This story starts with a Seaman’s Certificate and ends with orphans, “servants,” George Washington’s hair, and a body donated to science.    The Certificate Some time back I discovered a Seaman’s Certificate for Samuel McGinley.  It was signed by Margaret McGinley, which was odd as the certificate was clearly set up specifically for a man to sign.  It was 1814 and women didn’t often sign legal documents.  However, Samuel’s father Captain John McGinley, who

This is a collection of images of cars various families have owned going back into the 1960s and earlier.  Not nearly all the cars that were owned are included mainly because many were not photographed. Some cars have interesting stories.  For others, I know very little.  If you can identify the make and model of any of the cars that aren’t identified, have corrections to the make/model of any cars, or have additional stories about

  Many of us think of wagon trains when we think of people moving westward.  However, when my Peelle family moved from Indiana to Kansas in 1879 the railroad had been completed all the way to their destination.  And, locomotive power would take them to their new home.   The Decision To Move Passco and Martha (Johnson) Peelle married in Wayne County, Indiana September 4, 1845.  By 1878, their oldest 4 living daughters were married. 

WWII called people into many different roles.  Some were on the front lines and others made sure that the people on the front lines were well trained and ready to fight.  Part of the support team were those that cared for airplanes overseas and at the training camps. WWII Even before the United States joined what became known as World War II (WWII), the government started registering young men for the draft.  On October 16,

Some families have gatherings weekly or monthly, others for major holidays, and others never get together at all.  When it comes to Joseph Andrew and Nellie (Peelle) McCracken’s family, any time two or more family members get together, it isn’t just a family gathering, it is a family reunion. Holidays McCracken Family Reunion in 1953 – Grandpa’s Generation and some of their offspring My McCracken grandparents had 11 children.  Ten grew to adulthood and when