Memory Lane

A hastily arranged research trip, barely planned, in fact. It could have had a disappointing outcome. However, I struck genealogy gold! A collection of court depositions by acquaintances and relatives of my ancestors, sharing details of their lives during slavery in order to prove their relationships. Here is the story of that discovery…

I was first inspired to write about our old home in May of 2007 when Jasia of CreativeGene asked for blog submissions about a family home. In general, I’d say most of our family homes were modest at best, but we once lived in a beautiful old home that also had a great story! [...]

I am writing this post to talk myself through a project I need to finish before December 12 (today is the 4th), but it takes several steps and needs a careful proofreading by my aunt. I made a book as a Christmas gift for my aunt last year. It was kind of a surprise, although [...]

This post is written for participation in the blog carnival Cabinet of Curiosities, 10th Edition “Bring me your weird, your wonderful, your hidden items yearning to be seen!” Show and tell for grown ups, Cabinet of Curiosities is a celebration of the oddities and marvels of natural history, anthropology, archaeology and historic interest that reside [...]

This post is written for the 57th Carnival of Genealogy, hosted by Jasia of Creative Gene: “I read it in the news!”
What a sad surprise I found one day when I was searching Ancestry.com for any records about my Great Great Great Grandfather, Thomas Donovan. Of course I knew he was long dead, but [...]

This past May 17, 2008 I was thrilled to attend the 150th Anniversary Celebration of St. Augustine Catholic Church in Washington DC. The story of how I came to be there is an interesting example of how the internet brings about real-life connections. In 1997, I attended the Carter-Wooling-Gwyn Family Reunion, my first time [...]

I wrote this post for Terry Thornton’s Getting to Know You writing challenge at Hill Country of Monroe County . Thanks Terry!
I am a 38 year old woman, the eldest of 3 sisters, grew up in New Jersey as the child of hippie parents. I am married with 3 sons, and now live [...]

As a neglectful blogger, I am very grateful for the inspiration I have found by participating in two Blog Carnivals: namely the Carnival of Genealogy, and more recently Smile for the Camera (links coming – Carnival site is down). Even though I have 14 posts saved up to write, I actually got off my duff [...]

footnoteMaven, who keeps a lovely blog of pictures and the stories that belong to them at Shades of the Departed asked us to choose our favorite photograph for the 4th edition of her blog carnival Smile for the Camera. This is my first time participating in this carnival and when thinking about my many [...]

When I read about the topic for this month’s Carnival of Genealogy, I came up blank.  I know many families share stories and lore about the family car.  I seem to have come from a family that barely drove! My mother’s mother “Grammie” lived her whole life (1922 – 1993) having never had a license [...]