��� As the web-master for this site, I felt it my duty to say a few words about the man who started pieceing together our family. I will also gladly add notes from anyone who wishes to write.
���� I never met Paul Sudlow, never spoke to him, never even corresponded with him. So it may seem strange to say that he was the source of my greatest enjoyment,� my passion, my education, and my desired occupation. He also made an impact on my Religion.
���� My mother is a Sudlow and received many of Pauls famous letters before my birth. She kept them in the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet in her closet. Long after the letters stopped coming and I was a small child, I would pull them out on rainy days and look at all the pictures. Thurza, Hannah (Clap), Elizabeth, Hannah (Law), Simeon,� I can easily see each face in my minds eye. I know the trunk Richard brought with him from England, the plate found in Austrailia, the Sudlow Road sign, Paul's beautiful home in the country covered with a blanket of soft snow, and many others.
���� As I grew older, I would read them, over and over, especially the letter written by John J. Haviland. Paul had also written a personal letter to my mother. She had written him to tell of her marriage to my father. He wrote back and sent a postcard of the Oblong Meeting house where Richard and Abigail were married. You see, my parents were married at McKees Creek FRIENDS church.
���� It was the paper I wrote in my English class in High School that started me on my journey. It had to be about something related to England. The first thing I thought of was Richard Sudlow. I pulled out those old letters and there it was, Chester, England! So I wrote a report on Chester. A+
���� Entering college I decided to study History. With so much information on my Sudlows, I wanted to know more about this countrys past. I graduated with a BS in History Education.
���� I knew where my Sudlows came from, what about my Kings, Keenens, Shughs, etc.... I annoyed every older member of my family (that's how we all have to start), then I found the Mesa LDS Family History Center. Paul had told us all where Richard came from, but I had no information on how I am decended from him. The Mesa Center spoiled me. They are one of the few places that owns EVERY census in existance. They also have a wealth of local records from all over the country and have easy access to loans from the main center in Salt Lake City.
���� I found TONS, made many links to the "Old Country", and concluded that the Shugh family crawled out of a cave somewhere in West Virginia (speaking nothing but German), and Benjamen Keenen fell from the sky in 1858.
���� I started substituting in the local high schools but hated it. I convinced my husband to bring me back to Ohio and upon landing in Logan County, discovered a jackpot. My ancestors started settleing in Logan county in 1808. My last immigrant ancestors came to Logan County from Germany in the late 1850s.� With the exception of my Sudlows, most of my family is there. I discovered internet genealogy and began doing look-ups for others. I'm still doing it, even here in Union County where I have no family connections. I just love the search.
���� I also took a job as a tour guide at the Piatt Castles. They are 2 old homes built by brothers in the last half of the 1800s just outside of West Liberty. I decided that is what I wanted to do with my life. Anything that has to do with a family's history is what I want to be involved with.
���� As for the Religion thing, I was raised in a Baptist church. In my "questioning" high school and college years, I found that the writings of George Fox, William Penn, and John Woolman spoke to me. I found these writings because of my ancestors, Richard and Abigail Wanzer, the Quakers. Although there is no meeting in this area, spiritually, I consider myself Quaker.
���� Even though Paul will never know how much his work impacted my life, I hope he knew how much his work can impact the understanding of any decendant of Richard Sudlow. Most members of this family were simple farmers and housewives, but its those simple people who formed this country, and we can be very proud of them, just as Paul was.
�������������������������������������������������������� --- Kelly S. (King) Smith
Richard >Joseph >James Harvey > George > John >Carl > Kay >Kelly
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