A Brief Family History Going Back to My Great Great Grandparents

My only ancestor on my dad's side of the family within this many generations who was not born in Perry County, Indiana was Anna Mariah McDermott, who was born in 1861 in Cincinnati to two Irish immigrants. When she was a small child, the McDermotts came to Perry County, and in 1886, she married Henry Joseph Georges, the oldest of my eight second great grandfathers, who was born in 1857 in Leopold, Indiana. Both of his parents were Belgian immigrants, so he probably grew up speaking quite a bit of French. Anna and Henry probably ended up living in or near St. Croix since both are buried at Holy Cross Catholic Church in St. Croix (along with Anna's mother), where the original settlers were Belgian, just like they were in Leopold.

Holy Cross Catholic Church in St. Croix, where many people on this side of the family have been members, had their weddings, and been buried

Mary Elizabeth Carr, the oldest of all sixteen of my second great grandparents, was born in Perry County, Indiana in 1856. At age 27, she married Otto Faulkenborough, who was born in 1858 in Perry County as well. Otto served multiple prison sentences in his lifetime, and although the Indiana Supreme Court upheld his conviction of assault and battery with intent to commit manslaughter in 1926, he was acquitted of a murder charge several years earlier. That incident was deemed self defense, although the trial didn't happen until eight years after the incident in question because police were unable to locate Otto during that time.

Marshal and Rosalia Georges Faulkenberg, possibly on their wedding day

Mary and Otto Faulkenborough's son, Marshal A. Faulkenberg was born in 1889 in Perry County. On August 16, 1917 he married Rosalia A. Georges, who was born in the same county in 1897 to Henry and Anna Georges. The two of them lived in St. Croix. It is believed that Marshal changed the course of Faulkenborough history in two pretty significant ways - changing the spelling of our family name to "Faulkenberg" and converting to Catholicism for wife Rosalia. Today the two of them are buried at Holy Cross Catholic Church in St. Croix. Marshal and Rosalia had seven children, whose names were Martin, Marie, James "Elmer", Henry, Irvin Lafayette "Lafe", Leonard, and Rose Alice.

Henry Faulkenberg in the center with two of his brothers

Henry Otto Faulkenberg was named after both of his grandfathers and was born in 1924 in Perry County. He graduated from high school two years early and served in the US Army in World War II. At age 20, he was in the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium. Henry spent his entire career at Maxon Marine building barges, wooden ones before the war and steel ones when he got back. On August 20, 1949, he married Ida Mae LaGrange at Holy Cross Catholic Church in St. Croix, Indiana. She was previously a cheerleader at the now defunct Oil Township High School and went on to work at General Electric for decades.

These two family pictures contain six consecutive generations, the middle two being Ida Mae LaGrange Faulkenberg and her father Everitt LaGrange. Pictured on the bottom are Ida Mae, husband Henry, all six of their children and their spouses, as well as their five oldest grandchildren.

Ida Mae's grandfather Louis Joseph LaGrange was born in Perry County, Indiana in 1866 to two Belgian immigrants. Only two of Louis's grandparents made the voyage to America, and they both died before Louis was born. The LaGrange homestead was in Ranger, Indiana, where Louis's father died in 1880. Eleven years later, Louis married Sally Cassidy, who was born in Perry County in 1874.

Top: Tim Kelly (and perhaps a brother or son) working at the Kelly family farm, his house behind

Bottom: My brother Dylan and me in front of the same house from the top picture

Ida Mae LaGrange's maternal grandfather, Tim Kelly, was born in Perry County, Indiana in 1869 to Irish immigrants. In 1902, he married Ellen Judge, who was born in the same county in 1883. Each of Ellen's parents had been born in Ohio, also to Irish immigrants. Ellen was sometimes called "Nell", and their grandkids referred to her and Tim as "Mom and Dad Kelly". Tim and Ellen's two-storey farmhouse was (actually still is) up high on a hill just outside St. Croix.

Blanch Catherine Kelly LaGrange

Their daughter, Blanch Catherine Kelly, was born in 1909 in St Croix. In 1928, she married Everitt William LaGrange, the son of Louis and Sally who was born 1907 also in Perry County. The two of them had seven children and were known as "Mamaw and Papaw LaGrange" to their 29 grandchildren and 57 great grandchildren.

Ida Mae LaGrange Faulkenberg on the right; her parents on the left

Their daughter Ida Mae LaGrange married Henry Faulkenberg in 1949, and the two of them had six children whose names are Barbara Ellen (wife of Rod Spence), Steven Patrick (husband of Catherine Austin), Dennis Edward (husband of Jill Brown), Jeffrey Joseph (husband of Pam Graddy), Kathleen Ann (wife of Tony James), and Martina Renee (wife of Steve Goffinet).

Ida Mae and Henry Faulkenberg on their wedding day

My mom's great grandfather, Ralph Frank Sheley was born in Illinois in 1886, most likely in Wayne County. He's my only ancestor within this many generations on my mom's side who is not known to be born in Hamilton County, Illinois, which sits just south of Wayne County. On August 18, 1907 Ralph married Carrie Evelyn Hall, who was born in Hamilton County in 1889. The two of them divorced well before their deaths but are buried right next to each other in Crouch Cemetery, near Piopolis and Belle Prairie City in Hamilton County.

Mildred Sheley and Bill Graddy on their wedding day

Laura (pronounced LAW-ruh) Jane Estes was born in 1872 in Hamilton County. In 1905, she married George Frank Graddy, who usually went by his middle name. He was ten years younger than Laura Jane and was the postmaster of Belle Prairie City in northern Hamilton County. Laura Jane and George Frank Graddy had three children: Beatrice (emphasis on the "at") Elizabeth, George Thomas, and William Clarence Graddy.

Bill, the youngest, was born 1910 in Hamilton County. In 1932, he married Mildred V. Sheley, the daughter of Ralph and Carrie Evelyn Sheley, who was born in 1912 in the same county. Bill and Mildred lived mostly in northern Hamilton County, but they also spent some time living in East St. Louis. The two of them ran a beauty school in southern Illinois and owned beauty supply stores. Their children are Roger, Bill, Cheryl, and Richard Frank, all of whom survived childhood except Richard, who died in his first year of life.

Back row: Bill Graddy and Mildred Sheley Graddy

Front row: their sons Roger and Bill

Roger Clarence Graddy, the oldest of those four, was born on August 18, 1937 in Belle Prairie City, Illinois. He graduated from McLeansboro High School, then after working for some time in the oil fields of Hamilton County, continued the family business.

Left: Eva Broyles at age 8 in school (“2” on her dress)

Right: Eva Broyles on the far left of her siblings. Her parents are seated in front.

Christopher Columbus Broyles, known as "CC", was born 1861 in Hamilton County, Illinois. In 1889, he married Nancy Florence Clark, who often went by her middle name and had been born in the same county in 1868. They lived in southern Hamilton County and had nine children named Lillian, Rufus, Cora, Rheoria, Walter, Fannie, James, Eva, and Elon. All survived infancy except Rheoria. Eva Fay Broyles, their second youngest, is my great grandmother.

Left: Eva Broyles Smith back right. Her mother is seated with Eva’s daughter Reenie

Right: Roy Smith and wife Eva Broyles on their wedding day

Washington Logan Smith was born in Hamilton County in 1868. Then in 1891, he married Amanda Louisa Mezo, who was born in the same county in 1876. Their son, James Roy Smith, was born 1899 in Hamilton County as well. All three of these people usually went by their middle names ("Lou" for Amanda Louisa).

Eva Lorene “Reenie” Smith on her wedding day far left. William “Jill” Dial far right. In the middle are Reenie’s grandmothers, Lou Mezo Smith and Nancy Florence Clark Broyles.

Roy and Logan both worked in the oil fields in Hamilton County, and in October of 1925, Roy married Eva Broyles. Their older daughter Eva Lorene "Reenie" Smith was born in 1929. I get my name from her and her mother's first name, and my mother gets her middle name from Reenie's middle name. Roy and Eva's younger daughter, Thelma Arlene Smith, was born on November 14, 1939 in southwestern Hamilton County. All the Smiths were members of Braden Valley Church.

Thelma Smith (born November 14) was #14 for Braden School. Jerry Sloan was #11. Roger Graddy is pictured far right.

At a time when there were tens of grade schools in the county, Thelma won three straight Hamilton County grade school basketball championships for Braden School, playing alongside her fourth cousins Roger and Jerry Sloan. The school (and former town) are both named after the Smiths' and Sloans' common ancestors, the Braden family. In his Hall of Fame induction speech, Jerry said some of the girls on the Braden School team were better than he was at the time. At my grandma's funeral, he told me Thelma was one of them. At first, I figured this was just to be nice. But he was actually a fourth grader when Thelma Smith was in seventh grade, so he might have just been telling the truth.

Thelma Smith and Roger Graddy on their wedding day

Thelma Smith married Roger Graddy on July 19, 1957 at Braden Valley Church. They spent some time in the early sixties running a drive-in burger and ice cream joint in Carmi, Illinois before moving to Mt. Vernon. Thelma and Roger have three children named Pamela Lorene (wife of Jeff Faulkenberg), Tammy Dawn (wife of Stan Davis), and Roger “Brent”.

The top left has Jeff Faulkenberg wearing #22 at Perry Central. The next three pictures are Pam Graddy. The first one of Pam was taken sometime in high school, and the bottom left was taken in the summer of 1975 at Illinois State cheer camp. The last one was taken in Michigan in 2018. I remember after I took the last picture, she checked to see how it looked, and said, “Damn, I’m good.”

My mom, Pam Graddy, was born on June 20, 1958, just three weeks or so after my dad on May 28. They were both born in the same counties as their respective parents, and both graduated from high school in 1976. My mom was a cheerleader at Summersville Grade School and Mt. Vernon Township High School, and my dad played baseball, basketball, football, and ran track at Perry Central High School. They met at Indiana State University a couple of years later and then got married in Mt. Vernon, Illinois.

Stephanie Graddy DePlanty is the bride here. Her grandmother Mildred Sheley Graddy is seated on the left. Jeff Faulkenberg is on the far right. Pam Graddy Faulkenberg is next to him. I’m in front of my mom. My brother Jordan is seated next to me, and my brother Dylan is seated on the floor. To the right of the groom are Thelma Smith Graddy and Roger Graddy. Roger’s sister, Cheryl Graddy Miltenberger, is to the right of him. Her daughter Khaki is to the right of her with Cheryl’s husband Hank behind. Roger “Brent” Graddy is to the right of Hank in the glasses. To the left of the bride are Sandy Schultz Graddy and Kristy Graddy McKearn, mother and twin sister of the bride. To the left of Kristy is Bill Graddy (Mildred’s son), father of the bride. Tammy Graddy Davis is in front of him in the green dress. Her husband Stan is on the far left. Their twin daughters Britani Davis Clifford (blue) and Bria Davis Frick (pink) are the two youngest girls pictured.

They lived for a few years in Marissa, Illinois before moving to Highland, where they both taught for decades. My dad was Highland High School's boys' basketball head coach for fourteen seasons. When my brothers and I were kids, we moved to Troy, Illinois. Our names are Jordan Drew, Devan Joseph, Brennan Graddy, and Dylan Granger Faulkenberg. Brennan passed away on February 11, 1993 at the age of two months and four days. Jordan is engaged to be married to Lauren Boemecke in October of 2022.