My grandfather was Carl C. Steele. He had several neighbors also named Steele but I could never connect the families together. I ran across one of the family members of my grandfathers’ neighbor and he shared some genealogy info with me. As I began to put it all together I found the common ancestors for both Steele families. Their great- great grand parents were brothers. Anita Prestage is also a Steele and descendant from the same brothers.
I also found that my wife, Penny Pair Wesley, was also my cousin, five generations removed. Her great- great grandfather married one of the Steele sisters. Penny’s aunt had always said that Penny and I were related somewhere down the line. She knew the Steele’s and Pair’s were related. Well I married Penny 43 years ago and I am so blessed to have such a wonderful “Kissing Cousin”.
It’s been so interesting looking into my natural history. I hope to continue developing the information and compiling it in such a manner that I can pass it along to my kids and theirs. I really do wish that I had paid more attention to all the history my parents, aunts and uncles etc. used to share with me as a kid. All that stuff really did not seem to matter at the time. Once they are gone, you can never go back to hear them again. Fortunately, people tended to write more several generations ago, and it’s so nice to run across some of the old letters I find every now and then.
I encourage those reading this, to share with your kids about your heritage. Keep records and pass the info along from generation to generation.
Keith Wesley
keith@eagleswaychurch.org