The Making of Prairie Roots

I've not posted a blog for a few days as I've been working on Prairie Roots, a newsletter that I send out four times a year. It is primarily about the Daugherty and Carrington family. Three Carrington sisters married three Daugherty brothers. One of these marriages, that of Charles Daugherty and Mildred Carrington Deaver ocurred later in life, however there were several double first cousins, my mother, Helen Daugherty Hostvet, being one of them.

I write this newsletter for several reasons. First I want to assist my mother in becoming more involved with her family. She can no longer travel very far and her siblings, only Kenneth and David survive, are also unable to travel. Secondly, I really have become close with this family made up of so many differing peoples and involved in so many important times in American history. All of Mom's family have been in America since the 17th and 18th century. They are downright interesting! And I've learned to love history by following the succession of ancestors. Thirdly, I have yet to meet ANYONE in this family that I haven't had total respect and love for. Yes, there are so many yet to meet, but I do it with joy. Kindness (grandpa Fred is a prime example of this quality), warmth, creativity, curiosity, great fortitude and dedication to dreams come to mind when thinking about these families.

I spend an awfully lot of time putting out Prairie Roots. This last one, sent out today, is the start of the third year of publication. I started it with the above challenges as well as wanting to know more of my family members. The Carringtons/Daughertys are really a dispersed family...many of them haven't seen each other since childhood. There are several first cousins that I don't know and one that I've never met.

Besides time and energy, publishing this family newsletter takes a lot of money. I assumed this responsibility when I first began, so that's alright. I didn't want to do a subscription type newsletter, as my goal was to reach as many people as possible. Even if the receiver has no interest in family history, they still have the newsletter in hand and know that our family is there for them someday when that interest does occur. I didn't want to do it via E-Mail, as I wanted a black and white copy for all to read...adding a more personal attribute. It takes about $125 each quarter to print, stamp, and use labels, etc. to finally see the newsletter on its way via the postman.

I have about 107 mailings at this time. Some of these mailings I know are being looked forward to with excitement. Most of these readers are older. I must mention a second cousin, Linda, whose husband is a postmaster. He puts the newsletter on her pillow at night. Things like that make me almost cry (positively). And there are Mom's cousins Gen and Clarence that never fail to give me joy. Uncle Al often gives me a warm phone call. And it is for these readers that I love to write. This explains the 12 pt. print. My first Prairie Roots, I printed in 8 pt. and dear uncle Ken complained about not being able to read it. So it people like him that I try to help with the reading of the newsletter. There are many people that I hear from ocassionally, and that's good. I know that they are reading and enjoying the mailing. I receive a bit of money from some of these people...some being very generous.

Then there are the mailings that I never know for sure are appreciated. These are many. I've made the assumption that they want to receive the mailing. They've never asked for it, so I can't complain. Maybe they'll get bit by the family bug. I really don't want to give up on them. If I couldn't financially afford this effort, I would probably would stop mailing to about 1/3 of my listing. Maybe some of the joy would also diminish. I'm not ready to do this.

Prairie Roots copies are kept in a loose-leaf notebook. Any letters, E-Mails, or pictures I receive go into my many family notebooks. I save everything!

Improvements for Prairie Roots are...more letters from readers!!! I seldom hear of day to day happenings of these families. There are a lot of writers in our famly, now and in the past, so I've got that pretty well taken care of. It's the modern-day letters that I need. Someday I'm going to run out of photos. And the gems of all...manuscripts, news articles, and notes/scraps/handwritten ideas, I can't get enough of them.

I'll continue writing Prairie Roots until it is no longer a joy to do. I love writing it, though it is very exhausting. Perhaps when Uncle Ken and David, Mom, and all her first cousins are gone, I may have a different attitude.

I'm trying to draw from several families: Daugherty, Pepper, Powell, DeLong, Carrington, Wilson, Enke, Bartholomew and more. When I am gone, my children, Nate and Elisabeth will care for all my files.

I want to thank Uncle Ken, Randy & Clarence McGirr, my deceased aunts Lori and Beulah, Aunt Lori's four daughters, cousin Peggy Daugherty, Gen Travis, Bonnie Runge, Aunt Helen June, Gail Fischer, Barb Goehring Geidel and Curt Goehring, Loni Teachout, Uncle Al Goehring, Helen Gould Herrmann, Gladyse Gould Cody, my mom Helen Daugherty Hostvet, my sisters and brother, our Canadian families, and so many others for encouraging me on this adventure...an adventure that I really passionately love.