As one searches out their heritage and learns of the lives and struggles of their progenitors, in many cases all one can find is a name on a page. I have in a few cases been fortunate that others have felt the importance of leaving behind their life histories or recording what they have known about others.

A brief glimpse into the lives of family members add a great amount to the appreciation I have for them and what they have done in this life. These records, for the greatest part were collected by my mother and came into my possession at the time of her death. Not knowing who may have copies, I have compiled this collection of their stories.

I have endeavored to keep all records intact, have retained original spellings and punctuation when working from either original works or copies which retained the original spelling. Others have been transcribed from tape recordings.

I must first give credit to my mother, Arlie Matkin Bodily Rawlins Matkin, for preserving and collecting the bulk of these histories. The worth of such a work becomes even greater as one learns of their heritage and of the faith and lives of their family members. There are a few other documents which I feel are too personal to publish at this time.

I have given credit to those who wrote each history, if it was available, and pray that I will not offend any by not giving proper credit due.

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