300 years of Joseph Olin and his descendents

632 Pages·1996·44.4 MB·English

by  Olin, Warren G. (Warren George), 1922-

BOSTON
PUBLIC
LIBRARY

Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2011 with funding from
Boston Public Library
http://www.archive.org/details/300yearsofjoseph01olin
DO Yearn
of Joseph Olin
and
His Descendants
Volume I

DO Towm
of Joseph Olin
and
His Descendants
Volume I
Warren G. Olin
of Joseph Olin
and
His Descendants
Volume I
Author: Warren G. Olin, Family Historian
Editor: Ann Joyce Olin Powell
Published By: OLIN Family
Copyright: 1996 — All rights unreserved for family and researchers.
CS7/
Library of Congress Catalog Number: 96-68406 f
V.I
ISBN 0-9651495-0-1 \(\(\ ( q
Manufactured in the United States of America on acid-Free paper
500
First Edition
Typesetting/Graphic Design/
Camera-Ready Material: Type-O-Graphics
Endwell, NY
Printing
Company: The Maple- Vail Book Manufacturing Group
York, PA
Editor's Note
*When children ask, "Where did I come from?" their parents may
suck in their breath, assuming the child is seeking information on the
origin of his/her life. As we grow older, we become much too
sophisticated to ask such a question. But perhaps we're missing
something. Life did not just begin with us, or our parents, or our
grandparents, or even with their parents. We really should ask, "Where
did we come from? How did our world come to be as it is today?
What influences have helped to make us what we are and what our
children are likely to be?"
The inspiration for Warren Olin to write this book, for me to edit it,
and for our siblings to help support it, was, of course, our Dad, George
O. Olin. He accumulated genealogical information over the years
because he was curious to know his family and who came before. His
difficult and somehow heroic life transferred to us a respect and
reverence for family, love, loyalty, truth, and honor, all supported by
our mother, Leona Ruland Olin. We children grew up with a sense that
family was special and that each of us should do our best to make the
world a little better than we found it. That is the story of all the Olins
— ordinary people just doing their best to make things a little better.
Pleased and excited that this ambitious project was actually coming
to fruition, I was concerned about Warren's plan to write a readable
book. His extensive research should be invaluable to future
genealogists and historians. He systematically uncovered previously
undocumented information regarding the "missing link" generation
which stymied earlier research in the Joseph branch of the John OLIN
Family. Warren also compiled and analyzed all of the traditions,
theories and new information on the country of origin of John Olin.
And just as carefully, Warren traced as many families as possible
through all of their generations to the present. I worried that foregoing
footnotes and adding some fiction might compromise the credibility of
his Herculean work. At the same time, I understood Warren's intention
that this book be read and enjoyed.
Without creating fables, Warren has carefully used historically
relevant fiction to help the reader understand the 18th and 19th
centuries and how people lived. The effect is to see our ancestors as
the real people they were. Often as I edited, I found myself so caught
up in their lives that I had to go back a page or two to do my job.
Identifying where fiction has been used should pose little problem for
true historians, and sources are listed for serious researchers without
disturbing the text. The outcome is a readable book whether you are an
Olin, related to one, or not. My woriry relieved, it is a pleasure to be
associated with this work. Now the Joseph branch of the John OLIN
Family can know from where it came.
"To forget one's ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree
without a root."
— Chinese Proverb