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Thomas William Cleary was born in Winnebago, Illinois on March 28th, 1853 to Patrick and Mollie Cleary. The ancestry on Thomas’ paternal side is unable to be traced because his mother’s maiden name is unknown. The field for this information was left blank on all of the family’s available vital records, including Thomas' death record. Only St. James Cemetery where the family is buried had her first name which was found in their records from the time. Patrick's parents Thomas Cleary and Sarah (Kennedy) Cleary lived in County Wicklow, Ireland at the time of his birth. There is nothing more known about the ancestry of the Cleary or Kennedy families.  Patrick and Mollie came to the United States in 1846, living outside of Rockford where Patrick worked as a day laborer on the Saunders’ farm, saving up money to buy his own farm. Prior to leaving Ireland, Patrick was a butcher. They had a total of five children, three of whom did not reach adulthood. A second son, Charles, eventually l...

The story of Peter and Julia Olson begins in Norway. Peters’s parents Ole Olson and Christine Olson (Johnson) lived in Bergen, Norway at the time of his birth. Very little is known about Ole and Christine or their ancestors, including whether or not they had any other children. Julia’s family has been traced back three generations to Erik Olson Hylland who was born in Aurland, Sogn, Norway. He married Ollegaard Larsdatter Vindal. Their son Ole Erickson Hylland was born in 1782 in Aurland and died in 1869 in Vossestrand, Voss, Norway. He married Britta Jonsdatter born in 1795 and died in 1887 Vossestrand. Their daughter Anna Olesdatter Jordalen and her husband Jon Jonsen Naasen were Julia’s parents. Anna’s sister Thora Seaver (Olesdatter) immigrated to The United States and raised a large family on a farm near Julia and Peter’s own farm. Julia had several brothers and sisters, one of whom also married into the same Seaver family as Thora. It is unknown when and where Peter and Julia wer...