Today is my grandpa’s birthday. Today is the anniversary of the 1925 Tri-State Tornado. One single event that happened on the 6th birthday of a little boy shaped the man we called JR. James L. Raines Grandpa was born on March 18, 1919 to Phoebe (Douglas, 1880-1932) and James Albert Raines (1877-1957) in Murphysboro, Illinois. He was…
Over 900,000 German men, women and children immigrated to the United States between 1845 and 1855. My 3rd great-grandfather, Philip Friederich Schuster was one of them. Philip was 13 years old when he arrived in New Orleans with his parents and younger sister. Philip Friederich Schuster was born on September 16, 1838 in Hassloch, Germany…
At the end of the hallway at my parent’s house hang portraits of my dad’s great-grandmother, Isabelle LeMaitre, and her 2nd husband, Walter Seaver. Notice I didn’t say my dad’s great-grandparents. Walter, although loved by Isabelle, wasn’t our blood relation. Of her three husbands, she loved him best. My dad’s great-grandfather, Charles Daniel Essler, was…
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…
This is SO true! I think about this quote every time I get and email from Ancestry telling me I have more leaves to turn over!
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 find most frustrating about being relatively young and tracing family history is that I don’t hold much of the actual history in my own memory. Someday I will, I suppose. Now, however, I rely a lot on older relatives and old books that have bits and pieces of the puzzle. Unfortunately, I’m…
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…
I had a lot of fun with my genealogy blog in 2013. I’ve managed to combine all of my favorite past times – writing, genealogy and cooking – into one space. While I’m not a New Year’s Resolution kind of girl, I did read a Facebook update from Lisa Ling that talked about how she…
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 found this on Tumblr this morning and reblogged it. I love it. The painting, titled Family Tree, is by Vladimir Kush. Everyone interprets art differently, but this definitely represents the building of family and ancestry to me. My favorite part is the string of flags flying between branches … representing the diversity in all…
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…