I live in the Washington, DC area. My connection to KC is through my paternal grandparents.  My Snediker grandfather was born in Ohio, came west to Kansas in the 1880's to where my great-grandfather and his brothers had a sheep ranch.  They sold out the ranch around 1890 and came to KC.  My great-grandfather had a sewage construction company.  My grandfather lived in Independence, worked in a shoe store for some years, was a volunteer in the Spanish-American War.  My dad was born in Independence.  When he was young, the family left the KC area and settled in Topeka, where Grandpa had a dry goods store.  Grandpa married into the family of Oliver H.C.P. Mitchell, who was a Methodist preacher and worked as a carpenter.  His wife was a Rubey.  I no longer have any kin in the KC area that I know of.  Happy New Year to all, and many thanks again to John for doing such a great job with this list. Ted Snediker ----- Original Message ----- From: mpettyjohn@comcast.net To: kansascity@rootsweb.com Sent: Sunday, January 4, 2009 3:59:57 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [KANSASCITY] the Kansas City Mailing List members