This is my third year going to RootsTech in Salt Lake City, so I feel like I have a pretty good handle on the overall experience. But this is my first time as an Official Ambassador, which is a thrilling addition and requires some extra planning. Part of what I’m expected to do as an…
My mother used to like to kid with me and tell me that Valentine’s Day 1965 was the worst Valentine’s Day of her life. Mom was heavily pregnant with me, her fifth child. She had horrible lower back pain. Her ankles were swollen. She had constant heartburn. She hadn’t slept well in weeks. I was…
In 1926, Mrs. G. J. Wilkins of Atlanta Georgia wrote to the Office of Indian Affairs, “My great-grandfather on my father’s side was a full-blooded Indian with tribal relations with the Cherokees of Georgia.” Mrs. Wilkins was referring to Abraham Helton, known by his family as Young Chicken Chetiganete. He was born in 1843. He…
What would Hattie say? I’ve mentioned Hattie Potter Chase before if you read my earlier blog post, The Shameful Secret of David Edgar Chase. She was left a widow at age 45 in 1900 when her husband, David, put a gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger in their upstairs hallway while she was eating breakfast…
My grandmother never liked to talk about her father, Charles Comp. When I became interested in our family history when I was 15 years old, I would ask about him when we visited her in Beavercreek, Ohio. She would simply say that when she was 13 he disappeared. And then she would change the subject….
Week 2 Challenge: Favorite Photo I haven’t looked at photos of my Dad in a very long time. But as I was looking for a photo for this challenge that really stood out as my favorite, this one came front and center. This is my Dad. It was 1927. He was 3 years old. Leave…