The Ware Family Association was formed in the fall of 2000 (and incorporated as a nonstock corporation in 2003) by a small group of descendants, many of whom are the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of six Ware siblings who left New Hampshire between 1823 and 1855 and settled on the rich prairie land in central Illinois.  

WFA represents only a small fraction of the descendants of Robert Ware who are alive today. We are cooperating with another branch of Ware descendants, organized as the Independence Day Association in Kansas, to gather information and make it available to Ware descendants and others interested in American history. We hope to hear from other branches of Ware descendants, including those who continue to live in New England, where the first generations of Wares spread out from the Bay Colony into Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont.

WFA GOALS
The purposes of the association are:

• To collect genealogical and historical information about the descendants of Robert Ware
• To foster family friendships
• To preserve family records, photographs and heirlooms
• To provide historical and genealogical information and educational materials to family members and to the general public
• To preserve historical sites in Montgomery County, Illinois, and New England. 

WFA MEMBERSHIP
Membership Dues are $20 per person/ household for two years. Only individual paid members (or one person per household) may vote at biannual membership meetings. Dues are renewable at the time of the annual meeting, no matter what month you join. If you join between meetings, we will send you all issues of the WFA newsletter "Roots and Branches" issued to date in the year you join. Contact Emily Osborn to receive newsletters by email or snailmail.

Membership in the WFA entitles you to:

• Notice of all reunions and organizational events
• All issues of the WFA e-News sent from time to time to your email address
• All issues of "Roots and Branches" (which include longer articles, genealogical updates, scanned historical documents, and photographs)
• The right to vote at membership meetings
• The opportunity to share your Ware family tree with other descendants of the family
• To contribute to our growing network of information about the descendants of Robert Ware of Dedham, Massachusetts.

Mail your check for membership to our Membership Chairperson, Marilyn Maccanelli, 6405 Mullins Trail, Butler, IL 62015. Remember to include your snailmail, email, and your Ware lineage. If you are not a Ware descendant, indicate your connection to and interest in the organization. For questions about membership, email Marilyn Maccanelli. For questions about newsletter publications, email Emily Osborn. For questions or problems about the website, email Sally Sass.