok.)- grandson of J.B. Davis
• Steve and Cindy Shepard (San Diego, Ca.) - great grandson of J.B. Davis  
• Thelma Shepard Boyd (Gallup, N.M.) - granddaughter of J.B. Davis
• Norma Lou Allen (Bolivar, Mo.) - granddaughter of J.B. Davis
• Shirley Borgstadt (Springfield, Mo.) - granddaughter of J.B. Davis 
  
• Carolyn Roberts (Bolivar, Mo.) - granddaughter of J.B. Davis
  Note: Norma Lou, Shirley and Carolyn's contribution is in memory of their mother Nona Davis Kilpatrick and sister Venita Kilpatrick Bridger.

Descendant of Alexander Davis/Charles Edward Davis/Thomas Davis:

• Julie Coble Vandagriff (Bedford, Indiana) - great granddaughter of Tom Davis

Descendants of Alexander Davis/Samilda Dorcas Davis Medaris/Ada Medaris Johnson:  

• Kellene Hardy (Richardson, Texas) - granddaughter of Ada Johnson
• Jaydene Morrison (Nederland, Colorado) - granddaughter of Ada Johnson

Descendant of Alexander Davis/Salathiel George Davis/Harry Davis:  

• Scott G. Davis (Oklahoma City) - grandson of Harry Davis

The donors above represent a unique cross section of descendants of Alexander and Jane Davis. Not a single person in this list knows every other person on the list, but we are all related nonetheless. And we are now united as family in a common cause. The bottom line though is that this project is a wonderful tribute to our Davis ancestors who lived through some great hardships and left a wonderful legacy for which we can be very grateful. Replacing their headstones not only witnesses to the impact they made, it also shows the high esteem in which we hold them.

And maybe it indicates, as James Nasmyth says in the quote above, that "our ancestors virtually live in us".

- - -

Steve