paternal history
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Adin Manly: In His Own Words – A Pioneer’s Journey to Western New York
Every so often in genealogy, we are fortunate enough to find more than names, dates, and places. We find a voice. Adin Manly (1793-1867), the younger brother of my 4X great grandfather, Howard Manly (1791-1852) was born in Taunton, Massachusetts in 1793. Like so many young New Englanders of his generation, Adin eventually turned his… Continue reading
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The Children Josephine Lost
By the time Josephine (Peotter/Piotter, Dermyer) Maynard died in 1946 at the age of 52 years, four of her eight children with her second husband, Lawrence Maynard, were already gone. One died the day she was born. Another died at two from pneumonia and influenza. Eight-year-old Richard Maynard was killed in a horrifying accident at… Continue reading
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The Hollow Log: A Manley Family Tragedy
Sometimes the smallest newspaper clipping can reveal a moment of unimaginable heartbreak in an ancestor’s life. In April 1840, my 4X great grandfather, Howard Manley (1791-1852), was living with his family near Rochester, New York when an ordinary day splitting wood lead to a discovery inside a hollow log. What initially must have seemed like… Continue reading
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“Failure of the Power of Life”
In my 15 years of researching ancestors, I’ve viewed many death certificates, some are for family who lived before my time and some were peripheral connections. When Martha Elizabeth (Richart) Herriott died in Tecumseh, Michigan on April 15, 1910 she was 84 years old – an impressive age for a woman born in 1825. Her… Continue reading
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Before They Were Old: A Love Story in Photographs
When I remember my paternal great grandmother, Florence Nightingale (Gurin) Maynard (1883-1970) I remember an old woman. As I was only 8 years old when she passed, I didn’t even fully understand our relationship: that she was my great grandmother, mother to my paternal grandmother, only that she was elderly and we called her ‘Grandma… Continue reading
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Automobile: 1, Jud Manley: 0
Searching through newspaper archives from the 1800 and 1900s, you will find thousands of stories of how people were seriously injured under circumstances that would be nearly impossible to replicate today. The subject of this news article from 1922 is my paternal great grandfather, James Judson ‘Jud’ Manley (1872-1948) in Tecumseh, Michigan. In an era… Continue reading
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Historical Photo of the Day: The Huckster’s Wagon Robert Emmett Hunt (1850 – 1927)
It’s rare that you come across a vintage photograph that so unquestionably identifies the subject. This is a photo of Emmett Hunt who, according to the 1880 Federal census for Seneca County, Ohio, was a ‘huxter’. A ‘huxter’ or ‘huckster’ was a traveling salesman who sold small items such as drink, foodstuffs and other easily… Continue reading
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Soldier Boys at Twelve: The Civil War Story of My Seekell Cousins
Some family stories are discovered one record at a time. Others practically leap off the page and demand to be told. That was the case when I stumbled across the story of my distant cousins, twin brothers Charles Leslie Seekell (1849-1925) and James Wesley Seekell (1849-1914). In 1861 when most twelve-year old boys are still… Continue reading
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Who Will Remember Them? The Fight to Save Lake Ridge Cemetery
Lake Ridge Cemetery in Macon, Lenawee County, Michigan is facing an emergency. As a descendent of many of those buried in this cemetery, including my 4X great grandmother, Sarah (Morfey, Maynard) Kenward (1783-1856) who came to America from England in 1831 with her second husband and their blended family, I am invested in the outcome… Continue reading
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The Handy Family of Tecumseh: It’s Complicated
For the sake of genealogy research I am very fortunate that many of my paternal lines after the mid-1800s resided in Lenawee County, Michigan, the county adjacent to where I live. Logistically, I am easily able to visit the local libraries, historical museums, and cemeteries to gather information and build family stories. Where it gets… Continue reading
Tiny Acorns & Mighty Oaks 