Boyle Family History

 

Dan Boyle
Dan Boyle 2016

Dan has been faithfully gathering documents, stories and photos of his ancestry since I first met him in 1980. As the years went by, he wrote about the Boyle family in Chapters. First it was the Boyle Beginnings: Ontario Antecedents. He sent that document off to the relatives with the Christmas Letter. In 1989, he wrote Breakthrough to Ireland detailing the long process to find out where his people came from in Northern Ireland. Another major effort was the family history for the Boyle Families Who Trod the Streets of Sheldon, North Dakota. Now they can be read by anyone just by clicking on the Genealogy Tab.

Chuck Boyle
Chuck Boyle 2016

These stories would still be in his computer or in a drawer if not for a long-lost cousin arriving on the scene in June 2015. Chuck Boyle’s father was Dan’s first cousin. Chuck contacted Dan through Ancestry.com.

Initial contact e-mail via Ancestry.Com, from Chuck Boyle to Dan Boyle, June 6, 2015

Danny, I remember you well from my childhood; was quite taken by your double-jointed thumbs. But now I’m 70 and your thumbs are probably a little less flexible. I am Chuck Boyle, son of Charley and Jenne, grandson of Patrick. My son Ethan recently started a Facebook group called The Boyle Clan, with a friend of his from Ireland. In a couple of days it grew to have some 40 members, about 3/4 are in Ireland. Made Ethan more interested in his Irish heritage. All I know about that is what I remember from my childhood. My dad died when I was twelve and that was pretty much the end of my contact with the Boyle family.

The last time they saw each other was when Chuck was a youngster. Chuck was delighted to find the rich depository of Boyle information that Dan provided in emails and his family history chapters. In order to preserve the information for his family and others, he started adding the content to a website. He even included the many emails that Dan wrote describing family members and stories that he remembered.

The link to those pages in now under the Genealogy tab. Over the past several months, Chuck has added photos, maps, and other information. Chuck and Dan have not met face-to-face yet. Chuck retired to Sedona, Arizona from California. They are in contact on Facebook and through emails.

I am grateful for Chuck’s interest and follow through to get the Boyle family history online so that others can benefit from the research that Dan completed.


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