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German Migration to America: Johan Martin MOSER 1693-c.1743 Part Two

If you haven’t read Part one you can read it here. In this chapter we will explore the beginnings of Martin MOSER’S family life and what led him and tens of thousands of others to leave Germany behind. In the year 1677 William Penn toured Germany where he spread the message that religious freedom could […]

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STARTING FROM SCRATCH: You

It is a New Year and I have promised my Genealogy class some beginner’s lessons. This one is an adaptation of one I did many years ago. It is a lesson in context and social history and it is about searching things you think you know but maybe don’t. Once you do this exercise for […]

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Resurrecting the Dead Part Two: Bringing them to Life “Peter P HALL”

With our time line in place and our research into Peter HALL’s Pension we can begin to sketch out as much as we can of Peter Hall’s life. We don’t have to start at the Beginning I jumped into a more familiar part of history and will back fill as I go. This has been […]

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A Tornado in November: Remembering

Dorothy repeats after the good witch, Glinda, “There’s no place like home”. Dorothy then clicks her heels three times. The makeshift sheet otherwise known as the stage curtain drops and we scurry about. The curtain rises, “Where am I?” asks, a bewildered Dorothy and in a blink of an eye we are bowing to raucous […]

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Writing Challenge: Where were you when Kennedy was shot?

One of my Genealogy class students, Frank, suggested that we write a piece on what we remember of where we were and what we were doing when President Kennedy was shot. November 22, 2023 will be the sixtieth anniversary of this national tragedy. As luck would have it they were both Wednesdays before Thanksgiving. It […]

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Writing Challenge: Playing with Sentences

I tried this out on my Genealogy Class and the results were terrific. So I offer it up for your consideration. This is a true beginners exercise, but even seasoned writer’s can have fun with it. Ground Rules Okay once you have your one or two sentences you are going to revise them as many […]

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The Questions You Wished You’d Asked: Writing Challenge

PART ONE This is both a Writing Challenge and an exploration. Please complete Part One before reading Part Two. For this Assignment you need to make a list of questions you wished you had asked or were able to ask, a relative who is now dead or unable to be interviewed. What I want you […]

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Just Say NO to Favorites! Writing challenge

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 […]

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What Is It About Boxes? Writing Challenge

I am rather sure I was a cat in a previous life. Don’t all cats love boxes? box. noun: a container with a flat base and sides, typically square or rectangular and having a lid. I love boxes—all sorts of boxes. Big cardboard appliance boxes, the kind we made into forts or houses or castles. […]

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Semper Fi: The Secrets They Kept

We ask our young men and woman to don the uniform and go off to fight wars in foreign lands. We mouth the words, “Thank you for your service”, but how much do we know of their losses? The wounds that we can see and the many we can’t see. The loss of friends, comrades, […]

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