My dad, Nelson O’Rear, compiled a history of his in-laws, Francis Billick and Helen Wetrich, around 2009. It includes many details of their lives that aren’t available in government records or newspaper accounts, and is a really lovely way to remember the family of Teri Billick O’Rear. I have set it forth here, verbatim. Thanks,…
Author: Kevin Doyle O'Rear
Doyle O’Rear and Myrtle “Marie” Boyd Family History
My dad, Nelson O’Rear, prepared a family history of his parents in 2009. It includes beautiful vignettes and insights into the day-to-day lives of a midwestern family spanning nearly all of the 20th century. Thanks, Dad! Doyle Russell O’Rear & Myrtle Marie Boyd O’Rear Family History By Nelson O’Rear, 2009 Doyle Russell O’Rear was born…
From County Kerry to Detroit: Hussey-Shea Family
If someone asked Edward James Hussey where he was from, the man known to his family as “Biggs” would provide a straightforward answer: he was from Detroit, born and raised. And if they were lucky, Biggs would hum a few bars of the U. of D. fight song. If someone wanted to know how his…
O’Rear-Boyd Family: Four Generations Ago
The story of Marcus O’Rear and Eda Gardner begins in the early 1800s; the story of the O’Rear family in America begins in the 17th century. While the O’Rear family had lived in America for more than a century by the time of the Revolution; just where they lived before arriving here is a mystery.1For…
Billick-Wetrich Family: Four Generations Ago
James J. Billick’s family had been in America for at least two generations by the time he was born in Pennsylvania. The surname “Billick” is most likely an Anglicization of the German “Billig,” and suggests that the family originated near the village of that name south of Cologne. James Billick was known to all as…
Bingel Family Origins
Semd, Germany, a small farming village in Hessen, southeast of Frankfurt, was home to Peter Bingel and his wife Maria (Voegler). The Bingel family’s roots in the area were deep: Peter and Maria were married in Semd in 1802, and by 1820 four children were born and baptized in the village. Peter’s parents lived nearby,…