I’m playing catch-up now because of prior commitments. Last week’s topic was “Social Media.” While my ancestors didn’t have our modern social media, they had their own forms at different times. One of my paternal great-grandmothers, Sarah Martha (Forbes) Centers was born in 1856 in Livonia, Putnam County, Missouri. In about 1903, “Martha”, her husband …
What do you do when you find a skeleton in the closet? The genealogist’s answer is, “Make him dance!” My mother told me the same story a few different times. My sister Maurine asked our great-grandmother for some family information. Grandma Ida gave her some names and dates, and then said, “That’s all you need …
I missed last week, the theme was “Education.” Several of my family members have been teachers. After the Civil War, my second great-grandfather, Joseph Castle “Joe” Stephens, was a school teacher near Southwest City, Missouri. In an old letter, one of Joe’s niece’s related the following story: I have a memory of a taking on …
This week’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” prompt is to write about an ancestor who was “Out of Place.” While this could mean different things to many people, I’m choosing to interpret this as “not where I thought I’d find him,” hence, he’s out of place. John Center was born circa 1793 in Hartford, Hartford …
If you’re like me, you have many favorite photos taken over the years that instantly take you back to the moment the photo was captured. One of my favorites is a photo taken in 1992 of my maternal grandmother, my mother, me, and my children. This four-generation photo speaks to me of the bond of …
I’d most like to meet my third great-grandfather, James Leonard, who was born in about 1769-1770 in South Carolina and died before 5 January 1855 in Cherokee County, Georgia. Grandpa James is one of my brick wall ancestors who continues to elude my research efforts.
This story was written in January 2014. Names have been changed to protect identities; they will appear with an asterisk (*) the first time they are used. When I was five years old, my parents brought home a new baby. I was not an only child, so one more should not have made a difference, …
Who was Zoe Davenport or “Dear Zoe” that she traveled the width of Washington Territory from Colfax to the coast in the mid-1880s to go salmon fishing and listen to the Spanish Fandango?
“What’s in a name?” Those words, lyrically queried by Shakespeare’s Juliet to Romeo, suggest that a name is a label and nothing more. The person, not the name, is who we love, who we honor, or who we remember.
