Genealogy

The West and Cherry family ancestry is on display in the new West Family Genealogy pages.  And, a new page that lists several other family lines that have joined the West tree to make us what we are, is called West Family Ties.  See the article at right for more information.

Old Photos

The process of adding pictures to the Photos section of the WestClan web pages has begun.  Click the Photos menu icon (above) to see what has been added to-date.  If you have family photos that you would like to include in the gallery, please contact JWS.  You can also copy and print the pictures posted here - Here's How.  q
 

West Family Tree

A new copy of the West Family Tree has been posted to the WestClan website.  Click the Family Tree menu icon (above) to access the document.  The tree is still incomplete, but I have made an effort to update it with the information and corrections that I received at the reunion.  

If you notice any errors, please let me know and I will fix them as soon as I can.

If you have information that will fill in some of the blanks, please email it to me at jws@westclan.info.

More Information: See the Article (below)  q
 

The greater West family gathered for an afternoon of food, friendship and music on Sunday, September 25, 2011 at Petit Jean Mountain State Park, near the scene of the old West family homestead in Conway County, Arkansas.  The descendants of Owen West and Jane McClure arrived from across the country to renew old friendships and make new ones.  Of course, we Arkies were there in force to celebrate with a potluck dinner that featured pulled pork and ribs.  Thanks to Sheila West Edwards and daughter Robin Bird for putting the annual event together.
 Read More     Photos 

Recent additions to the West Family Tree pages have brought to mind the difficulty that we sometimes have in trying to figure out how we are all related.  We probably know who our first cousins are and we may be able to make a pretty good guess as to who our second cousins are (or are they first cousins once removed?), but beyond that it can get rather confusing.  And what is this "once removed", "second removed" stuff anyway?  Does that mean someone was kicked out of the family (maybe more than once)?  Not necessarily (although it is possible).  Read this article about Kinship  to learn more about how your family relationship can be deciphered.  q

From 1836 through 2006 it appears that there have been at least seven sets of twins born to West family members.  This time period spans nine generations of the West family (170 years, or so). 

We begin our count with D.L. West's great-great grand children, Owen and Ethan Simmons (b.2006, the latest generation), and look back to John William West (b.1788, D.L. West's great-great grandfather), who produced a set of twins, John William, Jr. and Martha Ellen (b.1836).

The complete list can be found in the West Twins article.   Learn More   

We have been digging around in a time capsule, of sorts, to come up with some very interesting photographs of West-Cherry-McElroy-Taylor ancestors.  A new page has been added to the "Old Times" section of the Photos pages, and appropriately called the "Ancestors" page.  The new page features some of our earliest pictures of West Clan family members.  

And, thanks to our anonymous cousins on the world wide web, we have even found photos of the Asa Cherry family, John H. McElroy (including one in civil war army uniform), and John R. Taylor ("Little Grandma" McElroy's dad!).  You can find these pictures, and more on the Photos->Old Times->Ancestors page (just click the link at left).

If you have photos that you would like to share with the rest of us, please let me know - jws@westclan.info. 

AND...  The West Family Elders history page has been updated to include a load of new documentary information, including Family Group Record pages for a number of the members listed on the page (others will follow as they are developed).  The Family Group Record pages include links to original marriage and census record images, and more.

Also, information related to the Owen West family and their life on Petit Jean mountain and the old cabin that they called home, (back in 1854), has been added to the Owen West portion of the West Family Elders page.  It's a very interesting story.    q
 

One very positive benefit of having a family genealogy web site is that it gives us the opportunity to connect with family members that we might not otherwise reach (or even know of).  

If you enter the right search words, the WestClan web pages will turn up in most of the major search engines, and that serves as a beacon -- of a sort -- to attract family who may be looking for information about our common ancestors.  As a result, I have had a few e-mail contacts recently from some of our cousins in the West - McElroy family tree.  

The first is from one of Uncle Ted McElroy's grandkids, Jimmy Crowly (Ella Rae).  As it turns out the Crowly family lives nearby in the LR-NLR metro area and were able to give us information to fill in a few of the blanks from their branch of the family tree.  Jimmy also had a question concerning Grandpa McElroy's name.   Read More 

This family history stuff is hard work.  And it can be frustrating, too.  I can see how people can spend years tracing their family tree because the reach is so large and there are branches all over the place.  If it were not for the work of others who have already gone down this path and left their findings where people like me can find it, there would be no hope for putting together anything close to what I think we have here.  I can't prove much of this, though, so I am taking it for granted that these other people know what they are talking about.    

Anyway, quite a bit of new information about our West family ancestors has surfaced over the past few weeks.   Read More  
 

Members of the D. L. West, Sr. family were reunited on May 8, 2010 at the Oak Prairie Fire Department's community room, located on highway 11 in Prairie county, Arkansas.  The family members had not formally met for several years (some of us are having trouble remembering just how many years), so it seemed like a good time to get together for a little  food and fellowship..

Mealtime began at 1:00 PM with a prayer by Dwight West, son of the late Hardy West and pastor of the Florence Street Missionary Baptist Church in Broken Arrow, OK and immediately followed by a meal of smoked chicken and brisket, catered by GrandPa's BBQ of Cabot, AR.
 Read More  

A new(er) version of the West family tree document has been posted to the "Family Tree" page.  The family chart has been helpful to some of us who have had trouble remembering our kids names and such.  It was noted that it would also be nice to be able to associate a face with the names, so...  Read More  

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