I am a descendant of John Crysler and Mary Matilda O'Conner of Illinois and William Haskell and Matilda White Pulliam of Uvalde, Texas.

Over the years, my mother, Mary Cathryn Smith, wrote her family stories as well as transcribed the recorded family stories from her mother, M. Velma Pulliam O'Conner. The stories were all about the railroads, cowboys and Indians, land, and cattle in Texas and Arizona in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

My wife, Vicki, and I had no genealogy foundation of who the relations were and as we took the stories from Mom and a "hard to read" family tree and put them in a file for a rainy day when we would have the time to look at them.

Here we are, twenty years later, retired from our careers and as the point we had to move Mary Cathryn into assisted living. While moving, we found more of my Mom's and Grandma's stories and they were added to the file. Vicki had a minor foot operation and couldn't go anywhere so she decided to tackle the genealogies of my families as well as hers.

Developing the genealogies of the O'Conners and Pulliams was quite a ride. We had no idea how much information was available. Living near the National Archives only 50 miles away helped. The O’Conner family breathed and lived the Southern Pacific railroad. My granddad, Bill O’Conner, and my great granddad, John (JC), worked as railroad agents for many years around the Tucson area. The many other members of the O'Conner family worked for the railroad as well. They were not into cowboys and Indians and cattle like the Pulliams. Just shipping cattle by rail.

The Pulliam side also has quite a history. It all started with William Haskell (W.H.) Pulliam when he moved and married in Texas. One of their sons, Xury Pulliam, was my great grandfather, who was born and raised in Uvalde, TX. He had 8 brothers and 3 sisters and they were scattered around Uvalde and EL Paso working the ranches they personally owned or working on their father’s ranches. We discovered that the name Pulliam is well known in Texas. There is Pulliam River, the town Pulliam, Pulliam Ridge, and most of all, there is a Pulliam Peak and Pulliam Bluffs in the Big Bend National Park.

As we discover the other descendants, we began to contact my long list of relations to hear their stories. Not only is genealogy so much fun, we found we are learning more history about Illinois, Texas, and Arizona than we learned in school.

I am a descendant of John Crysler and Mary Matilda O'Conner of Illinois and William Haskell and Matilda White Pulliam of Uvalde, Texas.

Over the years, my mother, Mary Cathryn Smith, wrote her family stories as well as transcribed the recorded family stories from her mother, M. Velma Pulliam O'Conner. The stories were all about the railroads, cowboys and Indians, land, and cattle in Texas and Arizona in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

My wife, Vicki, and I had no genealogy foundation of who the relations were and as we took the stories from Mom and a "hard to read" family tree and put them in a file for a rainy day when we would have the time to look at them.

Here we are, twenty years later, retired from our careers and as the point we had to move Mary Cathryn into assisted living. While moving, we found more of my Mom's and Grandma's stories and they were added to the file. Vicki had a minor foot operation and couldn't go anywhere so she decided to tackle the genealogies of my families as well as hers.

Developing the genealogies of the O'Conners and Pulliams was quite a ride. We had no idea how much information was available. Living near the National Archives only 50 miles away helped. The O’Conner family breathed and lived the Southern Pacific railroad. My granddad, Bill O’Conner, and my great granddad, John (JC), worked as railroad agents for many years around the Tucson area. The many other members of the O'Conner family worked for the railroad as well. They were not into cowboys and Indians and cattle like the Pulliams. Just shipping cattle by rail.

The Pulliam side also has quite a history. It all started with William Haskell (W.H.) Pulliam when he moved and married in Texas. One of their sons, Xury Pulliam, was my great grandfather, who was born and raised in Uvalde, TX. He had 8 brothers and 3 sisters and they were scattered around Uvalde and EL Paso working the ranches they personally owned or working on their father’s ranches. We discovered that the name Pulliam is well known in Texas. There is Pulliam River, the town Pulliam, Pulliam Ridge, and most of all, there is a Pulliam Peak and Pulliam Bluffs in the Big Bend National Park.

As we discover the other descendants, we began to contact my long list of relations to hear their stories. Not only is genealogy so much fun, we found we are learning more history about Illinois, Texas, and Arizona than we learned in school.