Eighth Generation

115. Laurence Harry "Lar" BERGER⁷⁰ was born on 7 February 1937 in Wisconsin.⁸⁹
"A couple of things you may be interested in regarding the McNutt family. My mother was a lifelong friend of Marietta Alma McNutt (7th generation) and talked about her often. I remember visiting her on a farm when I was young (before we moved to California in 1948). I am not sure of what the spelling of her name was but I am certain that it was pronounced Ma rit' ah.

Funny that I never thought my father's name was “Harold” because no one called him anything other than “Harry.” I'm not convinced that my father's name was “Harold” because my middle name is “Harry” which I always assumed was given because it was my father's name. My parents were divorced when I was about three years old but I kept in contact with Harry throughout his life. After the war as steam engines were being replaced by diesel engines, Harry was a conductor on the Milwaukee Road. He once took me on a train ride from Portage to Chicago and took me up to the diesel engine, which was quite an experience for a young boy.

I can provide my birthday, however: 7 February 1937. I cannot provide the date of my death, yet. ;-) I married Sue Marie Weiland (b: 22 December 1936) on 26 November 1959 and we had two children: Julia Kirsten Berger (b: 22 December 1960); and John Tobin Berger (b:2 September 1965). For professional reasons my wife changed her name to Suzann Weiland in the mid-1970s. I do not know if you wish to include me or my family in the genealogy because neither Harry McNutt or Georgia McNutt had any biological children. I was adopted by Harry and Georgia Berger when I was six weeks old. Therefore, I have only a cultural, family connection with the McNutt biological line.

I am attaching a file which is a transcription of J.O.'s Journal. J.O.'s journal was passed down to me through Lon and Georgia McNutt. Unfortunately, it was stored in a compartment in the attic of our home in Missoula, Montana, in 1986 when the house was struck by lightning. The journal was destroyed along with some really old photographs of the period by a fire resulting from the strike. I plan to construct an integrated, annotated version of J.O.'s narrative in which I would use some of the information you have provided.

Fortunately, I had photocopied the journal before then and had stored it in a different location, so I was able to scan the photocopy. I saved the scans in both .jpg and .pdf formats. Both folders exceed the size limit for e-mail attachments. I can mail you a CD copy of them if you wish.

It should be noted that when Lon McNutt had J.O.'s journal, he removed some material that he thought would be offensive to some of the families mentioned in it. I do not know how extensive his redacting was but mother was of the opinion that it involved only recent events and commentaries. I am inclined to accept her opinion as authoritative.

I am impressed with the genealogy that you have constructed. It looks like a heroic effort and a lot of hours. I am entertaining the notion of going back to Wisconsin in the summer of 2012 and spending some time rooting around in not only places I recall from my childhood, but also places related to J.O.'s journal. I can recall visiting Vera in Sparta and Frank in Warrens when young. I suspect that it may be interesting to contact and visit county historical societies and museums in the area. I have not identified them yet but they must exist.

Thank you for your information. If I can provide any information that would be useful to you, feel free to contact me.

Cordially,
Lar"

.
He was adopted in March 1937 in Wisconsin.⁷⁰ He lived in California in 1948.⁷⁰ Lar lived in Missoula, Missoula County, MT before 1986.⁷⁰ He lived in Port Townsend, Jefferson County, WA before 2011.⁷⁰

Laurence Harry "Lar" BERGER and Sue Marie "Suzann" WEILAND were married on 26 November 1959.⁷⁰ Sue Marie "Suzann" WEILAND was born on 22 December 1936.⁷⁰

Laurence Harry "Lar" BERGER and Sue Marie "Suzann" WEILAND had the following children: