My name is Cynthia Marie Moore-Villarreal. This is a growing record of my family (direct ancestors, their families and other extremely obscure branches and minor twiglets!). It is dedicated to my late mother and father, Joyce Allene Heintschel-Moore and Joseph William Moore who with much appreciation has taught me how important family is. And being able to hold that family together no matter come what may. Thank you both I love and miss you very much!
As you get older, you start thinking about where you came from. When I was a teenager I couldn't care less but there comes a time when you begin asking yourself questions – those that you wish you had asked long before your loved ones were gone. To understand and know them better. They were more than mothers, fathers, grandmothers or grandfathers, aunts and uncles. They all have a life story and memories that made our family special, some of which will be lost forever. This is my attempt at salvaging what I can, and leave my children, my family, a sense of where they came from. From this journey I hoped to find out who were my ancestors? what were their lives like? And from our big wonderful family I found quite a few surprises. Alas, I am still looking, and as a living breathing document this will always be evolving until one day the torch is passed to someone else to continue to document so that our family heritage will never be lost. As this is “work in progress”, with everyday new documents being transcribed and released, I hope that it inspires something in you to continue the quest.
Please note that I have tried to separate fact from fiction but I can't honestly put 'hand on heart' and say that everything recorded here is factually correct. Much of the information contained here has been acquired from 'on line' sources, e.g. Ancestry.com, Geneology.com, Archives.com, and from other people researching the same ‘family members’ - visits to churchyards and family history centers continue to happen as time allows. I have mailed over 1,000 letters to historical societies, cemeteries, state archives etc. in my attempt to validate all data contained herein. There is still much to search for and record, in order to put the 'meat on the bones'. I invite any family member to contact me if they discover any inaccuracies or have discovered additional information that would make this attempt complete.
Until recently, I knew very little about my Father’s side of the family. I had only really been able to record my Mother’s side. I only had a few names of immediate family members and didn’t even know the name of any of my cousins on my fathers side. A terrible loss of time and family that I hope to re-connect with. Many facts about a part of my family that I never knew until my father’s death. Then lo and behold, out of the blue I stumbled onto a name in several documents that provided many leads and took me farther than I ever expected. What a wonderful invention this internet thingy is! It has has provided me with a treasure trove of family facts and history that I could only dream of. With this small clue of information I have now documented my father’s direct line of ancestors and his immediate family.
However, although I have now added more branches to the tree I still have a barrow load of twigs that need to be written up. This should keep me busy for a while longer. So, this family history will continue to grow as the months and years unfold.
You can read this as a reference document, I will ask, however, that if you see anything that is obviously incorrect, please let me know.
