Did you find an ancestor with a truly unique occupation? Whether they were vaudeville performers or vaccine inventors, we want to hear about it.
a2a_linkname=”Earning Their Keep”;
a2a_linkurl=”http://www.ancestrymagazine.com/2007/05/you-said/odd-jobs/”;
James R. Vanderpool, my ancestor, was just a blacksmith in the Ozark Mountains of Newton County, Arkansas, when the Civil War erupted. He became a Mountain Federal—a group of men who chose to serve on the Union side. Loyalties, however, were greatly divided in Newton County: popular men, including his neighbor John Cecil, who had served two terms as sheriff, joined the Confederate army.
“Squirrel Driven ‘Nuts’ By Heat”
That newspaper clipping attached to Cindy Furman’s letter was all I had to see to know I was hooked. The owner of the scrapbook that held the clipping—a scrapbook Cindy found at Goodwill—had carefully noted, “Martha cut this from Cleveland paper—Summer 1936.”
I had to know.
I don’t know anyone who likes moving. The packing up is hard to fit into a modern schedule, and if you’ve lived in the same place for any time at all, you’re bound to step on a dozen emotional land mines that will stop you in your tracks.
Relocating might seem like a modern concept, but our ancestors moved plenty—the census shows it.
Facts in Fiction
Getting the feel for when and where your ancestors lived can give you a better understanding of how they lived. Unfortunately, sometimes histories that offer information on a locale can be pretty dry. Why not put some fun into it and let someone else do the research for you?
Got your own version of family history that’s just begging to come out? Maybe you need a wiki.
A wiki is a website where anyone can participate by adding new information or changing existing information—anytime and instantly. Start looking and you’ll discover wikis exist on almost every subject. Even family history.
What do you do when you get your hands on an old letter like this one found hiding in the wall?
1. Check the Address
Armed with the address on the letter, look for Griffins in city directories. George A. Griffin is listed all the way back to 1871. According to the 1880 census, he had a wife named Maizy and several children.
2.
With the price of oil hovering at record highs, who wouldn’t want to inherit a little? And the best way to find out just whose roots tap into black gold? By checking family history.
Just ask Genevieve Main. She put her family history expertise to work for the U.S. government for 14 years digging up the genealogy of land.
Once upon a time, just about anything you could dream up could be realized at the drugstore soda fountain.
It was yesterday’s answer to the corner coffee shop—a place where people could meet, talk, and have a tasty treat—but a lot more fun. Back in the day, corner drugstores graced almost every corner.
From khaki to camo, we look for visual clues to recognize members of America’s military today. But historically, to what extent did the clothes make the military man and woman?
Dressed for Success?
Every upstart needs a good defense—America included.