Dear Ms. Lucido:

It is certainly nice to hear from you. I am the son of Bertha Danford Finson and the same one who visited Edna and Martin Pearson in San Bernardino. I was born here in Monticello on January 1, 1915 and have lived most of my life here. After graduating from college I married Ardeth Hannah in l937 and we will soon have survived sixty-three years. My father operated a grain elevator business and I joined with him in 1936 and continued the business after his death in 1943 until selling it in 1953. I became President of National Bank of Monticello and continued that position until retiring in 1982.

I don't have a complete family tree but rather odds and ends of information that you may be able to fit into your records. I am enclosing some things I hope you will find interesting:

The family tree of my grandfather, Peter Tyrus Danford as nearly as we know it.

A family tree that our son, Hugh, came up with, although I don't know where he got it.

Various items of family history and memorabilia that Hugh I found in the records of the Christian County, Illinois Historical Society at Taylorville, Illinois, the county seat in which Owaneco is located.

A document from the Probate Records of Piatt County, Illinois concerning the Estate of Ercil Ames Danford.

Edna Pearson made contact with my mother a number of years ago and they carried on a correspondence until my mother's death. I kept in touch with her by Christmas cards and always enjoyed her annual account of their travels. She should have been a travel editor. Ardeth's brother, Lawrence Hannah, lives in San Diego and we spent several winters there after I retired. I contacted Edna in 1983 and she invited us for a visit. We spent a pleasant day together and got to know both Edna and Martin. We are saddened that they are both gone.

Now, if you'll indulge an old guy, I will share some of my memories of my grandfather and uncles.

Some of the enclosures will indicate that Peter and Nancy Tibbles were married in Ohio. Later, they went to Northwest Missouri and my mother was born in Grant City. There were a number of the Tibble's family living there in Grant City, Ravenswood, and Stanbury. At some point Peter and Nancy and family moved to Owaneco, Illinois, where apparently some Danfords already lived. I don't know much about these Danford's except I remember mother talking about an uncle in Owaneco. It may have been Uncle Mike or Uncle John, or maybe both. I remember seeing some of her cousins: Jo Barrett, Jo Brandon, Dr. Danford, etc. Later, the family moved to a near-by town, Stonington, and it was there my father and mother met and were married. My grandmother died while I was small and for several years my grandfather lived around with his children. He was a Civil War veteran. He made periodic stays with us when he was in his 80's. He was somewhat feeble by then and my job was to go to the store for him each morning to buy a paper and his cigar for the day. If there was any change left over, and there usually was, I got to keep it long enough to buy a sack of candy. When his health failed further he went to the Veteran's Hospital in Danville, Illinois, where he died. I regret that I didn't ask him more about his Civil War experiences.

The eldest son was my Uncle Sontine. He spent most of his life in Owaneco. He married Campy Milhon. They had no children. Campy's brother, Homer Milhon, was the town doctor and he owned a drug store in conjunction with his medical practice. Uncle Sontine ran the drug store. After Campy's death, about 1923, he lived alone and would come to our home, a distance of about 60 miles, for many week-ends and most holidays. These were pre-teen and teenage years for me and we spent lots of time together when he came - playing cards, going to sporting events, etc. We were close and I was saddened when he died during my second year in college.

Uncle Max moved to Golden, Colorado in the late nineteenth century. I suspicion that he arrived in Golden even before the Coor's family built the famous brewery there. He learned the printing trade from his father, as did several sons, and published "The Jefferson County Republican", a weekly newspaper. He sold it in the mid-thirties and retired to Denver, living with his three daughters and son-in-law. He visited us in Monticello in 1935 and later that year my mother and I visited him in Denver. He took a lot of pride in showing me the Colorado Rockies which he thought were more Scenic than the flat land of Illinois. He was probably right.

I never knew or saw Uncles Malcolm, Zene, Carl or Joy. Mother said that Zene and Joy fought in the Spanish-American War and never kept contact with the family after that. I do recall her learning of the death of each of them in the late 192o's I know very little about Carl. I don't think he was married. I have seen his grave in the cemetery near Stonington. On our trip to Denver in 1935, we stopped over in Ravenswood, Missouri and visited Zene's son, Thaddeus.

Uncle Harry was a printer and published several newspapers, moving from town to town. In the middle 1930's he published a paper in Bevier, a small town on Central Missouri. Later, he had a paper in Macon, the county seat and a somewhat larger town. On one of our visits to his home I met Ruth, a nice young girl about my age. When I was attending The University of Chicago I met and spent some time with Paul. He worked for a printing company in the Chicago area and then later went back to Missouri and worked with Uncle Harry. I lost track of Paul after that but believe he lived in St. Louis. I suspicion that Harold Danford is a grandson of Paul's as Alden Danford(Horton Alden Danford) had no children. Uncle Harry's oldest daughter was Mildred She has a grandson who lives in Springfield, IL. Hugh and I have visited with him and he has done some work on the Danford history. I have told him of your letter and he would be glad to hear from you if you wish to contact him. He is

Donald Walker
1521 Brenda Court
Springfield, IL 62702
Telephone 217-793-6657
E-Mail - donald-walker@att.net

Ercil Ames was the uncle with which I spent the most time. He also was a printer working in Springfield, IL when he met and married Rose Skinner. Her family lived in Chicago and they soon located there. He first operated a job printing business and later joined several of his Skinner in-laws in operating a small loan company, It is interesting that he was never known as Ercil or Ames but rather as Tobe or Tobey. He was Uncle Tobe to me until he requested that he be known as Dan Danford and thereafter he was known as Uncle Dan. We visited back and forth often and my mother and Uncle Dan were very close. He retired from business about 1945 and moved to Crown Point, Indiana. They lived there until Aunt Rose died in 1956. He then came to Monticello and lived with mother. This arrangement was short-lived as he had lung cancer and passed away in March of 1957. His estate was probated here and thus the enclosed court document. They had no children but treated me almost as a son and when I was in college their apartment was always open to me.

This has become a long letter and I hope I have not overwhelmed you with details. I will be very interested in your sharing your information with me. I am particularly interested in the family tree as it comes down from my cousins and my generation.

I do have a computer, even though I don't type on it very well. My E-Mail address is
ahfinson@advancenet.net. I certainly will be glad to hear from you again.

Singly yours,

Charles N. Finson