Introduction

For many years I have wondered about, and have tried to find out more about the ancestry and family background of Grandma Kate Locke Brower. This blog is intended to be a vehicle for sharing information among family members, correcting wrong information that is present in some submissions and postings, and identifying areas for future investigation. In addition, I hope that it will help open vistas of greater appreciate of our Southern roots and the sacrifices of those who "went before".

As an introduction, there were several reasons that the roots of the Locke family were not well known, at least to the western branches of the family in Idaho and Utah.

1. Kate was raised in Jasper, Tennessee (near Chattanooga) but moved to Blackfoot, Idaho as a teenager (age 13) in 1913. Her father died only two years later, and many of her aunts and uncles died near the same time, so there was not much opportunity to learn of family relations and traditions.
2. Her Locke grandparents both died very young in 1866 and 1868, leaving four young children as orphans. They were placed into multiple homes and raised apart until the oldest sister was able to bring them back together. It is not known why the children were not placed with family members. [details to follow]
   

Well, that is enough for starters. Please invite other family members to join and contribute both answers and questions along with whatever information and experiences you'd like to share.

David Douglas Brown (grandson)

Note: please refer to the family genealogy on http://new.familysearch.org if you have access. If you do not yet have access there, you can see much of the information in the Ancestral File at http://www.familysearch.org .