Dixit and Martin - our family history  

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Table of Contents

The first two sections are the family of my grandmother Quackenbush, from Nebraska.  Her grandparents were Daniel Freeman (the First Homesteader under Abraham Lincoln's Homestead Act) and  Agnes Suiter Freeman.

Agnes Suiter Freeman home page - Freeman & Suiter (on my mother's side) -- Beatrice, Gage Co., Nebraska and Le Claire, Scott Co., Iowa.  Including:

• Letters written by Agnes Suiter Freeman (wife of the "First Homesteader", Daniel Freeman)
• LeClaire, Iowa, River Pilots - an article by Joanne Loete about the Suiters, who were Mississippi River pilots
• First Homesteader Daniel Freeman's childhood in New York
• Photos
• Homestead Memories of Carol Quackenbush
• and more:  see main page

My grandfather Kannasto, of Rocklin, CA (near Sacramento), was a 2nd/3rd generation Finnish American. His family had come from Finland near the end of the 19th century.

Kannasto & Anderson (on my mother's side) -- from Finland to Rocklin, Placer Co., California  (*new photos added Feb. 2006)

• The Andersons, from Finland, owned and operated a small granite quarry in Rocklin, California; the town was for many years an important junction on the transcontinental railroad.  In 1899, a period of resistance against the Russians began in Finland.  John Kannasto, a Finnish music student, was sent by his father to Rocklin to join his uncle, also named John Kannasto, who had established himself well there - one of the town's streets is now named Kannasto Street.  The younger John was never to hear from any of his brothers in Finland again.  He married Mary Anderson and joined the Anderson family granite business.  After the railroad turntable moved to nearby Roseville around 1908, Rocklin experienced a steady decline in population and the granite business also suffered.  In 1920, the Kannastos were working as granite cutters in Astoria, Oregon:  a town on the sea, at the mouth of the Columbia River, which had a strong Finnish presence.   
• Census Journey Part 1

The next section deals with the family of my grandfather Martin, from Burbank, CA.  His family had come west from Upstate New York to Kansas, and then on to Los Angeles.

Martin (on my father's side) -- Saranac Lake, Franklin Co., New York and Burbank, Los Angeles Co., California

• My great-great-grandfather Henry Martin's younger brother, Stephen C. Martin, was a well-known hunting/fishing lake guide in the Adirondack mountains of upstate New York. Henry's elder brother was William F. Martin, who ran successful Adirondack resort hotel "Martin's" in Saranac Lake Village, New York. Leaving the Adirondacks, middle brother Henry W. Martin and his young wife Mary made their home in Kansas, but eventually the family was split in two: Henry and at least one son, Henry Jr., going to the Northwest, and Mary taking at least 2 children by freight car to California, probably after the mid-1880's on the newly completed Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe line. In 1926, Mary's youngest son Stephen A. Martin and his wife Minnie sold their Burbank hog ranch to First National Pictures; two years later the property became the Burbank Studios of Warner Bros. Pictures.
• Read the story of Martin's Hotel and the Martin Brothers, as told in "A History of the Adirondacks" by Alfred L. Donaldson (1921). (in progress -- *updated Apr. 2008)

This is the family of my grandmother Darley, whose family were early Mormon immigrants from England, living in Wellsville, Utah.

Darley, Thirkell, Parkinson & Woodward (on my father's side) -- from England to Wellsville, Cache Co., Utah

• The story of three families and one single man who left their homes in England and traveled by ship to America, where they eventually settled in the small town of Wellsville, Utah. Henry Parkinson and his brother Timothy ran freight wagons to Montana, and were paid in gold. The Darleys made butter and cheese at Darley Dairy, and managed a general store. John and Mary Thirkell farmed and looked after their many grandchildren. Less is known about the Woodwards, but their children included a Canadian farmer, a wife of the leader of Wellsville, and twin girls who married a pair of Scottish cousins. Branches of these families moved all across the West -- to be ranch hands, farmers, saddle makers and general store owners in small towns across California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
• Census Journey 11, Census Journey 12 and Census Journey 13

My husband's family are from the Punjab region of India, and also lived in Kenya for many years.

Dixit & Sharma (on my husband's side) -- Punjab, India and Nairobi, Kenya

• The Sharmas ran a general store in a small town near Nairobi, Kenya.  Father Nathuram Yagdutt Sharma had moved there from India as a young man, possibly around 1920, when the British encouraged many Indians to move to Kenya to work on the railroads.  The Sharmas' family doctor was Dr. Raj Kumar Dixit, and he thought their eldest daughter would be a perfect match for his nephew back home in India, the son of his elder brother Dr. Ram Bhaj Dutt Dixit (later called Dr. R.D Sharma, of Shimla, Himachal Pradesh).  They were married in Delhi in 1955, and lived in Kenya for the next 10 years.  When Kenya became independent from England, most of the Dixits and Sharmas left the country, moving to England, Canada, the U.S. and India.  Nowadays extended family members keep in touch, though living on four continents - Asia, Europe, Africa and North America.

How to put lemon on chicken ...

Family recipes

For surnames, individuals, and places please see:

Places 1 - Main places

Places 2 - Detailed list of places, with events and people

Database 1 - Rootsweb Freepages site at:  http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~dixitk/index.htm - Surname list and information on all individuals in database (not up-to-date)

Database 2 - Family tree database at the RootsWeb.com WorldConnect Project : search the database, or see a full list of surnames/individuals (updated frequently).

	Family Tree of K and R Dixit

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by Kristin Martin Dixit

email:   miyanomori2   at   yahoo.co.uk  

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