My most recent immigrant ancestors emigrated to the United States from western Europe in the 1870s and '80s, all on my dad's side. His father was the son of an English immigrant father and a mother whose parents were Swedish immigrants. My dad's mother was the daughter of parents born in the United States to … Continue reading Mom’s corn fritters →

This post replies to this week’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” theme from Amy Johnson Crow: “Social.”  I've been scanning thousands of slides I inherited from my father that cover the years from the mid-1950s into the late 1980s, corresponding to his college days and then into his 50s, when the landscape of his life … Continue reading Bill and Sarah’s parties →

This post replies to this week’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” theme from Amy Johnson Crow: “Document.”  I found in my late mother's mass of papers a photocopy of a handwritten note titled, "Mama's Last Words, Effie Wrote Them Down." The script of the note is cursive. Somebody typed the title across the top of … Continue reading Mama’s Last Words →

This post replies to this week’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” theme from Amy Johnson Crow: “How do you spell that?”  "Kelly" is one of the top five most common Irish surnames, along with Murphy, Byrne, O'Brien, and Ryan. My wife's paternal grandfather was a Kelly, and his paternal grandfather Sylvester Kelly immigrated from County … Continue reading When Kelly is not an Irish surname →

This week’s theme in Amy Johnson Crowe’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” is “Joined Together.” I don’t have any carpenters in my family tree so I turned to a more obvious choice: how my parents became joined together in marriage. Bill and Sarah met in college at Southern Illinois University (SIU) in Carbondale, Illinois. Getting … Continue reading When my parents “joined together” →

This week’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” theme from Amy Johnson Crow is “Flowers.” I found this idea difficult to develop a post around, thinking on ancestors and relatives with flower names or someone with a history of flower-keeping. Neither idea sparked my interest. But then I mentioned the theme to my wife, who immediately … Continue reading Cemetery workings →

This piece is adapted from a family history I wrote in 2020 about my Hawthorn(e) ancestors who originated in Virginia and migrated west through Georgia, Louisiana, and eventually Texas. This responds to the theme "Worship" in Amy Johnson Crow's “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.” Religion was central to the lives of colonial Virginians, as it … Continue reading Hawthorns and religion in colonial Virginia →