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An Exploration of my Family's Genealogy, Ancestors and Their Journey Through History
Chasing Family Ghosts
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A Curious Letter, Part Two
After I came across that letter, I did more digging and found an earlier reference to it with more (and different) information. (For...
Apr 30, 20234 min read
A Curious Letter, Part One
In the mid-1750's a Frederick Schoener wrote to his brother-in-law, George Hartman of Reutlingen, Germany: "Dear brother-in-law. This is...
Apr 23, 20232 min read
The Great Flood of 1892
A Night of Terror and Destruction At about 9:45 in the evening on Friday, 17 June 1892, just after many had retired to their beds and...
Apr 16, 20235 min read
The Witch and William Penn
The cows were acting funny. That is how the only official witch trial in Pennsylvania history began. Eight years before the infamous...
Apr 2, 20234 min read
The True Story of the "Pennsylvania Dutch", Part 2: The Language
(For Part 1, click here) During the Middle Ages, there was no German country, language, or national identity. Germans were politically...
Mar 26, 20234 min read
The True Story of the "Pennsylvania Dutch", Part 1: The People
When the vast majority of people hear the term "Pennsylvania Dutch", they typically conjure images of Amish persons riding in horse-drawn...
Mar 19, 20234 min read
Shaner, Pennsylvania
About 26 miles southeast of Pittsburgh is the town of Shaner. Pennsylvania's Westmoreland County was formed by an Act of Assembly,...
Mar 12, 20233 min read
Washington's Drummer Boy
A tale of a young man during the American Revolution. While not a direct relative, one of his daughters married into the family. Johann...
Mar 5, 20233 min read
Schoenersville, Pennsylvania
Schoenersville is a settlement situated between Hanover Township in Lehigh County and Hanover Township in Northampton County. NW-to-SE...
Feb 26, 20232 min read
The Rise and Fall of John T. Shoener
John T. Shoener (the spelling has frequently appeared as Schoener in multiple newspaper articles) was born 5 April 1850, in South Manheim...
Dec 18, 20225 min read
A Conductor On The Underground Railroad
Abner S. Blue was born in Troy, Miami County, Ohio on 3 April 1819. His father, James, was a Justice of the Peace in Troy, an associate...
Oct 16, 20224 min read
The Froelichs
I had been putting of this line for a while. Even though it is a relatively recent one, relatively speaking, some of the connections...
Oct 9, 20224 min read
The Vollraths
The Vollrath family lived in Frohnlach, Germany, located in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria in the district of Coburg. It is the...
Sep 25, 20223 min read
A Union Sympathizer in North Carolina
Joseph Benfield was born on 20 August 1807 in Lincoln County, NC. He was the son of Johannes "John" Benfield, Jr. and Elizabeth (née...
Sep 4, 20224 min read
The Benfields
The Benfields are another line in my tree that only goes back so far, at least with a great degree of confidence. Even my immigrant...
Aug 28, 20225 min read
The Presidents' Confidante
George Bruce Cortelyou was born 26 July 1862 to Rose (née Seery) and Peter Crolius Cortelyou, Jr. in New York City. He was educated at...
Aug 21, 20228 min read
The Surveyor General
The Cortelyou family arrived in the New World in the person of young Jacques Cortelyou. He did not come because of religious...
Aug 7, 20225 min read
The Van Barkaloos (aka Lubberdincks)
Here is another story about a family line that changed its surname as a result of its arrival in the New World. The town of Borculo is...
Jul 17, 20224 min read
Gettysburg: The Semicentennial
This year marks the 159th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, fought the from the 1st to the 3rd of July 1863. It was considered...
Jul 3, 20227 min read
"Backwards And In High Heels"
She was most remembered for the blissful partnership with Fred Astaire in sparkling musicals that brightened Depression-era America. He...
Jun 26, 20226 min read
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