The GLakes-Tales blog is focused on bringing together the stories, pictures, and lives of those who are no longer with us today. It is meant to keep alive the memories of those we love, and learn more about where we came from. This story is not yet done. It will continue to be updated as new information is found, and will grow as younger generations add their own adventures and romances.
GLakes-Tales is based on oral traditions passed down through the Burkhart/Tompkins and Hoffman/Mulholland families. While much of the text is based on fact and as much as possible, standard genealogical evidence sources, the stories are incompletely documented and have all the usual problems of oral histories. In some cases, these words tell the story from a particular family member's viewpoint and may not be the way it was experienced or remembered by another part of the family. Where documentary evidence allowed for corrections, these were made. In other cases, all we have left are the stories as told.
By publishing these stories and photographs, I hope to leave a legacy for our children and future descendants. It may also lead to stories from other, more distant family members who have more details or other versions that will enrich the telling. The blog goes no further than my grandparents, now all long gone, as a way to protect the privacy of those still living—individuals who often have very strong opinions about what their own stories should look like.
If a story is inaccurate or if you have a different viewpoint, I welcome your input to make this a better telling. Please post comments, send emails, or otherwise contact me if you have a suggestion.
GLakes-Tales is based on oral traditions passed down through the Burkhart/Tompkins and Hoffman/Mulholland families. While much of the text is based on fact and as much as possible, standard genealogical evidence sources, the stories are incompletely documented and have all the usual problems of oral histories. In some cases, these words tell the story from a particular family member's viewpoint and may not be the way it was experienced or remembered by another part of the family. Where documentary evidence allowed for corrections, these were made. In other cases, all we have left are the stories as told.
By publishing these stories and photographs, I hope to leave a legacy for our children and future descendants. It may also lead to stories from other, more distant family members who have more details or other versions that will enrich the telling. The blog goes no further than my grandparents, now all long gone, as a way to protect the privacy of those still living—individuals who often have very strong opinions about what their own stories should look like.
If a story is inaccurate or if you have a different viewpoint, I welcome your input to make this a better telling. Please post comments, send emails, or otherwise contact me if you have a suggestion.
How this Blog Began
The material for the blog entries come from multiple sources, but much originates in work done by Phyllis Hoffman (1925-2002) tracing our family's roots. She drew heavily on materials provided by her relatives, many now gone.
After writing the initial stories in 2004 based on her collected notes, I relied heavily on my living relatives to revise and update the tales from what they remembered from their childhoods and the stories they heard from their own elderly relatives. In the process, I have been lucky enough to come into contact with distant relations I never knew I had, and am grateful to all who have shared so generously. With some time away from work in 2015, I was able to return to my hobby and have been able to update the stories now that so much more material can be found on the Internet to supplement the original materials and documentation collected by Phyllis and myself earlier. A blog seems a natural extension to the online world to make the materials more broadly available.
Family Oral Tradition Sources
Some of the text used in this blog is based on material compiled by Phyllis Hoffman in a small green, three-ring notebook holding typewritten pages and with a cover indicating it follows her time as an adult college student at St. Xavier College. The book is labeled "The Purpose of This Book is to Record the lineage of The Stanley R. Hoffman Family." Additional materials come from typed sheets found in her genealogical notebooks (see next section) and letters from family members but not incorporated into the green notebook stories. Other stories were contributed by many descendants who generously shared their childhood memories with the me in more recent years.
Genealogical Records
While the original green notebook had family lists and dates, these have been updated based on additional research done by Phyllis Hoffman, and after 2002, by myself. Where vital records contradict family legend, the official dates were used.
Phyllis worked on the genealogy for the family until just before her death in 2002. She was in contact with other descendants tracing our roots, and worked with her sister Patricia Hoffman to organize these materials in 2001. Most are kept in white, three-ring binder notebooks currently in the possession of my cousin, Barbara Hoffman. These notebooks and associated file folders contain copies of vital records, census pages, photographs, original newspaper clippings, letters, and other source documentation. However, in many cases, the family data sheets are undocumented in Phyllis's records. Because much of what she started with were the stories and information from relatives, some of data for at least the recent generations is from oral reports, often by immediate family members, rather than from verified or primary records.
Since the time Phyllis did the original work, many records have been made available online, and such web sites as Family Search and Ancestry.com are now standard ways to research digitized original records and indexes. What has become most evident in updating the work done by Phyllis is how much she accomplished without the use of the Internet. She did it all the hard way, talking to close relatives, writing hundreds of letters to people all over the world, and traveling to locations where our distant relatives had lived to track documents in county offices and state archives. She went to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, at the time the only way to view the many microfilmed records. She browsed many pages that had yet to be indexed seeking information. I cannot express adequately my appreciation and admiration for her dedication and the legacy she left our family.
I have continued the research and enhanced the process by putting the family lists and documentation sources into a genealogical database. In particular, data from the US Census from 1830 through 1940, in addition to Michigan censuses from 1834-1895 have been used to verify dates and family links where possible. If available, city directories have been a good source of material showing yearly changes in occupations, residences, and marriages as new families were listed. Other records, official and personal, have been used to further verify the stories.
Many records have been found online through such standard genealogical websites as FamilySearch and Ancestry.com, with additional direction suggested by the family trees posted by others. It has provided some amusement to find family trees that used data I initially shared with relatives in 2004, some of which I now know is not correct and am in the process of updating. I use public family trees as starting points for my data collection and appreciate the efforts of others, but am enough of an academic to want verification not just a list of possible dates and places. If a census record is cited in a tree, I make it a point to look at the original page; in some cases my own knowledge makes it easier to figure out words that were illegible or simply missed by others doing similar research or indexing.
Where newer data were available on dates or other historical records, these were used in updating and enhancing the initial short stories begun by Phyllis. Many stories are completely new as they represent families for whom she had not been able to find any sources, whether that was people or documents. Continuing problems or contradictions with names and dates are listed in footnotes in the hopes that other researchers viewing this work may be able to help with data sources. I am continuing to trace records and will update the blog entries regularly as more information is located.
Most recently, I have begun using DNA matching as one additional way to confirm the relationships proposed by the documentary evidence. So far, DNA has not resulted in any serious changes to my family tree, but I have been able to extend some lines where parentage was uncertain. This remains a technology with ever expanding possibilities. I have DNA profiles on several sites.
Photographs
The pictures in the blog are primarily scanned by me from originals in the collection of Phyllis Hoffman, now held by her daughter, Barbara. Others come from scanning those held by Patricia Hoffman or passed along to Pat's daughters as part of the "Grandma Books." Julia Carr contributed digitized photos of the descendants of William Mulholland. Jerry Parker contributed many photos of the Samuel Mulholland and Parker clans. Additional photos come from the collection of Bill Haydon. Recent pictures from the Hoffman files, including some taken by me just for these stories, provide context for the way things look now. The advantage to having access to multiple collections has been the potential to identify individuals in photos that were not previously labeled, or date them based on a sequence over time.
All images in the blog have been edited to fit and, where necessary, color corrected to bring out detail. In most cases the original image was used as taken, but some have been edited where only a part of the image is critical to the story. My original scans are unaltered and can be shared if requested. I truly appreciate all who have allowed me to digitize their treasures, knowing that many of the original photographs are true collector items, very old, and often already damaged and fragile. I don’t mind people using the images non-commercially, and have posted a Creative Commons license, but do appreciate having a credit line noting where the photo originated.
Why a Blog
Initially I created hard copy books with my first version of these stories that I printed out on my computer printer and shared with various family members in 2005. The problem with any hard copy is that it cannot be updated easily, and there are always more relatives who want copies. I have done some blogging and websites over time as part of my job, and it just made sense to put the material online where it could be easily accessed by anyone interested, but also be rapidly up-dated. The blog provides a way for family members to share new stories, photos, and corrections where needed, applying them instantly to the online content. Although there are dedicated genealogy web sites that allow the same type of information display, I wanted to post at a site where I control the content and where there is no issue about the fact that it belongs to me, not some commercial provider. Further, this blog does not require a login to read and is open to anyone. And yes, of course all of it is backed up in my own digital spaces.
Do You Have a Posted Family Tree?
I continue to work on improving my documentation but I have posted a basic family tree for the Mulhollands of Superior Township on Ancestry.com and FamilySearch. I would be glad to share more detail with any who ask. There are also PDFs attached to many of the stories for those who want to see the documentary sources. I want to be sure what I post is accurate as possible, having seen some major genealogical blunders on other's posts. For any facts that I use, I expect there to be evidence and coherence.
Acknowledgments
Here are just some of the many people who helped with materials for this blog, and who I truly appreciate for their generous help and sharing of information:
- Phyllis Hoffman
- Stanley Hoffman
- Barbara Hoffman
- Patricia Hoffman
- Gerald Hoffman
- Bill Haydon
- Jerry Parker
- Jim Parker
- Julia Carr
- Karen Scherdt-Moore
- Marilyn Lane
- Donna Heath
Ellen Hoffman, posted 6 Sep 2023
