Introduction: Mary Harrell-Sesniak is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background. In celebration of Presidents’ Day, Mary takes a look at the last words our first four presidents supposedly said on their deathbeds. In honor of Presidents’ Day, I decided to research the last words of our first four United States... (Read More)
Introduction: Mary Harrell-Sesniak is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background. In this blog post, Mary tells the history of St. Valentine’s Day, and describes some of the ways our ancestors celebrated this romantic holiday. Valentines take many forms – from cards to flowers to romantic gestures – so why not... (Read More)
I think I’ve discovered two relatives I never knew existed – in the city where I grew up! I’ve been doing Genealogy for a long time and thought I had “met” them all at one point or another, and then I came across this old newspaper article. In May of 1929, employees from the... (Read More)
In 1853, centenarian William Wicker passed away in Pike County, Alabama. He was 106. This American Revolutionary War veteran had been one of the first settlers to move to Alabama after its introduction into the union on 14 December 1819. Wicker enlisted into the military at 17, along with his father Robert Wicker. They... (Read More)
I am just amazed every time I see these Irish American passenger lists in GenealogyBank’s online newspapers and see that they tell me where these new arrivals had lived in Ireland, and where they were going to live in America. That information is NOT in any other passenger list source. How in the world... (Read More)
When Alden Howell passed away in 1947 at the age of 106, he was the last surviving commissioned officer of the Army of the Confederate States of America. It’s a good thing that there were multiple obituaries about this centenarian. Each historical obit gives us more of the details of his life. For example,... (Read More)
Introduction: Duncan Kuehn is a professional genealogist with over eight years of client experience. She has worked on several well-known projects, such as “Who Do You Think You Are?” and researching President Barack Obama’s ancestry. With the East Coast (especially Boston) digging out from yesterday’s blizzard, this seems like a good time for an... (Read More)
In 1772 at the age of 42, Andrew Wallace shipped off for North America from Scotland – and just a few years later he was fighting in the American Revolutionary War for his new country. According to this old soldier’s obituary, Andrew “was engaged in some of the most memorable battles of the Revolutionary... (Read More)
Marriages create life. They connect family trees and create orchards of ancestors. And sometimes your wife pulls you out of a snowbank. That was the case for Abram Decker, 35, of Sussex County, New Jersey, in 1898. The Idaho Daily Statesman reports that Decker went to town late one night for groceries in bad... (Read More)