A Virginia Goldminer – The Sad End
David Shrum left Virginia in 1855 to mine gold in Grass Valley, California. In September 1858 he wrote back home to his brother, Orlando, who is my…
-
-
A Virginia Goldminer Part 3
While my second great-grandfather, Orlando Shrum, was a young man living in Shenandoah County, Virginia with his parents and siblings in September of 1858, he received a…
-
A Virginia Goldminer Part 2
I’m sharing more of the letter my 16-year-old second great-grandfather, Orlando Shrum, received from his 27-year-old brother David in 1858. David left Indiana in 1855 and traveled…
-
A Virginia Goldminer Part 1
When I read we had a gold miner in the family, I thought it couldn’t possibly true. We aren’t exactly the adventurous type in this family. I…
-
Yellow Fever in Virginia – Family Legend or Truth?
To anyone other than a genealogist, getting excited when you learn about a tragedy in your family history is kind of morbid. But I wouldn’t say the…
-
It Is The Little Things In Life
A few weeks ago, we moved my older sister out of the apartment she and Mom shared for the past 3 years. Mom died this past December. …