Stories My Folks Told Me

About the Book

This is a book of family stories, of pioneers who immigrated to central Illinois from a variety of locations in Germany. They dared to leave the Old World and seek their fortune in the New World and strove every day of their lives to improve the quality of life for their children and descendants. They left a part of Europe, Germany, comprising a radius of about a hundred miles, and settled in America, in central Illinois, within a radius of about twenty-five miles. Between 1845 and 1869, some came as families, some as individuals , but they all chose to inhabit the villages of Danvers, Minier, Petersburg, or the surrounding farmland. Of the pioneer generation, there were sixteen people whose stories are like little jewels embroidered onto the warp and woof of the historical tapestry of their time. The second-, third-, and fourth-generation folks are likewise described within the context of their times and always leading in a straight line of lineage to Mary and Bill Oehler, the author’s parents. Every life has a story. It has been a pleasure to delineate these thirty-one lives.

About the Author

The author, Susanne Keller, is the daughter of Mary and Bill Oehler, fourth and third generation members, respectfully, of the family’s history book. She had always enjoyed listening to her parents share stories of their childhoods in the village of Minier in central Illinois. The two were born only a month apart and spent all their growing-up years there. All of their family members going back generations to their immigration from Germany had lived only in that village or in nearby Danvers or Petersburg. It just seemed to the author that such a concentration of lives in a confined area with mutual origins in Germany deserved a close look. With her long-ago-earned degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, subsequent writing courses, and enjoyment of writing to give her confidence, she determined to describe all the folks.