Ira Shain was born July 1, 1870, in Omaha in Gallatin County, Ill., to Howell Thomas and Susan Caroline Minor Shain. He married Emma Smith, the daughter of John and Ella Pauline Douglass Smith, on April 5, 1899, in White County, Ill.

They made their home in Norris City, White County, from 1904 when their home was built on the corner of Powell and Boyd streets and lived there for the rest of their lives. During this time Ira Shain began his research of the Alexander Douglass family.

Ira and I were not related; however, Emma Smith and I shared common ancestors. Alexander Douglass, her great-grandfather, is my great-great-great-great-grandfather, and his son Henry is Emma's grandfather and my great-great-great-grandfather. Without the aid of a "cousin finder" I could not tell you how I am related to Emma, but we do share this Douglass lineage.

March 12, 1942, Emma Smith Shain died and was buried in the Ebenezer Cemetery, located in Norris City, White County, Ill. Many members of the Douglass clan were buried in this cemetery, as well as Emma's parents and some of her siblings.

With her death, Ira began his long pursuit of genealogy as a hobby. I think Ira Shain began this research of the Douglass family to leave a legacy for his wife, Emma. Even though he did not descend from the Douglass family he spent many years researching this large Illinois family. The unique thing about Ira Shain was the fact that he lived to be over 100 years old.

Ira Shain was a trim man about 5-foot-6 and was known to be the man who took vigorous walks around the small town of Norris City. Everyone loved to see Ira up and about for the townspeople were very proud of him.

They honored this elderly man who lived to an advanced age and especially one as active as Ira. He kept busy in many ways, living alone in the two-story home built in 1904.

At the age of 90 he bought a typewriter and taught himself to type. There were not enough hours in his day because he was busy with his genealogy, his study of history and he had letters to answer to the many Douglass researchers. He could not understand how they learned about him, but they did and they wrote to him often.?

As a Douglass researcher, I made a special trip to the Norris City library many years ago to see what Ira Shain had written about my ancestor Harriet Tressie Douglass, who married Meander Scott on July 11, 1858, in White County, Ill.

Being a new genealogist I was eager to learn more about this family, but it was an experience I will not soon forget. I learned not all researchers are 100 percent accurate. Ira had Henry Douglass' sister Harriet Tressie marrying both Preston Kanada and Meander Scott.

It was Henry's daughter Harriet who married Meander Scott (my great-great-grandparents). To this day researchers will find that error posted online. When I have time to add a post, I will make the necessary corrections.?

Ira's writings could be found in longhand as well as typewritten. He did not limit his research to only the Douglass clan, but researched other families in his lineage as well as his wife's.

There was no documentation included in his research even though I am sure he had to learn about the specific families in some way. He probably knew most of them and could have researched by interviewing the families.

Alexander Douglass, my fourth great-grandfather, settled in White County, Ill., by 1820, and Ira Shain begins his research with Alexander. He listed all of Alexander's children, beginning with my ancestor, Henry, their children and as many generations as he could during his lifetime.

With the censuses that are available today we are able to prove or disapprove much of his research. We know the family lived in Virginia and Tennessee before settling in Illinois. There was another family of Douglasses living in this area and Ira's theory was that Alexander and John were brothers, but this connection has not been proven.