A few months ago, while clearing the living room for new carpeting, we spent an afternoon sorting through our bookshelves. I ended up donating enough books to fill the back of my Jeep Compass – a process that felt bittersweet, but ultimately freeing. As I boxed up books to drop off at the local Goodwill,… Continue reading
As I am always on the hunt for good historical books that don’t read like dry and overly-complicated textbooks, I was excited to discover The Taking of Jemima Boone: Colonial Settlers, Tribal Nations, and the Kidnap That Shaped America by Matthew Pearl. Listening to the audiobook version, I am amazed at how little I knew… Continue reading
The Reverend Samuel Parris, the girls whose accusations ignited a witchcraft panic, and the Manley connection that brought this history to my doorstep. Every family tree has its share of surprises. Some ancestors leave behind remarkable achievements, others lead ordinary lives that history has largely forgotten, and occasionally, one turns up whose name is forever… Continue reading
Sometimes a genealogical discovery begins with something as simple as a familiar surname. A name you haven’t thought about in years suddenly resurfaces, sending you digging through old research, following branches, and uncovering a connection you never imagined existed. That’s exactly what happened to me this past weekend. My youngest son’s girlfriend, Kailey, who has… Continue reading
When I began researching Captain George Holmes Ghriest (1834-1917) for my husband’s family tree, I was shocked to discover just how much a seemingly insignificant decision made more than a century ago could have had an extraordinary impact on generations yet to be born. Such is the life of my husband’s second great-grandfather, Captain George… Continue reading
Sometimes while analyzing my genealogy research I discover unexpected family connections hiding among the records. Generally these discoveries involve families whose paths crossed within the small communities of my own ancestral lines. However, I was surprised and delighted to discover that at least two of my family lines intersected geographically with one of my husband’s… Continue reading
One of the many things I love about genealogy is discovering that an ancestor was more than a name tucked into a census record. Every once in a while, somebody steps right out of the family tree and leaves behind something amazingly tangible. For my husband, one of these people is his 3X maternal great… Continue reading
A few years ago, we drove 730 miles west to Kansas to attend a family wedding. In anticipation of the trip, I was scoping out historical sights to which I could drag my non-history-loving husband, when I stumbled across the Bender Homestead in Labette County, Kansas. For those of you who have never heard of… Continue reading
