Farewell old cottage, cover image (detail) for the Stephen Foster song of the same title, published by Firth, Ford, & Co, New York, ca. 1851. Library of Congress

Changes

There’s been a change in my relationship with the Jonathan Clark House Museum, and that means that change is also coming to this blog, created and published by me since March, 2016, as “Clark House Historian.” In fact, this post is my 499th—and final—post under the blog title of “Clark House Historian.”

However, I will continue to write and publish this blog, under a new title, at the same web address, https://jchmhistorian.com/ and we will continue to explore many of the same Clark-era historical topics—and more! But the title of the blog will change. As of June 1, 2026, instead of “Clark House Historian,” this blog will be known as “Clark Heritage & History.”

If you are already a regular reader or free subscriber to the blog, thank you for reading! I value your support and interest. Subscribers, please let me know if you have any difficulty receiving the usual email announcements that appear in your inbox whenever a new post goes live. If you have active spam-blocking in your email inbox, you may want to change the “approved sender” for these CHH email announcements from the old “Clark House Historian” name to the new name: “Clark Heritage & History.” If you have any questions, comments, technical issues that need solving, please Contact me.

What’s going on?

Why the changes? Continue reading…

I got a letter.

In mid-May I received a letter from Friends of the Jonathan Clark House board president Tom Daub and executive director Nina Look, outlining actions taken by the Board at their May, 2026, meeting. It began:

We want to let you know that at our JCH Board meeting earlier this week the board voted to end the volunteer title of JCH Historian. We recognize that we have benefited greatly from your research over the past ten years, but we have decided that research including historical research, is not one of our primary missions. We are turning to more emphasis on programming and preservation projects.

As you can imagine, this was an unpleasant surprise. But, as I replied to Tom and Nina, the JCH Historian title is theirs to bestow, and theirs to rescind.

For the record, I began researching my Wisconsin Turck, Clark and Bonniwell ancestors beginning in about 2006, at which time the future JCH museum was still in private hands. I began clarifying JCH history and genealogy questions for Clark descendant (and my cousin) Liz Hickman, and with Nina Look and other JCH Friends, in 2012. I began as “official” volunteer JCH Historian on about Sept. 25, 2015. My blog began in March, 2016, as a way to organize and share my findings. 

“Going forward“

The letter closes with:

Going forward, as a courtesy we ask that you please not refer to yourself as the former JCH Historian, or claim or suggest that any content you create or publish or present has been done in association with, or done with the approval of, JCH, as it would create confusion.

Well, no. I’ve been researching and finding answers to JCH genealogy and history questions since 2012, and I’ve made a point of finding, sharing, and publishing the most accurate historical information that I can.

I was the volunteer “JCH Historian” from September 25, 2015 to May 15, 2026, and I am proud of it. Since 2012 I happily shared with the JCH the results of thousands of hours of my research, for free, for the benefit of the Jonathan Clark House Museum. This research was frequently pursued in response to specific queries from the executive director and other JCH volunteers, and resulted in a substantial number of CHH blog posts, JCH Newsletter items, revisions to the JCH Timeline and other informational documents, and the discovery of several unknown Clark family photographs and the location and eventual donation of the historic Bonniwell family Bible.

That’s it.

I had a great time as the volunteer JCH Historian. I was—and remain—committed to the research, to my kin in the Clark, Turck and Bonniwell families, and to my readers. During my time as JCH Historian I met so many interesting people, from all walks of life, all of whom shared an interest in history, especially of the Jonathan Clark House, and of Mequon-Thiensville and Ozaukee county. I will miss my conversations with them at JCH events.

I hope you’ll stay with me as we continue our look into the lives of the Clark, Turck and Bonniwell families, their neighbors and their era. I have a lot of interesting stories to share with you.

See you soon, with our first Clark Heritage & History post, and thank you for reading!