PURPOSE AND SCOPE

The whole purpose behind this site and my stumbling genealogical efforts is to provide a certain cute little girl -- my granddaughter -- with as much information as possible about her family. She's only two, so it will be a few years before all this stuff means anything to her. But maybe some day she'll be glad to have it. I've kicked myself time and time again for not taking a serious interest in finding my "roots" while folks who could have been excellent sources of information were alive. Maybe Meghan won't have to do that.

Given my complete ignorance of genealogy and my very limited patience, I decided that I'd better set some bounds on what I was doing or I'd give up in disgust. So here's what I figured I'd do.... I'm trying to trace Meghan's ancestors back as far as I can. I'm also trying to identify all her relatives who are descendants of her great-great-grandparents. Going back any further in time than that is just beyond my capabilities.

You'll quickly notice that there's a good bit of information in Meg's family tree about her father's family, but nothing about her mother's. I hope that will change dramatically very soon. It's the result of a tactical decision on my part. I figured that I'd try working on the Grau-Cypher lines first, and see what I'd come up with. Since I already had some information about them, I figured that would be a good way to start learning the genealogical ropes. I'll be starting work on the McCracken side of the family very shortly.

  
    SOURCES

Most of the genealogical information on this site comes from secondary sources, and some of it is anecdotal. That's why I put the warning for "serious genealogists" on the main page. The information on this site and in the associated GEDCOM should not be considered as "documented" data. I started with what I could remember of my family and the stories my parents told -- very few -- about their parents. Then I started searching the genealogical resources on the World Wide Web, picking up bits and pieces of information here and there. I also rooted through some piles of family mementos -- news clippings, a few documents, and even a funeral home memorial book. There are four sources which deserve special mention:

Some of the information on the family of Patrick John and Mary Boyle Gallagher was taken from a one-page, typescript listing of family members compiled by my late aunt, Mary Gallagher Mulroy, on 25 Feb 1967.

Much information on the Clowes line of Helen Denny Cypher's ancestors came from a Clowes Family Tree compiled by Mr. Raymond S. Clowes of Barrie, Ontario, Canada. The original edition was completed in 1985, with subsequent page changes. My copy is somewhat incomplete, lacking the 1986 and 1987 changes and any changes which may have been published after 1989.

Information on the Shearer family members in Helen Denny Cypher's family tree came from the Descendants of George Shearer, Sr. Web site created by Scott and Joyce Emmel of Butler, PA.

Much information on the ancestry of Philip Eugene Cypher came from the Ancestry of Bob and Mary Beth Wheeler Web site.

If you need more information on sources, please e-mail me and I'll try to help you out as best I can.

  
    GRAPHICS, LINKS, ETC.

Most of the graphics on this site (except for the RootsWeb advertising banners and logos for other sites) are things I did up myself. I'm not claiming copyright on anything. If you'd like to use any of the graphics on your own Web site, just grab copies with my compliments. If you want to put a link to this place on your site, go right ahead. This site is "link free". Please do let me know about it, though, so I can go pay a visit to your site. If you prefer banners for links, you're welcome to use this one.
  

    GETTING IN TOUCH

If you have any information to add to what I've collected, I'd very much appreciate hearing from you. Comments, corrections and suggestions will also be welcome. Insults and whines will be cheerfully ignored. You can e-mail me at chortles@hehe.com. If you prefer snail mail, my address is:

Joseph A. Grau
1249L Gaskins Road
Richmond, VA   23233

  
    ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks go to:

Sandra Cypher Grau for finding many of the pictures and providing lots of information.

Judy Meineke for the photos of "Uncle Wilhelm".

Susan Grau Orochena for providing data on her family.

P. Dennis Cypher for dating the Marwood/Delano picture.

Phil Grau for locating a photo album I was hunting.

  
    WHO IN THE HECK IS "UNCLE PHIL"?

Heh heh. I've been waiting for you to ask. Uncle Phil is Philip Karl Grau, poor little Meghan's one-and-only uncle. Actually, he wouldn't be too bad if he'd only stop chuckling at my bald head.