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This is the home page for stories and the histories of the Babcock, Cass, Kopiske, Lemke, Matteson, and Tornow families of central Wisconsin. They are my ancestral lines with the most information. Other families are included and, in fact, over 20,000 individuals are represented in the Combined Tree. Click in the menu above to go there. Although this site is still a work in progress, most of the significant data known about each family, including photos, maps, obituaries, birth, marriage, and burial records, etc. are presented. The stories and histories are linked to the tree throughout.
Every attempt has been made to keep the data factual and attributable. Naturally the stories are subject to human error but they often represent the most interesting part of the family history. Corrections and new data are welcome. Please send them to Bob Babcock.
Besides my own research, major contributions have been made by these family members:
- Edna Hathorne – “A Short History of the Lemke Family 1840-1993”
- Joyce Huntington – “From Whence We Came” (The Tornows as of 2002)
- Sharon Vircks – the Kopiske contribution to Joyce’s book, above
- Anna Babcock – many of the stories and facts
- Susan Sepic – significant Babcock discoveries in the census records
Major contributions (continued):
- Bruce Babcock – photos and stories in and around New London
- Bruce, Justin & Allan Babcock – Medal of Honor recipients
- Laura Babcock – one of the first to assemble facts of our Babcock family
- Anne Sepic – the underlying database, many Babcock discoveries
- Irene Kutschenreuter – stories and facts, esp. the Kutschenreuter side
- Beth Kutschenreuter – the Kutschenreuter/Tornow tree of July 18, 1993
- Sherry (Matteson) Martin – the family of Josiah Matteson and Fanny Bemis
Other acknowledgements:
- Family Tree DNA – The Babcock paternal line is Eaton (Y-DNA)
- The National Archives – veteran military and pension records
- FamilySearch.org – supplemental records
- Stephen Babcock – Babcock Genealogy
- A. Emerson Babcock – Isaiah Babcock, Sr. and His Descendants
- Jack Niemuth – New London, WI headstone photos and official records
- Glenna Maria (Davis) Johnson – the allied Davis family of Waupaca County
- Craig Rice – the will of David Matteson
- Nancy Christensen – Havilah Babcock, co-founder of Kimberly-Clark