Tarbell Sisters’ Civil War Feud Finally Ended—in 1922!

While many genealogical records can provide names and dates for your family tree, newspapers give you something more: actual stories about your ancestors’ lives, so that you can get to know them as real people and learn about the times in which they lived. Here’s an example of a newspaper preserving a remarkable family... (Read More)

Patty Barthell Myers, 1930-2008

Patty Barthell Myers died 9 October 2008, at the home of her daughter, Lucy Bonnington. Her obituary (San Antonio Express-News (TX) – October 13, 2008; Philadelphia Inquirer, 13 Oct 2008) simply stated her “life’s work was genealogy.” Well said. She was the author of numerous compiled genealogies and reference works including: Female index to... (Read More)

Happy National Doughnut Day!

My days of eating doughnuts are long gone – but it was 70 years ago that the first Friday in June was designated National Doughnut Day! Captain Hanson Gregory (1831-) of Camden, Maine gets the credit for inventing the modern doughnut – or at least the hole. He was a ship’s cook at age... (Read More)