A Snapshot In Time - Genealogy Research

I am in the process of cleaning up my Ancestry.com Family trees.  The original tree that I placed out there has incomplete information on several of my lines plus my Vienop/Borchers line appears to have several errors.  In my early "Spring Cleaning" on that tree, I found the following comment that I made on April 19, 2010.  It is a snapshot in time.  It summarizes to an extent what I knew of my family tree when I started this process. 

Rather than delete the comment, I thought I'd share it below.  I follow it with some additional comments.

Napa, CA Family - Flanagan, McLaughlin, Borchers, Vienop  - April 19, 2010 - zelsersk
                                                                                  
My mother was born and raised in Napa, CA. My family roots there go back to the late 1800s. The Flanagan's arrived there in the 1870s and my grandfather carried on the family name there until he passed away in 2000. There's quite a bit of Flanagan history in Napa. What is also interesting is that they remained in contact with the Flanagans in Ireland. The Flanagans of Termonfeckin, Co. Louth, Ireland have a long history in that location going back to the late 1600s. The family continues in that location today.

I know very little about my McLaughlin side of the family. My grandfather's mother was born in Austin, Nevada and her family ended up in Napa around the turn of the century. It would be great to find out more information about the McLaughlin's and the Maxwell's too!

The Borchers headed west from Minnesota and North Dakota along the way in the late 1800s. They ended up living in Napa and Sonoma Counties. My uncle who is a Borchers has researched the Borchers back to Germany. My great-grandfather was Herbert Herman L. Borchers and he lived in Napa, CA. I knew him fairly well and visited him regularly when I was young.

The Vienops also made their way West from Missouri to Nebraska and onto Napa. John Henry Vienop came to the USA in and around the 1870s from Germany. He returned to Germany and made his way back to the USA with his family. My great-grandmother, Mary Vienop, was born in Missouri. They ended up in Napa around the turn of the century. There were quite a few Vienop's who made there way to Napa, CA and Northern CA. 

The comment that stands out big for me here is what little information I had about my McLaughlin's and Maxwell's.   I can only say that I have 1000% more information about them plus more lines that stem from them.  It amazes me how far that I've come on that line.   I did not do it alone either.  I have McLaughlin, Maxwell, Flanagan, Duffy and Malloy descendants and others to thank for that.  Ancestry.com did lead me to a few of them and my grandparents' "treasure box" helped me find some very key people.

I love the connections that I've found in living people on this side of the family.  They are my living relatives.  I also love the family history that I've discovered along the way.  I rather consider my McLaughlin/Maxwell Tree research a "fun online family reunion party" with some great people.  We have to keep this going and maybe someday we can all meet in person.