Historical Coincidences (?)

I'm up waiting for a daughter to get home from a dance and decided that I'd watch an episode of one of my favorite shows--Who Do You Think You Are? I caught the first episode of season 3.  The Martin Sheen episode. Now that I've watched it, all I can say is WOW! History is amazing!




I am just astonished how things come together.

In alignment with the Sheen story, our family has interesting turn-about as well....

In 1999, when it was announced that the Nauvoo, Illinois temple, which was burned way back in 1848, was to be rebuilt, we were urged to search our family history records to see if we had any ancestors that helped in its original building.

It was a pretty sure deal that the Warden, who descends from LDS pioneers on both sides of his family, would have had ancestry there. As for me, my paternal grandmother's was my only line that descended from those who joined the LDS church back in its early days--around 1830, so it was doubtful that I had much to go by with only that one line.

As I got to searching, though, I found that that line--the Riddle line--was, in fact, in Nauvoo back in the days of the building of the temple. Not only that, but my great, great, great-grandfather, John Riddle and his sons, helped make the shingles for the roof of the temple.

After finding that great news, I searched through the Warden's family records and found that his family--the Walker's--took those shingles my family had made and...LAID THE ROOF.  Ironic?  (If you go to the link--go to page 40 at the bottom of the right-hand column).

So here's some other weird facts--my dad and his wife served a mission to the Nauvoo Temple a few years back.  When you go to that Walker link, here's where it gets really amazing....the Warden descends through the Walker's and Miner's.  I descend from that same Miner/Minor line a few generations prior--my line was non-LDS.  Added to this, a friend, who is a fairly recent convert to the LDS faith, asked me to help her do her grandmother's genealogy.  Her grandmother's maiden name? Holmes--descended from this same line through the Miner's.

It is SUCH a small world!  If you get a chance, read through the Walker family information at the link.  It's pretty fascinating what these people endured.