Genealogy Category
Listen to Your Ancestors: What Story do they want you to Write?
Posted on September 11, 2021 5 Comments
When I was thinking about my great grandmother’s diary, A Soprano’s Aria: Lulu’s Diary, I really struggled with the title. And if you read my piece Writing Stories: Writing Begins With a Title you will know that the title sets the stage for the story you will tell. It really got me to reflect on […]
American Women’s League & Good Bye Minneapolis! A Soprano’s Aria: Chapter 2
Posted on September 10, 2021 Leave a Comment
“Edward Gardner Lewis established the American Woman’s League as a subscription gathering organization. Lewis’ plan was for women to qualify for memberships by selling $52 in magazine subscriptions. The fees that would otherwise have been paid to individuals would be paid to the American Woman’s League. The League would use these funds to provide benefits […]
NAME CHANGERS
Posted on September 7, 2021 Leave a Comment
This is a blog post with examples of name changes from the simple to the dramatic. Let’s begin with the simple. SIMPLE SPELLING CHANGES Simple name changes often begin with a simple spelling error. There is usually nothing nefarious about them. The person speaks their name and it is recorded as the person heard it. […]
Writing Stories: Writing Begins With a Title
Posted on September 5, 2021 1 Comment
“If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.” Virginia Woolf For many beginning writers or future writers the two hardest things are “what to write about” and “how to get started.” Choosing a title helps me focus my writing and defines the parameters. Occasionally I may refine […]
A Feral Family Tree: A Genetics Guessing Game
Posted on September 3, 2021 Leave a Comment
If you are neither interested in cats or genetics—you might want to skip this one. I couldn’t help myself. BACKGROUND: I have been a tad bit busy the past week in an unexpected adventure. I live in a semi rural area that over the past few years was adopted by a few feral cats. About […]
The Challenge: Tokyo Rose
Posted on August 29, 2021 9 Comments
“We live history forward, in the chaos of onrushing events, without a clear guide, but we judge history backward, smugly armed with the knowledge of what did happen and uninterested in what might have happened.” Robert Kagan The genesis of this story began many years ago after my dad had died. He had been interviewed […]
Ice Cream Melons & Foxes: It’s the Mouth Watering Details that Bring an Ancestor to Life
Posted on August 29, 2021 5 Comments
Sometimes we don’t know much about an ancestor so it’s the littlest thing that can add a bit of spice to their life, which is otherwise just a recitation of census records, a wife and children. Context can help fill in the story if we can add what was happening during the time and place […]
Cause of Death: Before Antibiotics and Vaccines
Posted on August 25, 2021 2 Comments
The first smallpox vaccine was developed in 1796. The Egyptians had a practice of applying a poultice of moldy bread to infected wounds, but penicillin as a antibiotic wasn’t developed until 1928. The late 1800’s saw the development of vaccines for cholera, rabies, tetanus, and bubonic plague. More on this timeline of vaccines. I have […]
The Case of the Mysterious Birth Certificate: Mystery solved!
Posted on August 23, 2021 2 Comments
I have to say this story has me digging into families that I never heard of and are of no relation to me, however I am richer for it. It also has me day-dreaming and inventing stories of how Lulu MOSIER and Yolanda Rosa FRANCO parent’s paths may have crossed. And there is one thing […]
The Case of the Mysterious Birth Certificate: Part Three
Posted on August 21, 2021 Leave a Comment
I am doing my best to put this behind me but it just won’t let go. Some rabbit holes are like that—you would swear you were chasing just one rabbit and before you know it they seem to be multiplying. Note Please read the earlier parts or this won’t make much sense. I know you […]
Wheaton Wood 