In starting my family tree, I talked with my maternal grandmother Dorothy Helen (McWilliams) Hopper. My interest really began to grow, because she had a story to tell. Her mother Emma Elizabeth Merritt and baby brother died of the flu in 1918 in Helena, Arkansas. Her father James McWilliams unable to take care of her took her to Jasper County Illinois, where she was raised by her maternal grandmother Rosa Bell Richey Chesnut. Grandma lost contact with her father, and wondered what happened to him. I began to share in her curiosity, and began a quest to find out what happened to him.

I still have not completely solved the mystery of James McWilliams. However, I have expanded the research beyond James McWilliams, and added several branches to our tree. Maybe one of the branches is connected to you – if so, please contact me
or submit a family group sheet .