March 18, 2023
Don’t Burn The Child
I never knew how close I came to not existing until I heard the family story of Archibald Crawford Jr., who nearly died at the hands of the British when he was just a young boy. Support For the Revolution Young Archibald’s father Archibald Sr., who had been born on a ship while his parents crossed the Atlantic, was a strong supporter of the American Revolution. However, he was unable to join the
March 10, 2023
Translating “Old Speak”
Most things that I encounter in genealogy require some level of translation or interpretation. The obvious is when a record is in German or French. However, there are other things in genealogy research that require translating and interpreting. One of the most challenging is translating “old speak” into something understandable by the general public today. Old Speak? What do I mean by “old speak?” This is a term that I use for words
March 3, 2023
No Grandpas
I never knew either of my grandfathers. Similarly, my dad didn’t know his grandfathers and my mom didn’t know her grandmothers. It is like a piece of your life is missing when you don’t have the opportunity to know a parent or a grandparent. All I know is what I learned from family, primarily from my parents, about them. Grandpa McCracken Grandpa McCracken died when I was about a month old. From things
February 25, 2023
Identification Complications
Identifying a person’s ancestors isn’t always easy even with records and DNA. I have worked a quite a few confusing lines in my own families and other people’s families where family information, records, and DNA didn’t all align. And, in some cases, almost no information seemed to exist. Louisiana One of those cases was my great-great grandmother Louisiana Matteer. My part of the family always believed that her name was Louisiana Johnson and
February 17, 2023
Turn That Picture To The Wall
Some year ago, my uncle sent my family an article about General George Henry Thomas. He was a well known and well respected general for the North in the Civil War. Thus, my uncle really wanted him to be a member of our family. After all, the names George and Henry both show up in our ancestry. North Or South George was from Virginia. He had trained at West Point and was against