Robert and Mary named their third son after the founder of the Lutheran religion.  He died at age 3 1/2 years old.

Martin Luther Wakenight

Born: 22 DEC 1859 in Buffalo, Ogle County, Illinois

Father: Robert Chesney Wakenight (1824 to 1895)
Mother: Mary Ann Elizabeth Lorentz (1828 to 1884)

Spouse: None

Married: None

Children: None

Died: 4 JUN 1863 in Buffalo, Ogle County, Illinois

Burial: Buffalo Grove Cemetery

Timeline:

1860 Buffalo, Ogle County, Illinois
1863 Death and burial

Occupation: None

Notes:

Robert and Mary named their third son after the founder of the Lutheran religion.

For more information on this part of the Wakenight family, please visit Sharon Strow’s website, “Descendants of Daniel Wakenight.”

Records:

1860 US Census Record
U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current

Variations of Surname: None

 

Creating Your Family Tree

Interested in building a great family tree? Remember these important steps:

Look in your photo albums. You may have old pictures that your parents or grandparents gave you. Or, ask them for copies of photos that they have in their possession. Many people will write names and dates on the backs of photographs. Letters, diaries, and family bibles are also excellent sources for births, marriages, and deaths.

Talk to your older relatives to find out about your ancestry. They may relate stories about an ancestor that you can add to your family tree. Family history is usually not found in newspapers. It is more of a verbal memory that is passed down from generation to generation.

Find the right family tree builder that suits your needs. You can choose one that has a paid subscription like Ancestry.com. There are also free sites like FamilySearch.org.

When you start building your family tree, add documentation to your ancestor’s profile. The records can include birth, marriage, death, census, military, city, and county directory listings. Any information that you can find will help create a life story about your ancestor.

If you have a unique surname, like Wakenight, you may find databases on the internet that are useful in your search. I use SurnameDB.com for my English surnames. There are many others on the internet for other countries like Ireland, Italy, and Germany.

Genealogy is the study of a person’s “line of descent.” As you create your family tree, you would typically start with one individual and go “back into time.” You would add their parents, grandparents, and so on.

There is no limit on how big your family tree can grow. The blank canvas is there for you to use. Cherish your family history, and it will be there for generations to come!