We made it to Wisconsin! Another new state!
Visitor Center
We did not make it up to Clear Water. It would be a fun place to live for me. Haha!
Our first stop was a cemetery in Wisconsin where we met with one of my 4th cousins Sam. He is also descended from Charles Spragg who died in the Civil War. Sam had a neat embroidery that Charles's daughter had done for him (Sam is descended from this daughter Clara).
Sam also has Charles Spragg wallet that he carried with him to the Civil War! Charles had made the wallet himself. When he died, it was sent home and his daughter Clara inherited it. Eventually, it made its way down to Sam and he now has it!
The reason we met Sam at the cemetery is simply that he lives nearby and we were going to the cemetery anyway so it was an easy place to meet and exchange Spragg family history. However, the cemetery was for seeing the graves of another side of the family. The Curtis side. My great grandfather Charles Spragg (grandson of the Charles Spragg from the Civil War) married Lillith Curtis. Her family was originally from Wisconsin. They seemed to be quite early settlers there. I went looking for their graves.
Lillith's grandparents-Elbridge Curtis and Mary Elizabeth Bennett. This is the line where it leads directly back to at least 6 Mayflower passengers.
Mary Elizabeth Bennett Curtis's parents-Telman Bennett and Sarah Beardsley Bennett.
Cousin Sam!
There were a lot of Curtis family at this cemetery. I think they were among the founding members.
The Rocky Run Cemetery was founded in 1855 and where Tina Curtis's Curtis side of the family was buried.
This is where things get confusing. THIS picture of me is at another cemetery 5 miles down the road. This is the Inch Cemetery. Lillith Curtis's parents BOTH had the surname Curtis and both had roots in the same area in Wisconsin. They claimed they had never been able to find a link that they were cousins. I have now done the genealogical research on the Curtis's back to the late 1500's in England and can still not find where the 2 Curtis families come together. The link will have to be earlier than the late 1500's but the 2 Curtis families came from very different areas in England so probably much further back than that.
The gravestone I'm standing at here is of Lillith Curtis's great grandparents Curtis. Joseph Walker Curtis and Abigail Hayward Curtis. This was her father's side. Sam Curtis's grandparents.
There were a lot of Curtis's in THIS cemetery too. Just a completely different family. Very funny actually!
We continued on our drive down to Madison.
Wisconsin was also just beautiful.
We made it to the capital! We liked how it looked the same on 4 sides.
We walked down to the Monona Terrace to check out Lake Monona.
Very pretty lake views.
A PRETTY heart sculpture. No tools or body parts coming out of it! (Yes, we are looking at you big blue heart at WSU in Pullman)
We continued to drive through Wisconsin. More pretty views of rolling hills!
Picture from far up in the capital building in Madison. Elizabeth and Jeremy managed to go up high to take the picture.
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