By Jolene FarleyMany people are fascinated by their past.Tracing their roots back as far as possible and establishing connections with ancestors helps to create a sense of what their lives were like and better defines who they are today. Cathy Lykes, Seattle, Wash., and her husband, John Daughters, have spent many hours and driven countless miles exploring Cathy’s roots. In a quest for more information and to "get a flavor" for the place her grandfather grew up, the couple visited Rock County last week. Lykes’ grandfather, John Steen, lived in the county until 1927. The city of Steen is named after Lykes’ great-grandfather John Peter Steen and his brother Ole Steen. The brothers donated the land for the city of Steen.During their visit, the couple poured over property records and newspapers and visited the Rock County Museum where Lykes donated a copy of her grandfather’s diary and some historical photos.Family treeThe Steen family settled in Wisconsin first, then later moved to Rock County to homestead, according to Lykes.When her ancestors arrived in America they changed their name to Steen as was common during that time period. Immigrants often took the name of the place they originated from as their last name.Last year, Lykes and Daughters vacationed in Norway where they located the original Steen farm.John Steen, youngest son of John Peter and Lena (Clemetsen) Steen, was born in 1890 in Steen and died in 1972. He was raised by his eldest brother, Peter Steen and his wife, after his parents passed away when he was seven years old.He moved to Washington in 1927, following three other brothers who moved to the state one by one. Lykes suspects her grandfather was looking for better work, with three daughters to support. His search paid off. He eventually became the Executive Administrator for Washington Physicians Service, developing pre-paid medical plans.He worked as a consultant helping set up medical plans for many states and Puerto Rico.The diaryLykes, who has a degree in history, is interested in everyone’s past, but after enrolling in a year-long genealogy class at the University of Washington, her interest turned to studying her own family tree. "When I took the class I wasn’t quite sure what I would focus on for my project," she said. Lykes was told by her aunt, Tralice (Steen) Lewis, that her grandfather, John Steen, had kept a diary while living in Steen as a teenager.Lewis kept the diary through the years. Lykes polled family members and finally located the document at a cousin’s house. The leather-bound diary begins in 1909 when Steen is 17 years old, and has daily entries until 1910 when he turned 19 years old."It makes him out to be kind of a remarkable person," Daughters said.Lykes’ grandfather thought his journal wasn’t important."He thought it was of no consequence," she said. He told her aunt there was nothing significant in it.Lykes and the Rock County Historical Society disagree. The diary is a reflection of everyday life just after the turn of the century. "It was so much fun to discover and read," Lykes said. "I truly found out what life was like at that time." When John Steen wrote the journal, he was an active member of the Steen community, courting the town schoolteacher, manager of the Steen baseball team and earning a living by picking up hauling jobs and working for the Farmers Elevator Company, according to Lykes.His first entry on Friday, Jan. 1, 1909, is a pledge to continue his journal for one year. "I, John A. Steen, do this day resolve to start and maintain this diary for the year of 1909," he wrote.He fulfilled his pledge. He continued to write through 1910. By the end of the journal, he was working in Oto, Iowa, and had met another school- teacher, Meroe Jack. They would eventually marry.Information searchFrom Washington, Lykes used the Internet and inter-library loaning of documents for her research. She speaks highly of the Rock County Historical Society and said society volunteer Cheryl Creeger was very helpful. If Creeger came across the Steen name anywhere she would send the information to Lykes.Eventually Lykes decided it would be beneficial to visit Steen and see what she could find locally."I’ve learned a lot just seeing the area that the journal mentions, seeing the names that he mentions," she said. "We look at it kind of as an intellectual pursuit," Lykes said. "It’s really more than genealogy, it’s more the social history that really grabs us." Interested Rock County citizens can now read John Steen’s diary at the Rock County Historical Society.