Cindy, Thanks so much for that MOST helpful posting. Janis Walker Gilmore Pawleys Island, SC & Seattle WA ----- Original Message ----- From: "Cindy Birk Conley" <cbconly@midwest.net> To: <ILWHITE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, August 30, 2002 12:07 AM Subject: [ILWHITE] Storey family--from 8/29 Carmi paper > Storeys in county for reunion; book will tell their story > > By BARRY CLEVELAND Of The Times Staff > > And now, to paraphrase broadcaster and columnist Paul > Harvey, you'll know the rest of the Storeys. > > Pardon the play on words, please. But Californian Betty > Storey is hard at work on a genealogy of the Storey > families who have been in White County for nearly two > centuries. > > Storey, a retired airline flight attendant who now teaches > English in China, has spent more than two decades > researching the family of her late husband--and she hopes > to publish a combined genealogy and history of the > Storeys within six months. > > Storey, a San Francisco native who now lives in the > Sacramento area, is in White County this week and will > take part this weekend in a national reunion of > descendants of George Storey Jr. and his nephew, Robert > Storey, who settled here before Illinois was a state. > > Some other out-of-state members of the far-flung family > are expected to arrive as early as Friday. Many will spend > Saturday touring the county, viewing the home sites of > Storeys of days gone by and the cemeteries where many > Storey pioneers are buried. They plan to attend church > together on Sunday and to enjoy an all-day outdoor > reunion and picnic at the John and Louise Storey home > near Enfield on Monday, Labor Day. > > Storey was married to Richard Warren Storey, a White > County native who was the son of the late Hobart Orlan > and Grace (Smith) Storey, White County natives who > took their family to the Long Beach, Calif. area in 1939. > Her husband, a commercial pilot, died in 1964, and she > said she wanted her four daughters to know something of > their Storey heritage. > > Problem was, she said Wednesday, because of the > blending of families associated with early deaths of > parents, the surviving family members in California knew > little about the history of the Storeys. > > And so, after doing a bit of research in the '70s, Storey > packed up her car in 1980 and began a cross-country > journey. She visited places important to the history of her > own family (the Morgans) and that of her husband. > > In the years since that time, her research into the histories > of the Storeys (and associated families such as the Cusics, > Elders, Millers, Brocketts, Douglases, Dagleys and > Veatches) have taken her across the United States and to > the British Isles. She visited County Cavan, Ireland, which > John Storey left in 1723 to migrate to Pennsylvania. She > visited the Brockett manor home near London and the > Veatch castle near Edinburgh, Scotland, while in the > British Isles. And photos of those sites will be featured in > the upcoming book. > > But back to the Storey story. > > George Storey was born to John Storey and his wife in > 1725 in Lancaster County, Pa. The family belonged to the > Donegal Presbyterian Church, which apparently moved en > masse first to Staunton, Va. and then, years later, to what > was then the 96th District (later Union County), S.C., > where they settled in Fair Forest. > > About 1809, some of the Storeys (George Jr. and his > family, and a nephew, Robert) and many friends and > neighbors decided to move west. Gathering for a week on > the old Revolutionary War battlefield of Cowpens, near > Spartanburg, S.C., the group headed north, to > Cumberland Gap. Delayed for a time because of the > presence of hostile Indians, they built a fort at Campbell > Station. Then they proceeded across the Gap and into > what was then "The West." > > Some of the group peeled off and settled in Kentucky, > others in Tennessee. But many persevered and crossed > the Ohio into Illinois Territory. Records show that the > Storeys purchased ground in White County between > 1814 and 1818. > > And in some cases, their descendants own and occupy > the old homesteads. > > Back to the present--almost. > > In 1980, Betty Storey visited with Storey descendants in > the Spartanburg area (including some who still own the > 100-plus acres granted by King George III of Britain in > 1750 to their ancestor, George Storey). She was told that > a genealogy had been compiled in 1955 of the families of > the Storeys who had stayed behind when the 1809 > exodus began. And the South Carolinians had always > wondered "what became of the other Storeys" (George > Jr. and Robert). > > Similarly, she said, some of the White County Storeys she > had spoken with had not known of their Carolina > heritage--and relatives. > > > When she began thinking of doing a Storey book (she has > done one about the Morgans), she originally intended to > incorporate all of the Storeys. But it quickly became clear > that the task would be too great, so she decided to > concentrate on the Storeys and relatives who came to > White County two centuries ago. > > Storey (whose late husband actually descended from both > White County lines of the family) said George Jr. "brought > a flock of kids" with him to White County, while Robert > was unmarried at the time. And there were many > marriages along the long trail to the new home in Illinois, > she said. The years since, of course, have swollen the long > roll of Storey descendants into the thousands. > > Half of Storey's upcoming book (and by the way, she > uses the "Storey" spelling, though some family members > have dropped the "e") will consist of detailed data, a > classic genealogy, filled with names and dates (she > estimates it will include 4,500 names). It will also include > information on the areas where the family has lived, as > well as information about associated and allied families. > > But the rest will be a bit different. "The idea is to use the > people in the database as a vehicle to walk through > history," said Storey. "I've traced the family from the > 1500s to modern times." > > The hard work has been done, she said. "The writing will > be the easy part," after the long, arduous task of gathering > names, dates and places. > > She hopes to publish the hardbound book (her last one > ran up to about 600 pages, and this one may be > comparable) early next year. > > After that, she'll probably return to her "real job" of > teaching school in a Chinese city near Hong Kong. She > took a year off to finish the Storey book. > > Storey can be contacted this weekend at the reunion (or > by calling Walter Storey). Her address, phone number > and e-mail address: > > Betty Storey > > 8034 Peppermint Court > > Citrus Heights, CA 95610 > > 916-723-1177 > > betzstorey@prodigy.net > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >