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CJ EXTRA WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2015 | The Topeka Capital-Journal
Find someone who will listen and be interested but somebody that can get excited when you’re excited so you can share your discoveries, because it’s just that exciting.” TERRY STAHL
Family tree takes Stahl on journey Former teacher will present video at genealogy event By Emily DeShazer
emily.deshazer@cjonline.com
A newspaper account that alleges her great-great-great-grandfather disappeared and left behind four orphaned children in 1859 unleashed an avalanche of questions for Terry Stahl about her family tree. Stahl, a Seaman school district social studies teacher who taught for 34 years, says she felt like a mystery detective trying to find answers to what happened when her family first moved to Kansas in 1857. While her journey for answers and information continues, Stahl will be presenting a genealogical project she has finished at the Topeka Genealogical Society’s free “My Most Interesting Ancestor” event at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 28. With the help of friends and relatives, Stahl created a video capturing a moment in time on her sister and brother-in-law’s Flint Hills ranch in 2014. The video is one of four projects that will be shown at the TGS event that demonstrate the many different forms family history can be preserved and presented in. Mark Freel will be talking about how he learned what “The Trousseau” meant growing up, Johnny Dahl will talk about the history of his family in Oklahoma, and Elinor Baker Stroup will share the love letters her
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EMILY DESHAZER/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL
Terry Stahl, a retired Seaman school district social studies teacher, says her most interesting ancestor is Elizabeth Smith, who participated in the Oklahoma land rush. On May 28, Stahl will be one of four presenters at the Topeka Genealogical Society’s free “My Most Interesting Ancestor” event at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library.