Ted's surnames include - MILLER ~1750 VT > 1810 Western NY, there the family split up, some to OH, others to MN, his own >1871 Merrick County, NE > descendents in CA NH, and TX known SILLOWAY 1820 NY > 1880 Merrick Co., NE EVANS ~1800 in CT or NY? > 1810 Western NY > 1886 Merrick Co., NE descendents in CA, western NY?, IA? and OH GUGIN Ireland (date not certain) > 1830 Quebec prov. Canada > before 1860 Washington Co., NE > descendents to KS, MO, CO, CA and Canada JACOBSON 1880 Chicago (briefly) > Jun 1880 Washington Co., NE KINGDON England > 1840 NY (can't find them) > 1850 in WI? >1860 IL > 1870 Washington County, NE > 1940's Riverside, CA (this family seldom found where expected from birthplaces given!) Other lines in San Francisco and ??? Carole's surnames GUTZWILLER Basel, Switzerland > ~1882-7: somewhere in western NY or in IL (great grandfather died, haven't found him; widow married GASSMAN) GASSMAN German-Swiss > 1882-7: IL or NY? >1888: NE (somewhere) > 1889: Columbus, Platte, NE (opened business, found in gazetteer) NO descendents GERBER Aarwangen, Berne, Switzerland > some immigrated 1869 to Omaha and Columbus, NE (my direct line in Columbus, 1889) descendents in NE, KS and CA SCHOBER Römerstadt, Mähren, Austria (now Rymarov, Moravia, Czech.) Dec 1881 to Columbus, Platte, NE (they selected NE because they knew Franz Mueller, land promoter near Bellwood, Butler, NE) Related names - SCHRAM, SCHUBERT, SHOLZ in same area. PERSON Sweden > 1880 USA (perhaps NY City or somewhere near Chicago?) Returned to Sweden (date not known). 1900: Second immigr. to Leigh, Colfax, NE > ~1902 Columbus, Platte, NE (lived at times on farms in Butler and Madison? Counties) Supposedly selected Leigh because close friends to NELSON family, which was related to LUND family. One sister lived in Brooklyn at that time. Another sister married a LUND and settled in Columbus. STROMBERG Sweden > 1892 Calif. > ~1903: "Genoa" - actually living on farms in Platte Co., NE. Date unk: Sherman Co for a time, back to Genoa. Name originally SVENSK? Daughters tended to use patronymic, so married under different surnames for two generations. Change in surname or spelling of surname is common with our Swedes - siblings immigrated as PERSSON, PIERSON, PEARSDOTTER. Other relatives started as LARSON and changed name to LUND. JENSON/JOHNSON changed to JACOBSON. NOTE: Believe we have some research on 8 families that originated in/near Aarwangen, Berne, Switzerland and went to Columbus, Platte, NE (one went to farm in Merrick Co). Swiss surnames are prominent in early Platte County. Several had family members that "retired" &/or vacationed in San Bernardino and Riverside, Calif. (GASSMAN, BUCHER, ERNST) Many Columbus families had relatives in Long Beach, CA. (Seem to recall visiting others in Pomona and Ontario when VERY small - no longer remember the names.) Know that many "Austrian" surnames found at Duncan (Platte), Island Pct (Polk), Bellwood (Butler), and Pleasanton (Buffalo) are relatives to one another. At later dates, start finding them further west - Howard, Deuel and Cheyenne Counties. Believe they sell smaller farms, and buy a bigger place where land is cheaper. Examine the maps - the cousins that family tales said were at Julesburg, CO - were actually farming just north of the state line - in Deuel County, NE! Was searching in the wrong state! ("Are we there yet, Dad?" "Watch the road signs, Junior.") Check transportation routes. Early history - the ports, rivers & canals. After the Civil War - RR maps, changing every year. After 1900 - highway system maps. Don't toss those old maps found in Grandma's truck, they may be your best clue to "how they got there". The Millers