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Family Tree Charting Services
Posted on September 1, 2026 2 Comments
From time to time I get asked where to go for printing large or complex family trees. I make no endorsement of these companies but offer these up for what its worth. Most resident Family Tree programs have Chart Making capability but for larger than legal sized charts these may be helpful. Also check Ancestry, […]
What was it Like? Where to find Diaries and Letters
Posted on September 1, 2026 Leave a Comment
As a follow-up to my post They Came to America: The Immigrant Experience I thought I would put together websites that may be helpful in finding diaries that share experiences with your ancestor. Off the top, any large archive like the National Archives or major Library or University is a good place to start. You […]
Spinning a Scottish Yarn: The Reverend David Dickson Part Four Edinburgh
Posted on September 1, 2026 Leave a Comment
EDINBURGH After spending a decade in Glasgow, on the 12th April 1650 David Dickson was appointed to a charge at St Giles Cathedral (second charge) by the Town Council and to serve as a professor of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh. At the latter he succeeded Samuel RUTHERFORD. DICKSON left Glasgow University and its High […]
Spinning a Scottish Yarn: The Reverend David Dickson Part Three The Covenant & Glasgow
Posted on June 28, 2026 Leave a Comment
The following excerpts provide a timeline of DICKSON’s activities from 1638 to about 1650. They are pieced together from various sources. Roughly covering his last years at Irvine through his tenure at Glasgow University. There are many excerpts from correspondence between David DICKSON and Robert BAILLIE. Just looking at the places he traveled to gives […]
Spinning a Scottish Yarn: The Reverend David Dickson Part Two Irvine
Posted on June 22, 2026 1 Comment
In part one we visited David DICKSON’s early life in Glasgow. The next part of the story Begins in Irvine where David DICKSON was a minister for 23 years. Be forewarned it took an unexpected twist. I am grateful to Ian DICKSON (no relation) and Billy KERR for allowing me to quote from their work […]
Spinning a Scottish Yarn: The Reverend David Dickson Part One Beginnings in Glasgow and Busby
Posted on June 20, 2026 2 Comments
Storaidhnean farsaig: in Scots Gaelic storaidhnean is a story or tale and farsaig : wide, extensive or broad. Roughly translated an expansive tale. This may turn out to be Storaidhnean farsaig. INTRODUCTION As I often do when getting ready for a trip I try my hand at researching my own families that may intersect with […]
Writing About Yourself: The Blue Flower
Posted on December 19, 2025 1 Comment
I realized I never posted this before. It is a short, but true story about me. It is a relative narrow topic but it reveals volumes (excuse the pun). It avoids the general concerns about self revelation, and yet is still self revelatory. I offer it as an example of how to write about yourself, […]
The Footnotes of History: Duane F Mosier as Witness
Posted on December 16, 2025 3 Comments
Most of us will never even make it into the footnotes. I was lucky that my Dad made it, not just once but many times. He was never famous but he had encounters with those who were. Billions of people living and dead are witnesses to history-making events or persons, but unless they wrote about it, […]
Family History Writing: Telling Our Stories
Posted on December 15, 2025 2 Comments
Writing about oneself, especially in retrospect, is always a dangerous undertaking. Do you tell the truth and risk being seen in a bad light? Or do you soften the edges to make it more palatable? Will it be considered your own brand of narcissistic, revisionist drivel or worse yet will it mean a damn thing […]
They Came to America: The Immigrant Experience
Posted on November 22, 2025 8 Comments
The loved ones we call the dead, depart from us and for a while are absent. And then as if called back by our love, they come near us again. They enter our dreams.We feel they have been near us when we have not thought of them.They are simply here, simply waiting while we are […]
Wheaton Wood 