I don’t remember my Grandma Moore. She died when I was 2 years old. The only thing I have that connects me directly to her is a book titled “The Real Mother Goose” that she gave to me for Christmas in 1976. On the inside front cover, she wrote “To: Nicole, From: Grandma Moore, Christmas…
It’s hard to know where to begin my family history story about Adaline Isabell LeMaitre. Belle is my paternal 2nd great grandmother. Her portrait has hung on the wall of my parents’ home my entire life. I used to stand in front of it in awe of her beauty. She reminds me of a pioneer…
My Grandma Raines’ grandparents, Jake and Anna Mueller, were married on October 29, 1895 in Ava, Illinois. This wedding photo was nestled in a box of family portraits that Grandma kept on a shelf above her washing machine … a likely place for family photos, eh? Jake is the grandson of Jacob Heinrich…
My Grandma Raines kept all of the Schuster family photos in a box marked “trophies” on the top shelf of the linen closet. She would often get it out and show me photos of long lost relatives that were completely foreign to me. To her, however, they were memories of childhood and stories of the past….
I have spent the better part of the evening deciphering my Lindsey heraldry. Okay, it was actually only one family, quite a distance from any royal line, but I had names and birth and death dates completely out of joint and it was driving me nutty. So, like any good family historian, I pulled the…
It’s Throwback Thursday, and that means it’s time for me to showcase another favorite family photo. I have many portraits of ancestors, but very few snapshots … I like the more candid moments because they tell such a story that portraits really can’t. This is a photo of my 2nd great grandfather, Winfield Scott Douglas…
Last week, I quietly looked toward the sky and wished my Grandpa Raines a happy birthday. Yesterday, I looked the same direction and wished my grandparents a happy 74th wedding anniversary. I seemed only fitting that this week’s 52 Ancestors post be about my grandmother, Doris Louise Schuster. Grandma was born on July 23, 1923…
I love the Throwback Thursday (#TBT) trend on Facebook. Seeing photos of my friends when they were tiny tots or in high school often makes me giggle. I’ve decided to put a family history spin on #TBT and share some of my favorite photos. Photos always tell a story, even if we only read things…
One of my favorite things about researching my family history is finding little nuggets of information somewhere unexpected. This afternoon, I found a few nuggets about my dad’s grandma, Agnes Moore. Until tonight, I didn’t know much about her. She wasn’t the topic of conversation in our house … I vaguely recall Daddy talking about…
Every genealogist has hit a brick wall … that moment when your family tree suddenly quits branching. You can’t get anywhere because there are no more records, no more proof, and NO CLOSURE! It’s painful. It leaves you wanting. The parents of my 2nd great grandpa, Winfield Scott Douglas … Scott … (1847-1913) have proven…
I’m not sure when I decided I would name my daughter Phoebe … it was certainly LONG before she was even a twinkle in anyone’s eye. By all accounts, Phoebe Douglas was a strong and strong-willed woman and I wanted my daughter to embody that spirit. It seemed fitting she would embody the name, too….
My mom and I frequent the antique stores in Murphysboro, Illinois. We’re almost never looking for anything specific … but almost always find something interesting. On our most recent trek, I found a 1946 edition of The Joy of Cooking that seemed to call to me from the bookshelf. Have you ever had that feeling?…
One thing I have learned in the short month of writing 52 Ancestors is that I know very little beyond vital information about my ancestors. It’s amazing how much genealogical information we have and equally amazing how much we’re missing. It’s the difference between our history and our heritage. I’ve heard the name James Madison…
Let me preface this post by telling you how much I love MPG’s Daddy … I’m sure they’ll both read that title and wonder about me! MPG and I have been together for 15 years. In those early days when I was trying to get to know the family, I would ask questions about family…
Tonight, I’m missing my daddy and all the crazy stories he told about growing up in Harrisburg, Illinois in the 1950s. So, I’ll share one with you about his grandfather. First, I have to tell you a little about Great-Grandpa Moore. What I know about George Melvin Moore George Melvin Moore was born on June…
My Dad’s grandfather, Charley Jones, was always one of those conundrums in the family … the genealogy brick wall that I could never get through. Until recently. About 6 months ago, I was able to push through the brick and start tracing my Jones family history … all the way back to early settlers of…
Jacob Heinrich Mueller is my 4th great grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born in Darmstadt, Germany in 1798 to John George Mueller and Anna Maria Rhutz (1800-1844). He immigrated to America in 1828 and settled in St. Clair County, Illinois. He was employed as a blacksmith after he arrived in St. Clair County. Jacob married Mary Margaret Weber…
Margaret Ellen Lindsey is my 2nd great grandmother on my mom’s side. She was born on November 17, 1841 near Pomona, Illinois to Lewis and Nancy (Sumner) Lindsey. The Lindsey family settled in this area in the early 1800s. She was among the first generation of Lindsey’s born here in Southern Illinois where much of…
My third great grandmother on my dad’s side was Veronica (Veronique) Voirol. She was born in Geneva, Switzerland on August 18, 1829 and came to the United States sometime before her marriage to Joseph LeMaitre on December 24, 1852. Veronica is one of my family history brick walls. Family records provide information on her birth…
I introduced Noodle to “A Christmas Story” tonight … she just turned 7 and I think I was 8 or 9 when I first saw it at the theater in 1983. She laughed all the way through it, and kept asking me if Ralphie was going to shoot his eye out! As I was tucking…
When I was a little girl, portraits of my dad’s grandparents and great grandparents hung on the wall outside my bedroom. These are from the early 20th century and earlier … a time when it wasn’t appropriate to smile in photographs like it is today. These portraits scared the crap out of me! Especially the…