Waddell history

                                    When and how it all began

 

This chronicle had its beginnings, (at least in concept), in the summer of 1992 when one of my daughters asked me a question about my great-grandparents I then couldn’t answer.  The more I thought about this, the more it bothered me that I really knew so very little about my family heritage and history.  By then, both my parents had passed on, so that resource was no longer available.  1992 was also at a time when the use of home computers was not wide-spread, and certainly before ‘email’ and the ‘internet’ had evolved as we know them today, so few research options were then open to me.

 

However, I did make a start.  After my retirement, I had bought my first computer -- and went to night school to learn how to use it.  Around this time, (and although I am NOT a Mormon), I also joined a local seniors’ computer and genealogy group run by the Mormons who offered both a free elementary computer genealogy program and instructions in the basics of genealogy research.  The ‘Internet’ was then in its early formative stages and certainly wasn’t anywhere near as complex or user friendly as it is today.  Then you posted search queries on ‘bulletin boards’ where the messages were sorted by volunteer ‘web-masters’ who in turn, resorted and relayed them to other bulletin boards.  Sometimes these steps needed to be repeated several times just to reach the appropriate destination.  (DIRECT email was NOT yet available in those days).  So you just sat back and waited,

sometimes days for an answer.  It was trial and error.  Occasionally you did make a positive connection, but MOST of these posted queries were either never answered or simply turned out to be dead-ends.  This method, combined with old-fashioned ‘back-and-forth’ letter writing, plus numerous visits to reference libraries did, however, allow me around 1995 to produce my first effort at a Family Tree for my combined Waddell/Campbell family lines.

 

Unfortunately this was also a time of major health problems for both Isabell and me. Isabell was then terminally ill, and with my heart problems, I couldn’t handle much home maintenance, so we sold our long-time home in Etobicoke and moved to a condominium apartment in Brampton to be near our three married daughters.  We moved in May 1995 and sadly, Isabell died soon afterwards in Dec 1995.  Family research then became just about the last thing on my mind for quite some time.

 

By 1997, I had met and married the widow Florence Herkes.  When I started back into family research, Florence expressed an interest and asked if I would do a ‘tree’ for the Herkes family of her first husband, a task which eventually grew into a major genealogy project and continued until just recently.  My research efforts soon became about 95% Herkes and 5% Waddell.  This was mainly because the Herkes researchers I now made contact with were essentially all ‘zealots’ and already active in family research.  Whereas most Waddell contacts I had or made, were ‘somewhat’ interested in their family section, but usually NOT too interested in doing research to expand the

line.  So I followed the path of least resistance and concentrated on the Herkes file.  One of my early contacts was a Herkes researcher in England who unbelievably, also had a family connection married into my Waddell line.  So with this bit of luck, we collaborated on both lines, (although I must admit this lady was able to help me much more with my Waddell research than I was able to help her with the Herkes side).

 

Over the years since 1997, the small core of “Team Players” which stayed together, closely scrutinized many THOUSANDS of names and their associated documents for a number of family lines as ‘emails’ were now being sent and received from all over the world.  This included reviewing many types of records, but mainly those for the census, birth, marriage and death entries needed to build the family reports.  Frequently many items turned out to be unconnected leads, but they still had to be investigated before being discarded and pruned from the ‘tree’ just like any dead branch – and all this sometimes after many hours of work.

 

With Florence’s passing in June 2010, Herkes research effectively ended for me and brought me back to my own family lines.  While a “Family History” is never complete, I’m now basically ‘dead-ended’ on most threads of inquiry.  So while I’ll still maintain and up-date the files as required, it’s now time for me to end any active research and get this Report completed and out to family members.  I hope you’ll enjoy reading the various sections and entries as you find yourself in this family history.  Your assistance and contributions have been appreciated and it has been my pleasure to have had the opportunity to make this all available to you.

 

Table of Contents

      To begin your journey, click one of headings below:

      The complete history is also available in PDF format by clicking here.