Notes to Family Members
I hope that you find this record of our family interesting, whether you are a Smith, a Staebell, a Voegele, a Mesker, or all of the above, or none of the above. Many people have put a lot of effort into accumulating this information, in many cases over the course of decades. In the immediate family, the most energetic researchers are my mother Alice, my father Bill, my Uncle Jim, Mom's cousin Evelyn, and my sister Kathryn. We are also very fortunate to have the contributions of distant cousins whom we have never met in person, but whose extensive research into their own family tree has yielded a treasure trove of information for branches that we are fortunate enough to share in common. Prominent among these cousins are G. Russell Bussiere and his wife Nancy Staebell Bussiere, Herb Stabell, Rita Staebell Rosauer, Jacqueline MacPherson, and Dr. Donald Nuwer. Last but not least, there are my many brothers, sisters, and cousins and other more distant relatives who have responded to my requests for information. I wish to thank all of these people for their efforts, which are much appreciated.
If you believe that you have contributed information to this site but that your contribution has not been properly acknowledged, please let me know. It was probably an oversight, which I will correct promptly.
Publishing the family history on the internet has many advantages. It is immediately available to everyone in the family. You don't have to wait for me or some other relative to make a photocopy of it. You don't have to worry about losing your copy of the history or about it becoming outdated. Future updates (and I hope to make them frequent and timely) will become immediately available to the entire family. The hyperlink feature of web pages makes it easy for the author to organize and cross-reference the information, and for the reader to step through the generations and locate interesting facts.
One of the most appealing benefits for the family historian is that, because the history is on the internet, distant unknown relatives may discover it and contact us. They might provide us with pieces to the ancestry puzzle that we lack. Since I began putting genealogy on the internet in August 2000, I have been contacted by many previously unknown distant cousins.
Protecting your privacy is important to me. Please refer to my notes on "Privacy for the Living" and contact me if you have any concerns.
I will always be on the lookout for more material, such as interesting facts and stories about you or your family, and photographs. Please pass along anything you have, and we will share it with the whole family!
--- Brian J. Smith