Welcome to our list--it is a pretty informative place to be, compared to many lists I've been on. What you said about your dad's letters made me remember that I have two or three diaries from my mom. The earlier 1-2 are kind of boring, as she was forced, I mean encouraged, by her mom to keep them and they just say things like "went to school today, practiced my violin." However, the third diary is much more interesting as it is from my mom's 19th year (1946) and she talks about her many boyfriends. She always said she had a lot of boyfriends around that time, and I can tell from this diary that she wasn't making that up! I haven't finished reading it yet, because after I do that will be the last "unknown" thing about my mom that I will have to savor, since she passed away last March. One of the main boyfriends (my deceased dad being the other) actually was the first person to show up at my mom's visitation. mrf sandy mcclay wrote: > Hello! > > I am new to this list...my maternal great grandfather was born in Milwaukee, before they started keeping records. His name was Charles Reinhard, his father was a William Christian Reinhard (II) and his mother was Anna Marie Weidner. William Christian Reinhard (II) came over in 1841 from the Dukenom(?) of Nassau, Dilingburg Germany. . I have been researching my family tree since last October and by far this line has been the easiest to research, thanks to all of the great records and people in Milwaukee! What an adventure this has been! I am now searching for my great great great grandparents who came to Milwaukee from Germany in 1852. Their names were William Christian Reinhard and Maria Catharina Thomas. They came from Dillingburg also. > I enjoyed reading about the letters, my grandmother had kept almost every letter my Dad wrote during WWII and I now have them. I love reading them and seeing him in a whole different light. I also have his grandfather's letters from the Civil War! They are incredible! > I just know that I will be able to go even farther back once I know how to get the German records. I am sure I will learn that here! > > Sandy >