October 27, 2016 Episode.

A few weeks ago, we talked with Christy Van Heukelem about the three Images of America books, Salem, Newberg, and McMinnville, that she completed for Arcadia Publishing. Today we talked with her about her latest adventure, her new company, Lineage & Lore, specializing in genealogical and historic property research.  Christy is a passionate researcher who apparently leaves no stone unturned when she's on the hunt for certain facts.

Christy told us how she got into genealogy by researching her own family history, discovering that she's a sixth-generation Oregonian. Her great-great-great grandfather, William Hunt Wilson, was part of the original emigration to Oregon in 1843 as a wagon driver for Jesse Applegate, and later worked for Dr. McLoughlin.  While doing this research she connected with a long-lost cousin who was also trying to follow her own family tree using the same computer software. The cousin later contacted the genealogy software company detailing the story of this connection. The software company turned their story into a promotional television blurb. Here's a link to an article about this wonderful reunion.

As we were getting ready to begin our interview, we learned that Christy and our own engineer Jim Wilson are relatives, having recently met at the large family reunion that resulted from her extensive research and connections! Talk about the small world, circle of influence phenomena!  We're looking forward to having Christy with us again to share more stories of our local historic properties and those who called them home. 

The Newberg book came about as it was the city in which her co-author lives. Unfortunately, there were few resources for photographs other than the small archives of George Fox University. She found most of the photographs they used by visiting with local residents and scanning family photographs. Her favorite photograph was the one they used for the cover, as it perfectly portrayed the essence of the town's story. No one could identify the people in the photo, so she researched the property itself and then was able to locate descendants of the original owners still in the area.

Christy chose the city of McMinnville for their third endeavor, as McMinnville was named after McMinnville, Tennessee, which just happens to be the hometown of her own great-great grandfather who was an early Oregon Trail immigrant. They were very lucky to establish a partnership with the local newspaper, the News-Register, who allowed them full access to their archives, a treasure trove of historic photographs and stories. She especially remembers a wonderful photograph of an old fire engine that is proudly displayed in the McMinnville Fire Department office, although nobody knew anything about its history. She researched old engines, found one similar to the photograph, and contacted the original manufacturer. The manufacturer was able to provide a photograph of the original sales invoice, dates and all. A copy of the invoice now joins the photograph of the engine on the Fire Department wall. 

As to the future, Christy advises us that she doesn't plan to do another book. Now that she is retired, she wants to focus her love of history and research helping individuals discover their own histories. To this end, she has begun a business venture that we plan to talk with her about on a future show. We're sure that her passion for researching the connections and her delight in sharing these discoveries with others is bound to make a wonderful impact for many local families.