These are the voyages of the ancestors of Harold K. Tompkins (son of Isaac M. Tompkins and  Hazel M. Bantz) and his wife, Patricia Ann Clark (daughter of Adolphus S. Clark and Dottie A.  Heck. This is not a fictional log of an imaginary star ship populated with melodramatic  characters facing only computer graphics images. These are the real details of real lives lived  in real times of both prosperity and hardship -- all looking forward to what lay ahead (and  mostly to the West). Although they did not cross the frontier of outer space, they really did  cross oceans and mountains and rivers and plains despite great difficulties we can now only  imagine from the traces that remain.

Most of them crossed into new frontiers with their families -- families that stayed together to  diverge slowly over time across the plains and families that came apart suddenly and,  sometimes, inexplicably. Most are stories of lives lived in faith toward God and Hope in His  provision. This is not a story singular to our families. It is the story of the second great  North American migration -- a migration of families and communities of which we have been a  part.  We celebrate these stories by remembering them in the hope of commemoration: remembering  lives lived in hope, remembering families lived in unity and remembering communities of the  faithful.

I have built the pages of the web site around the four families of my grandparents, searching  for references to their parents, grandparents and great grandparents in public documents and  references from historical texts until I am unable to find older references. Then I have  resorted to genealogical work done by others, like Tina, who invited me to Tribal Pages. I have  also begun to add cousins, aunts and uncles and their wives, husbands and children. This will  go on as others send suggestions to me. I have also included photos that I have scanned from my  Uncle Paul's photo album -- most of which, I think, came from Dottie (Heck) Clark.

Finally, I have begun to tell stories about the possibilities that these bits of information  suggest. I am not ashamed of embellishment (as many of you already know) so enjoy them as a  kind of entertainment that may help you to remember the facts. Remember. Remember. Remember,  remember, remember.

Mike Tompkins
 July 20, 2016