Research Category
NICHOLAS BROME & the Three Murders: Part Three
Posted on February 12, 2023 1 Comment
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The Plantagenet Kings represented the richest family in Europe and they ruled the English throne from 1154 to 1485 while also holding Anjou in France. The name Plantagenet comes from “planta genista,” Latin for the yellow broom plant. A symbol of humility, the broom sprig was chosen as the badge of the royal […]
The Intersection of Gardening and Genealogy
Posted on January 30, 2023 8 Comments
The idea for this post came after my recent migration from the “bird site not to be named’” taken over by a megalomaniac, to the much pleasanter and helpful, not for profit, social media site Mastodon. While this blog post is not about Mastodon I do want to put in a plug to fellow genealogists […]
New Speculations on the Origins of Robert WHEATON: Part One
Posted on January 30, 2023 Leave a Comment
Many years ago I wrote an article TItled Conjectures on the Origins of Robert WHEATON. At that time all of the indications were that he was descended from the Wheatons of Devon. This turned out to be 5 different DNA WHEATON/WHEADON/WHIDDEN lines in Devon, England: Wheaton of Sidmouth; Wheadon of Axminster; Whidden of Buckfastleigh; Wheaton […]
Genealogy: What’s It All About?
Posted on January 29, 2023 3 Comments
“What’s It All About Alfie?” Song title Burt Bacharach & Hal David In genealogy we use lots of metaphors for what we are trying to do when faced with a dearth of evidence, and often what we have is circumstantial at best. After nearly half a century I am quite familiar with all of them […]
Photos and Postcards: Now and Then Part Two
Posted on January 27, 2023 1 Comment
This is the second post as a follow up to the first Photos and Postcards: Now and Then. I just keep running into more examples in my photo and postcard collection. This one it will take 3 to illustrate as I obviously wasn’t matching up angles. These are of St. Nicholas Church in Henley in […]
Self Healing Concrete and Knowledge Lost
Posted on January 14, 2023 2 Comments
This blog post grows out of number of things. An article on Self Healing Concrete, a conversation with my 98 year old neighbor, Mary and another conversation with my friend Jean. How lost knowledge is such a remarkable, but common place event. So many secrets are waiting to be rediscovered. We have been here before. […]
The Human Diaspora: Illustrated through a Single Y SNP
Posted on November 30, 2022 8 Comments
At Family Tree DNA many of the Haplogroup projects are for very large Haplogroups (quite old) including thousands of members such as Haplogroup Q or R1b. The project I started is based on a single Y SNP that occurred in a man about 4,000 years ago who is FGC22501+, a descendant of the huge Haplogroup […]
Serendipity: Time Travel with the Romans with a Twist of DNA
Posted on November 27, 2022 8 Comments
“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” T.S. Eliot I recently wrote about the unexpected connection between where I stayed in the French Alps (Saint Gervais near les Contamines and the Roman Road and […]
Just Say NO to Favorites! Writing challenge
Posted on November 26, 2022 4 Comments
I can’t be the only one who cringes everytime I hear the word favorite. No offense intended, but asking me for my favorite ancestor or heirloom is like asking a mother to choose a favorite child. Reminds me of those moral dilemma stories they gave us in high school, where you have to pick who […]
Justus Warren SHELDON in Eaton Rapids, Michigan & the power of Colorized Photos
Posted on October 22, 2022 2 Comments
I have written posts about my great grandfather Justus Warren SHELDON before but this one is going to focus on his time in Eaton Rapids, Eaton County, Michigan. It seems that Matthew LaRue “Rue” PERRINE owned a large 472 acre farm on the banks of the Grand River but he died of Typhoid fever in […]
Wheaton Wood 