Part of what makes you a very special person is your heritage. Both of my parents—your paternal grandparents—have family trees with some very interesting individuals and stories. So that this information is not lost, I am posting it here on your Web site. I pray that one day you will read it and pass it on to your children and grandchildren. I also hope that it helps you to answer some questions about your backgraound. Do enjoy!
Family Trees
Click here to view a family tree containing your parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents.
Click here to view a family tree containing my paternal grandparents and their ancestors.
A note about this family tree—It traces your heritage back to the American Revolutionary War. Your great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather, John Y. Noel, served as an ensign in Captain Ridley's Company, Fourth Virginia Regiment (1777–1778). This makes you eligible to be a Daughter of the American Revolutionary War.
Click here to view a family tree containing my maternal grandparents and their ancestors.
A note about this family tree—One of your great-great-great grandfathers, Robert Thomson, was the half-brother of William Thomson (Lord Kelvin). Lord Kelvin was famous for his work to determine "abolute zero"—the temperature at which all molecular motion ceases. The Kelvin temperature scale is named after him. Queen Victoria knighted him in 1866 in recognition for his work in thermodynamics. The Thomsons are descendents of John Knox (1505–1572), a famous Scottish Protestant clergyman and religious reformer.
Family Stories
Click here to read the forward to "A Personal History."
This wonderful piece summarizes the lives of two of your great-grandparents—John and Gail Wilkie. It was written by your paternal grandfather, Noel D. Wilkie, in December 1998 and presented to me as a Christmas present that year.
Included in "A Personal History" are three chapters—
"The Story of John Wilkie," "Gail's Story," and "The Story of Gail and John." I am in the process of digitizing the three chapters and will post them on your Web site at some point in the future.
John David Wilkie
(1893–1980)
Gail Louise Hibbard
(1900–1991)
Click here to read a piece titled "One Good Story."
This entertaining short story is true. It was lovingly written in calligraphy by your Great Aunt Jean (my father's sister) in December 1984 and presented to my father as a Christmas present that year.
Click here to read about one of your
great-great-great-grandfathers, William Ira Noel.
William served in the First Wisconsin Calvery, Company E for the Union Army during the Civil War. He was on Sherman's March to the Sea, was taken prisoner by the Confederate Armry, and spent time in the infamous Andersonville prison. He was one of the precious few individuals to survive the imprisonment.
William's canteen hangs on the wall of your paternal grandmother's Rockville home.
John, Beatrice, Gail, Karl
(circa 1953 in Wyoming)
Karl Theodore Steik (1884–1973)
Click here to read a biography of one of your
great-grandfathers—Karl Theodore Steik.
Karl was born and lived the first part of his life in Latvia before coming to America, receiving his Ph.D. degree in chemistry from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and teaching chemistry at the University of Wyoming. This piece tells in great detail what life was like in Latvia in the late nineteenth century. Unfortunately, the piece ends abruptly and was never finished.
Click here to read more about one of your great-grandfather, Karl Theodore Steik.
During his early years in Latvia, Karl was a tutor to the son of General Lavrinovsky—the Kammer-paige (personal attendant) of Tsar Nikolai II of Russia. Karl both hunted and played folk songs on his balalaika with the Tsar. This piece recounts his two summers spent at the Tsar's Summer Palace.
Your paternal grandmother has the balalaika described in this story.
