A Second Effort at Family History from Norm

Many thanks to Julie for her efforts on the Nilsson Family Tree as it has opened up a whole new group of relatives that I really knew nothing about. Let me explain. Nils Peter Nilsson, my grandpa, married Elmira File way back when and she died before I was born so I knew nothing of her family. Keep in mind that my mom's family was also from Pokey so that on the rare occasions that we went to Pokey we hung out withe Marti family. I say our visits were rather rare because, in those days with an old car and totally dirt roads, our family rarely left town. How exciting it is to discover, thru Julie's research, that my great great grandpa on my dad's side was actually born on the 4th of July in 1776. And, again thru Julie, Mom and I had the pleasure of meeting some of Elmira's relatives this past Sunday. Gerry Jenner's wife was a File and he told me the story that his dad and Uncle Charlie were close friends and when Charlie moved to Champaign, his son Chuck stayed with Gerry's family to finish his Senior year of Hi School. So when Gerry went to the U of I he stayed with Charlie's family in Champaign. Gerry worked for Upjohn and sold drugs his entire career. His wife Martha was a nurse and is a lovely lady. The other couple were Ben and Mary File. Ben is a master story teller and gave me a book he has written called Ben There and Done That which tells stories of his life. He also is a U of I grad and his wife was a music major at Millikin in Decatur and she joined him as a pig farmer. Every Sunday eve any of the File family that is available meet for dinner at a Cafe in Pokey and I'm sure that Mary & I and Julie and family will join them on occasion so that we can contine this fine relationship. Thought you might like to know a little bit of family history that you didn't know.