My Dad Missed the War

My dad, George Robert "Bob" Martin, was 21 when he was drafted into the army sometime in 1951. He was somewhat surprised as he thought his blindness in one eye would prevent him from being drafted, but that didn't happen.(My dad always joked he was blind in one eye and couldn't see out of the other.)

Bob started training in the Signal Corps, which included Communication and Cryptography. His training was done in Georgia, Texas, and California, and when it was completed at Camp Gordon in Georgia in December 1951, he got a Certificate of Completion of the Military Cryptography Course #4805. This allowed him to code and decode messages on "secret equipment."[1] 

The Korean War started in 1950, and when Bob was sent to Fort Stoneman in San Francisco, he figured he'd be on the next ship to Korea. At the time, my mom was expecting little ol' me, so he was naturally worried about going overseas. 

It seems like he got lost in the chaos. He stood in line a couple of times, duffel bag in hand, waiting to board the ship. But the ship filled up and he was sent back to the barracks. Some of his friends went, but he still waited. 

Whatever the reason, Bob never made it on a ship heading overseas and, thankfully, never served in Korea. In 1953, he was discharged from the Army and went back to Chicago, where he got a job. He commented to a newspaper reporter who was writing a short article about him, "The Army does prepare you for life. You learn life skills." [2]

[1] George Robert Martin Certificate of Complete and Separation Papers, Copy in author's possession.

[2] "Vet Recalls days in Signal Corps," Daily Southtown, 4 November 2007.Digital copy in author's possession.

The Butzek Steps

The topic of "Step" for #52 Ancestors could mean a lot of things. But it made me think about the Butzek step-siblings.

My grandfather, Anthony Butzek, died in a 1943 coal mining accident. Because of that, we weren't very close to his side of the family. We lived in the southern suburbs of Chicago, and they mostly ended up on the north side. It seemed like another world. We'd see them a couple of times a year so I knew most of my great uncles and aunts.

It wasn't until I started working on my family history that I learned a surprising fact--my great-grandmother had been married previously and I realized that some of this family were step-siblings. There was never any differentiation that I could tell. They all used their step-father's last name, and the fact that they had two different fathers seems to have made no difference.

Here's the list of siblings:

Children of Anton Martinek and Marie Miencial

• Gustav (Gus), born 1905
• Anton, born 1907
• Meloda (Lila), born 1908
• Rudolph (Rudy), born 1910
• Albert, born 1911

Children of Albert Butzek and Marie Miencial

• Camille, born 1913  [Camille is the only one I don't remember ever meeting. He moved to Wisconsin.]
• Vilma, born 1915
• Nellie, born 1916
• Stephanie, born 1919
• Olga, born 1923
• Unnamed female, born 1926
• Otilia (Tillie) Still living

It wasn't until I typed the above names and birth dates that the number of children my great-grandmother had given birth to really hit me. She was almost constantly pregnant during the twenty-plus years she had children. I was thinking, "Well, she lived to be quite an old lady," because that's exactly how I remember her. But she was 76 years old when she died—just four years older than I am now. 

While I only know pieces of her life, she seems to have built a comfortable blended family.

School Days

As part of this week's #52 Ancestors theme of School Days, I started thinking about my own education and the elementary schools I attended.

The first was Franklin School in Dolton, Illinois. I was there from K-2. I have vague memories of walking to school with the neighbors. My kindergarten memories were mainly of bringing a rug to school and having to "nap" during the morning. We only went for half days, so I didn't appreciate the naps. I don't remember much else. I found a photo but it only looks vaguely familiar. 

Franklin School, Dolton, illinois

At the end of 2nd grade, we moved to South Holland. In fact, we moved a couple of weeks early, and it was decided that I didn't need to start a new school or finish the old one, so I had a bit of a vacation.

In South Holland, I went to Roosevelt School.  I was there from 3rd through 7th grade. It was an old building, even at that time - overcrowded with extra mobile classrooms on the playground. The playground was both in the front and the back of the school. I loved the fact that there were books I could take home to read - I loved reading. But I detested writing book reports. Raise your hand if you loved to write book reports? Ha! I don't see any raised hands. I was always in trouble for failing to turn in the requisite number of book reports.

Another thing I enjoyed about my school days at Roosevelt was lunch and shopping. Yes, that's right!! We lived a way out of town but the school was just off the main street of South Holland and very close to the Ben Franklin. A couple of times a year, my friends and I (Susie Ward and Debbie, with a long Dutch name) would get permission to shop at lunchtime. We'd eat somewhere, but the real excitement was going to Ben Franklin. I seem to recall that we'd do this around Mother's Day. I can remember buying some perfume for my mom. It came in a blue bottle, and I suspect it smelled horrible. 

The last big memory I have of Roosevelt School was the day Kennedy was shot. We heard about it either just before or at lunch. I remember a couple of kids who celebrated, probably parroting something they would have heard at home. But most of us were just shocked. The father of one of our classmates owned a local TV shop and brought a TV into our room so we could watch what was going on. I spent the next few days glued to a TV screen. 

I couldn't find a photo of Roosevelt School. I assume it was long ago demolished. Sadly, the school district was heavily involved in desegregation battles. (South Holland at the time was a very Dutch, very white town.) But I did find a current photo on Google of the house we lived in. It's much, much smaller than I remember; the driveway is gone, and the corn fields are now filled with light industrial buildings. 

87 W. 153rd Place, South Holland

After seventh grade, we moved to Oak Forest, where I went to Laramie Junior High School for one year. It was a great year. I loved the school. It was so modern compared to the schools I had attended. The classes were more interesting - and I made a lot of friends, some of whom I still call friends today. The school is now called G. Kerkstra Elementary School, named after Geraldine Kerkstra, who was our principal at the time. She was an interesting lady who kept a pretty tight rein on us students but got us ready to move on to high school, which in my case was Tinley Park High School. 

Just Cut Off the Black Parts!!

 This week's #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks topic is Favorite Recipes. I was lucky enough to get copies of various recipes from both my grandmothers, but my favorite, I think, is my mom's Chicken Divan recipe. It used to be the dish I made for potlucks and special dinners, but I haven't made it in a while.

My maternal grandmother was actually a pretty good cook, but she had a tendency to, shall we say, overcook things. I can remember many a meal where the toast or the chicken or whatever was being fixed, came out with some black crust on it. I would turn my nose up at it but she was raised a poor farm girl - nothing went to waste. So she'd say, "Just cut off the black part - it will be fine." And, of course, it usually was. I miss hearing her say that! 

Patents and Technology

 This week’s #52 Ancestors topic is technology – and technology produces patents. 

My father-in-law, John Gregory Naborowski, held Patent 3,016,477, issued 9 January 1962 for an ignition System. The patent read: “John G. Naborowski, Toledo, Ohio, assignor to The Electric Auto-Lite Company, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio.” He was working for this company when he filed the patent application in January 1960. By the time the application was approved, John had moved on and was working for Westinghouse. 

Electric Auto-lite was a company founded in 1911 that produced generators to power buggy lamps. The company started making spark plugs and, eventually, starter motors and ignition systems. About the time of the patent, Ford acquired Auto-lite, and its history after that is one of mergers, acquisitions, and buyouts. 

The patent description reads: “ This invention relates to electrical apparatus, and more particularly to devices and circuit arrangements adapted for use in ignition systems for internal combustion engines and the like.” After that, there are paragraphs and paragraphs of details about the system, more of which can be read at: https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/64/79/36/dd5aa57833576f/US3016477.pdf. 

None of it is decipherable to the average person, but electrical engineers would surely understand it. Several diagrams were included. This is Figure I in the application.

John was also involved in an earlier patent #2,966,615, received on December 27, 1960. It was filed by Earl W. Meyer, jr., John Gregory Naborowski, and Robert J. Latorre, Toledo, Ohio, assignors to The Electric Auto-Lite Company, Toledo, Ohio. It is either an earlier version of the Ignition system or something related to the ignition system. Information on this patent can be found at: https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/2a/eb/9e/860c8c7164ca5c/US2966615.pdf. 

Both patents were also filed in Germany and Canada and were cited in later patents submitted by others. John G. Naborowski continued working as an electrical engineer all his working life but didn't file any further patents. 

Achievement - Certificate of Competency

This week's topic for #52 Ancestors was Achievement and it nicely corresponded to a homework assignment given by Gena Philibert-Ortega for a SLIG course. She asked us to analyze a document, ask questions, find answers, and really understand what we were looking at. 

I've had this Certificate of Competency of Coal Miner that belonged to my grandfather for ages, but I only really looked carefully at what it meant this week. 

The certificate was issued to Mike G. Martin on 10 November 1927. My grandfather, George Michael Martin, always went by Mike. The Department of Mines and Minerals, State Miners' Examining Board, issued it in West Frankfort. The certificate notes that he made an oath, provided evidence that he had worked in coal mines for at least two years, and answered questions required by law. 

The Certificate lists his age as 27, height 5ft 10 1/2 inches, and weight 150 pounds. He was an American with brown hair and eyes and no distinctive marks. He noted nine years of experience. 

The photo to the left was supposedly taken about 1930, just a couple of years after he received the Certificate. My grandparents married in Albia, Iowa, in 1925. Their first child, my aunt June, was born in Albia in January 1926. Sometime in the next year, they moved to West Frankfort, Illinois, where they lived the rest of their lives. 

My grandfather's nine years of previous experience was in Iowa, where he had started working by age 18. I wrote a bit about the horrible death of his father in a previous post. https://connectingskeletons.blogspot.com/2018/06/my-grandfathers-recliner.html

When moving to West Frankfort, they moved to an area that was one of the country's largest coal producers at the time. According to the law of Illinois, anyone working in a coal mine needed one of these certificates. 

On 10 November 1927, the examining board held examinations in West Frankfort. My grandfather was there, along with 120 other applicants. Ninety-one certificates were issued, and 30 candidates were rejected. While it is unclear what the exam questions were, they consisted of twelve practical questions "to determine the competency and qualification of the applicant." The exam was given orally, which made sense since many miners were foreign-born and likely read little English. 

People who worked without a certificate could be fined and even jailed. So, this certificate was necessary for my grandfather to provide for his growing family (my dad was born in 1929), and he must have felt a sense of achievement mixed with relief when he passed that exam. 

Resources Consulted:

• Illinois Department of Mines and Minerals, General Information and Laws, Effective July 1, 1921 (State of Illinois: Springfield, 1921).
• Illinois Department of Mines and Minerals, Forty-Sixth Coal Report of Illinois(State of Illinois: Springfield, 1927).

WHAT'S THE REAL NAME???

 I started my genealogical research over 40 years ago. I started on a good path - I took a class through community ed and learned the basics. The first lesson you learn is to BEGIN WITH YOURSELF AND WORK BACK, and that’s what I did.

 My mother’s maiden name is Dixie Joy Butzek (and yes, we have southern roots). Her father was Anton or Anthony Butzek. His father was Albert Butzek. I knew my great-grandparents but only had vague memories of them. They were called something like JaJa and Bousha, which I was told was Polish for grandma and grandpa. I remember that when we visited my Uncle Rudy, they would be sitting together on the couch — watching and taking everything in but not speaking. I dug into researching my great-grandfather Albert Butzek. Except he wasn’t my great-grandfather. 

The name Butzek can be spelled in various ways. My cousin spells it Buczek, but his father spells it Butzek. After several years of finding very little, I asked my grandmother, who had been married to Anthony, what she knew about Albert and the family. She said something that shocked me. “Well, you know that Albert isn’t Anthony’s real father, right?” DUH!! NO, I DIDN’T. I had never heard the story (we weren’t very close to that side of the family since my grandfather had died in 1943). I had been chasing the wrong family all those years.

 It turns out that my great-grandmother had a first husband, and he was my grandfather’s father. His last name was Martinek - or maybe it was Marcinek. There are many stories about this whole thing, but no one had thought to mention them to me. Everyone assumed I knew. And this was the second lesson I learned – NEVER ASSUME ANYTHING. 

My great-grandfather, Anton Martinek, came to the United States in 1909. He and my great-grandmother had married about 1903. It appears it was his second marriage because he had an older son - Casimir. My great-grandmother, grandfather, and a couple of siblings came over shortly after my great-grandfather in 1909. The story was that my great-grandfather had a temper, got into a fight, and came to the U.S. one step ahead of the law. I have no idea if any part of that story was true. But in the 1910 census, the family is all listed under the name Menson. It’s a bit unclear why they used that name. Perhaps the enumerator didn’t understand them, or maybe they thought using a fake name was a good idea. Living with the family is Albert Butcher - who I believe was Albert Butzek. Albert had come over on the same ship as Anton Martinek. 

By 1912, the marriage was totally on the rocks, and Marie Martinek, my great-grandmother, sought a divorce from Anton Martinek because he was a “habitual drunkard.” “He was wholly unfit to have the care and custody of said children.” She noted that the defendant had “struck, beat, slapped and mistreated” her and “threatened to shoot” her. So Anton did have a temper, and it makes the original story of him fleeing the law not so far-fetched. The divorce was granted. 

In June 1913, Albert Bucsek and Mary Martinek married in Vermilion County, Illinois. Marie was only 28 years old. She already had five children and, in August, gave birth to a sixth. After the divorce, the five Martinek children started using the Butzek name almost immediately. They were always known by that last name. When Anthony Butzek married my grandmother Stella Edwards in 1931, he used the last name Butzek. My mother and her brother have the last name Butzek on their birth certificates. There’s no indication that Albert Butzek, their stepfather, ever officially adopted the children. In 1936, when Anthony completed his social security application, he used the last name of Butzek. 

In 1943, my grandfather completed his naturalization process. He applied as Anton Marcinek. He listed his wife as Stella Mae Marcinek, and his children as Dixie Joy Marcinek and Anthony Marcinek Jr. He noted that he had arrived under the name of Anton Martinek. As part of the court proceedings, he officially changed his name to Anthony Butzek. This name change is noted on the back of his naturalization certificate. It says, “Name changed by decree of Court from Anton Marcinek, as a part of the Naturalization.” 

I am left with a mystery. What was the real name? Martinek or Marcinek? Why was it Martinek on the passenger list and divorce record but Marcinek in Anthony’s naturalization record? This complicates research for that family. My grandfather, Anthony, died a month after completing his naturalization. My great-grandfather Anton Martinek/Marcinek seems to have disappeared after the divorce; what happened to him is unclear. It’s one of the most confusing name changes I’ve encountered in all my research. But the third lesson I learned early on was NEVER GIVE UP! 

ADDED NOTE: To confuse things further, my maiden name is Martin – which apparently used to be Martinek.

 

A Couple of Immigrant Ancestors

 In January, I wrote a post entitled Origins, which talked about my DNA origins and immigrant ancestors in general terms. But who were these immigrant ancestors and when did they arrive? This week's topic for #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is Immigration so here are my two closest immigrant relatives. 

My Grandfather - Anton Martinek/Butzek

My grandfather came to the US, landing in Ellis Island, on 16 November 1909 on the Kaiser Wilhelm II. He is listed in the passenger manifest, along with the following^[1]:

• Kasimir Martinek, aged 17, miner, Nationality: Austria, Bohemia. Last permanent residence: Marklowitz, Silesia. Closest relative: grandfather Andreas Miencial, Marklowitz . Final Destination: Ohio, Dillonvale, Going to: father Anton Martinek, Bradley Ohio. 4’11” fair complexion, brown hair, grey eyes. Born Austria Marklowitz. [THIS IS LIKELY ANTON’S STEP-BROTHER WHICH MEANS THAT ANDREAS MIENCIAL IS NOT A BLOOD RELATION BUT IS MARIA’S FATHER.]
• Maria Martinek, aged 25, married, housewife, can read and write. Last permanent residence: Silesia, Marklowitz. Nearest relative: father Andreas Miencial, Sichen?? Austria. Going to: Ohio, Dillonvale, Going to: husband Anton Martinek, Bradley Ohio, 5’2” fair complexion, brown hair, brown eyes, Born Austria, Marklowitz
• Gustav, aged 4, male. Fair complexion, brown hair, brown eyes
• Anton, aged 2, male. Fair complexion, brown hair, brown eyes
• Milada, aged 10 months, female, fair complexion, brown hair, blue eyes

 The Kaiser Wilhelm II was part of the North German Lloyd line. It was a large ship that could hold 775 passengers in 1st class, 343 in 2nd class and 770 in 3rd class.

 

“Passenger Ships and Images, digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 13 February 2024); photograph of Kaiser Wilhelm II, renamed Agememnon, 1919.

 2nd Great-Grandfather - Robert Halliday

My second great-grandfather came from County Durham, England sometime before 1890 along with his parents, John and Jane (Hutchinson) Halliday. I believe he sailed from Liverpool, arriving on 19 October 1888 on the City of New York. The record is incredibly hard to read, but it appears to list his parents and some of his siblings with plans to go to Iowa — which is where they ended up. 

The City of New York made it’s maiden voyage in August 1888, so it was a relatively new ship when the Halliday’s boarded it in October.

 

“Passenger Ships and Images, digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 13 February 2024); drawing of the Inman Line Twin Screw Steamer City of New York.

 These are my two closest relatives who immigrated to the United States. Both came to the US but likely had different experiences. Robert was older, about 20 years of age when he arrived — and he could speak and understand English. Anton was a two-year-old, accompanied by a family that did not speak or understand English and had to navigate the chaos of Ellis Island in 1907. I did not get a chance to meet either of these relatives - Robert died in 1933 and Anton died in 1943.

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^[1] “New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island,(1820-1957),” digital images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/4005310250:7488 : accessed 17 March 2019), manifest, S.S. Kaiser Wilhelm II. Bremen to New York, arriving 16 November 1909, p.160, Maria Martinek and children; citing National Archives microfilm T715, Roll 1373.

Miners and Farmers - Earning a Living

This week's topic for #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is "Earning a Living." My ancestors earned their living in the same way - as coal miners, farmers, and housewives. My father was the first generation out of the mines and my mom was the first who was not a miner or farmer's wife. 

My maternal grandfather, Anthony Butzek (Martinek), worked as both a farmer and a coal miner. Not having been raised on a farm, he learned how to farm from reading books and other materials. People scoffed, but he apparently had a good farm despite the depression. He died young, killed in a mine accident.

My paternal grandfather, Mike Martin, worked in the mines from a young age. He was crippled by falling coal, and black lung disease contributed to his death. His father was killed in a mine accident (with my grandfather and uncle standing next to him when the accident occurred). 

The women in the family were housewives. None except my grandmother worked outside the home, and she had to work since she lost her husband when she still had two young children to support. As farmer's wives, these women worked hard year-round. As a coal miner's wife, their lives must have been physically and emotionally hard, never knowing if their husband would come home. 

My farming ancestors are my American lines - stretching back through southern Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia. My coal mining ancestors stretch back into Eastern Europe, England, and Scotland. 

The chart below shows five generations of occupations.

Witnessing History - A Future President

This week, I decided to document my personal “Witness to History” for #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. 

I witnessed history in a small way. In early 2008, Barack Obama planned a rally in Minneapolis. The race was still undecided - would he get the nomination, or would Hillary Clinton? At the last minute, I decided I wanted to attend, so I ran over to Obama headquarters at lunchtime to get the free tickets — except they were all gone. I was told I could attend if I volunteered. So, I signed up to volunteer, along with signing up my son Eric. (I didn’t ask him first, but he was okay with it.)

The following day, we drove to Target Center. We came in from the west side, so we had no view of the crowds that had started lining up very early in the morning. The lines continued to grow - the doors didn’t open until 1:30. It was a typical, frigid Minnesota day. Eric and I were assigned to staff the door to keep people out and check tickets as they filed in. It was a fun job - we saw several “famous” people like R.T. Rybak, David Plouffe, and other local Dems. The crowds were cold, excited, and very well-behaved. 

We checked tickets and kept the lines moving when they opened the doors. Then, we were told to grab seats. We ended up sitting up pretty far from the stage, but Target Center was packed - some 20,000 people. And Obama didn’t fail the crowd. It was amazing!!! When it was over, we were asked to come backstage and get a group photo of the volunteers. So we gathered and took a picture. We started seeing guys in suits with those tell-tale earpieces and the pins on their lapels. What was going on?

And then it happened - Barack Obama himself walked into the room. He gave a short little thank you speech and shook our hands. I got a couple of pictures which I’m sad to say have long ago disappeared on an old phone. Eric and I were both excited to have shaken the hand of a future president (we were sure of that by then.)

Many of the news reports talked about the youthfulness of the crowd. And yes, there were a lot of young people there. But what I noticed was the crowd’s diversity - all ages, all races and nationalities, men and women. There were veterans, men in uniform, whole families, and senior citizens with walkers. And they all had something in common - an excitement over being there and sharing a fantastic, positive attitude. It was a wonderful day for all.

 And that was my Witness to History.

ORIGINS

 #52 Ancestors in #52 Weeks

This week’s topic for #52 Ancestors in #52 weeks is Origins. It’s such a broad topic that I’ve struggled with it. So, as a lark, I asked ChatGPT to write “a genealogy-related blog post on the topic of Origins.” AI spit out some interesting, generalized paragraphs, but I liked the one titled Unraveling the Threads.        

“The very essence of genealogy lies in uncovering origins - the origins of individuals, families, and communities. Each person is a culmination of countless tales woven together, stretching back through time. Understanding these origins is like assembling a grand puzzle, where each piece reveals a unique story and contributes to the broader picture." (1)

 My Origins

I spend a lot of time working on other people's family puzzles and don’t spend as much time working on my family puzzle as I’d like to. But today, I thought I’d start by looking at my origins as estimated from my DNA. Ancestry says my origins are: 

• Eastern Europe and Russia                     22%
• England & Northwestern Europe          22%
• Germanic Europe                                    19%
• Scotland                                                    18%
• Sweden & Denmark                                  9%
• Wales                                                           5%
• Ireland                                                         3%
• Baltics                                                          2%

These estimates are all borne out by the paper trail except for the Sweden & Denmark percentages. I’m not sure where that came from. Perhaps some Vikings who encountered my County Durham or Scots ancestors? The paper trail says:

• Parents - both born in Illinois
• Grandparents - two born in Iowa, one in Illinois, and one in Eastern Europe.
• Great-grandparents - four born in Eastern Europe, one born in England, one born in Ohio, and two born in Illinois.
• Great-great-grandparents - eight born in Eastern Europe, two born in England, two born in Scotland, and four born in Illinois
• The Welsh comes from a 3rd great-grandmother, as likely does the Irish — which may come from both a 3rd great-grandmother and a 3rd great-grandfather.

 I have only one line, my maternal grandmother’s line, that was in the U.S. before 1870. They stretch way back, starting in southern Illinois and going back to Kentucky and Tennessee. Before that, they were from North Carolina and Virginia. All Southerners except for my Denman line, which may have come from New Jersey originally.

 I have ancestors who fought on both sides of the Civil War, Revolutionary War patriots and soldiers in the War of 1812 and the Black Hawk War. I have religious ancestors and ancestors who made moonshine on the Sabbath. I have Baptists, Presbyterians, Quakers, and Catholics. I have a variety of ancestors. But one thing that is interesting to me is that my ancestors were either farmers (or ag labs) or coal miners (or both in the case of my maternal grandfather). There weren’t any other occupations in my direct lines that I’ve uncovered.

 As I continue to work on the family puzzle pieces, I hope I can honor my ancestors by telling their stories. No matter how simple and common their lives were, they all had one thing in common — they survived long enough to have a family and continue their line from their origins to the present.

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^[1] OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 1 - FAMILY LORE

Family lore is like that old game of telephone. It gets passed on in bits and pieces, and it ends up garbled and bearing no resemblance to the truth. Of course, that’s IF it gets passed on at all.

My family didn’t pass on a lot of tales. We weren’t close to most of the family on my mom’s and my dad’s sides, so maybe we missed out on the tales. But I remember hearing three pieces of family lore when I was younger. The first was that the family came west with Daniel Boone, the second was that someone in the family killed the last Indian in southern Illinois, and the last was that one of the relatives was a forest ranger in the “Old Country.” 

Proving family lore can be complicated since it’s often untrue. But sometimes, there are bits of fact buried in the lore. Take the story that our family came west with Daniel Boone. As near as I can tell, it's not true. But a couple of things may have led to the story. First, several family members followed Daniel Boone’s trail into Kentucky. As far as I can tell, none came into contact with Daniel Boone. Some Quaker relatives traveled west from North Carolina but have no known connection to Daniel Boone’s Quaker roots. 

My 3rd, 4th, and 5th great-grandfathers were named John Rains and traveled to Tennessee. There was a famous Tennessean, an early settler of Nashville, and one of the “long hunters” named John Rains. Although both Rains families originally came from Virginia, I’ve not yet found a connection. Perhaps past families confused the “famous” John Rains with our ordinary, hardworking farmer John Rains. This confusion might explain how the family lore developed. 

As far as the rumor that a family member killed the last native American in southern Illinois, that’s one story I’m happy to say I’ve found no proof of. I do have family who arrived in early Franklin County, Illinois, but by the time they arrived, the Native Americans had already been driven off. There were a few stragglers that crossed through the area. But there are very few mentions of encounters and no mention of killings. I have several relatives who fought in the Black Hawk War in 1832. Perhaps the tale developed from a war story yet to be discovered. 

The last piece of family lore I’d heard was that one relative was a “forest ranger” in the mountains in the "old country". I’m still trying to track this one down. I have a couple of lines who may have lived in more mountainous areas in Austria and Czechoslovakia. But I haven’t researched enough to find their jobs before they immigrated, and I’m not even sure what the term “forest ranger” means. Once in the United States, most were coal miners, not farmers or timber workers. 

Family lore often gets people interested in the lives of their ancestors. Proving or disproving it is often challenging, but the research can be fun.