How to deal with heirloom, oversize portraits

This weekend’s Wall Street Journal (February 14-15, 2009 pp. R6) has a terrific article by Kathleen A. Hughes – “The Person over the Mantle”.   Hughes tells the experiences of families in preserving and displaying their old family portraits and her own change of heart in displaying the image of her 3rd Great Grandmother,... (Read More)

Hunt is on for phony POW’s…

Today’s Chicago Tribune has an interesting article by Steve Mills about Mary and Chuck Schantag of the P.O.W. Network who say they have exposed close to 1,900 people who have falsely claimed to be prisoners of war. Click here to read the article “Hunt is on for Phony POW’s“. A quick check of GenealogyBank... (Read More)

This just in – Viewer Mail

Hi Tom, I really do need to share with you GenealogyBank‘s latest contribution to my family history research! I really do love GenealogyBank. Without it, I would not know about the accident that caused the death of my grandmother’s youngest brother. Nor would I have known when it occurred. Nor would I have found... (Read More)

Jim Thorpe – Born May 28, 1888

We all heard the stories of Jim Thorpe – the world’s greatest athlete – while we were growing up.   The newspapers & movies regularly carried stories about him and he was even featured on a box of Wheaties. (photo – NC Museum of History).   He loved to compete. He enjoyed the battle... (Read More)

Our Honored Dead …

When Abraham Lincoln gave his stirring remarks at Gettysburg in 1863 word spread quickly across the nation. The San Francisco (CA) Daily Evening Bulletin of 18 Dec 1863 captured the impact of Lincoln’s words that still move us today. Newspapers report what happens every day giving each of us the emotion, context and impact... (Read More)

1st genealogy published in America – 7 May 1724

The first genealogy published in America appeared in a newspaper 284 years ago – today – May 7, 1724.   It appeared in the American Weekly Mercury. It was a genealogy of King Philip V of Spain. Genealogy articles routinely appeared in colonial newspapers. The first genealogy published in book form was in 1771... (Read More)

War of 1812 POW List

The War of 1812 ended 193 years ago with the US ratification of the Treaty of Ghent on 12 Feb 1815. But even before the war was over the two sides were exchanging prisoners of war. One of the problems and underlying causes of the war was British impressments of former British subjects who... (Read More)