Pearl Plank’s Roadtrip 1967
Pearl Plank was born in 1902 in Canton, Missouri. She was Henrietta Wagner’s granddaughter (Henrietta was Old Bill’s sister). Trip Summary: Pearl left Canton, Missouri by bus on July 23, 1967 to Washington, Pennsylvania, where her 2nd cousin Homer Wagner met her. She stayed with Homer and his wife Louise at their home in Houston, Pennsylvania, and then they drove to their trailer camp on Cheat Lake near Morgantown, West Virginia. She slept in their…
Wagner Children Memorial Service and Family Gathering
Forest Grove Cemetery — Canton, Missouri | June 2026 When my mom, Lois Thornton, passed away in May 2025, I knew I wanted to her stone to be in Forest Grove Cemetery on the bluff overlooking Canton, Missouri and the Mississippi River alongside her parents Homer and Louise, her grandparents William and Lilly (Giegerich) Wagner, and her brother David. Even though David died of leukemia at just six years old when Lois was only 18…
Wagner Family Home Movies
These are the Raw unedited videos from the Super 8 Transfer. There is no sound or captions. The number corresponds to the DVD/chapter. Here's a link to the folder that contains all the videos, or click on individual links below. It is password protected. Same password as for the photos. Email me to request. Please email me with details / memories / stories about these. 1-1a Wagner Family vacation in New York City, 1955. Homer,…
Wagner Boys’ road trip of 1931
This is a fun journal by Arnold Wagner who was 16 about the road trip he and his parents and brothers William, Homer and Russell took to Pittsburgh, Akron, Washington DC and Niagra Falls in the summer of 1931. DOWNLOAD "Wagner Boys 1931 Trip" PDF
Research resources
Images Ebay for images of places - then follow that search and you'll receive an email when new items are added Pinterest 500 px Google image search - and you can use this to try to discover the source for a photo you already have - just drag the jpg and it will try to find that photo on other sites Youtube - search for history videos and real estate sale videos often includes images…
Graham-Thornton Cemetery
In 2016 I visited the graves of my great great grandparents GJ Thornton and Maggie Boothe. They are buried in the Graham-Thornton Cemetery near Snowville in Pulaski County, ; The Graham-Thornton Cemetery has 32 identified burials between 1912 to 1979 spanning 4 generations of Grahams and ;All but one buried here are directly related to both the Thorntons and Grahams by blood or marriage. The Thorntons descend from GJ Thornton and Maggie Boothe. The Grahams…
Rev. Weiler’s Louisville church to become whiskey bar and Bob Dylan art gallery
In 1933 my great great grandfather Rev. Weiler, wife Addie Hanning and their last child Pearl moved to Louisville, Kentucky to serve the church at 604 East Market Street. Cindy Ward sent me this article about the church being turned into a whiskey bar and Bob Dylan art gallery. Pretty sure Rev. Weiler would not approve of his pulpit becoming "the high church of bourbon." It was from this building in 1937 that Rev. Weiler preached…
Lois Ann Wagner Thornton – 1938-2025
My incredible mother, Lois Ann Wagner Thornton, born on October 7, 1938, in Bellevue, Pennsylvania, passed away on May 15, 2025, at home with me and her cat. My mom was a nurse through and through, dedicating her entire life to caring for others. She started out at Presbyterian Hospital nursing school in Pittsburgh, worked decades of night shift, and cared for her parents and uncle in their final years. For her last 15 years…
Uncle Jim Thornton and his daughters Olivia and Fannie
In May 2024 I was contacted on Ancestry by Kate Kelley, aka “The Photo Angel” as seen on NBC’s The TODAY Show I acquired an antique portrait of a father and his daughters that I would love to return to a family member! Names include Uncle Jim Thornton, Olivia, and Fannie. The back mentions that Olivia married a man by the last name Burns. Are you a blood relative of the Thorntons and if so,…