McKenna Process Company
Plant formerly located in Joliet, Illinois - ca. 1920.
Genealogy 1932 -
by
George Langford
My first cousin Mary (Curran) Alden practiced genealogy for some time as her favorite avocation.  She tried many times to interest my mother, my brother, or myself in our family history, but none of us felt the slightest interest.  But after my mother's sudden death in October, 1931, there came a change.  She left many papers on family history which had to do more or less with her membership in the D.A.R. [Daughters of the American Revolution - George, III] and Colonial Dames [National Society of the Colonial Dames of America - George III].  These papers concerned in large part the proofs of ancesatry entitling her to membership in the two organizations.

My brothers Tan and Will decided, for some unknown reason, that I was the one to determine what to do with these papers.  So they sent the entire batch to me.  As I examined them, my sentiments changed gradually from indifference to interest, and almost before I knew it, I was launched on a new career, genealogy, which I followed closely for about six years.  The reasons for this were what appeared to be unsolved mysteries regarding the oorigin of a certain three of my ancestors, as follows:

1. Northrup Langford, my great-great grandfather, whose ancestry, Cousin Mary Alden was unable to solve.;
2. Alexander Robertson, great grandfather of my maternal grandfather, Daniel Alexander Robertson; and
3. Lilias Mackintosh, mother of my maternal Grandfather Robertson.

I eventually solved all three of these problems, with the able assistance of my older brother, Nathaniel Pitt Langford [nephew and namesake of N.P. Langford of Yellowstone & vigilante fame - George III].  This opened up such a large number of my ancestors that I compiled a list of them by families.  I donated the original manuscript to the Newberry Library of Chicago and sent copies of digests to ten of the country's leading libraries.  My son, George, Jr., joined me in this avocation, concentrating on the ancestry of [Sydney Holmes - George, III] his mother.





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