Given the range of databases like Wikipedia and IMDb (more formally The Internet Movie Database), it can be surprising to find a scrap of biographical material that has not been covered. I..

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Following up on my recent blog post about genealogical memory (“What do you know?”), I took a fresh look at some persistent brick walls in my mother’s family. The blog post – and a 5-generation fan chart template..

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Even as she followed the last weeks of the Civil War in the press during the winter of 1865, Mrs. Gray [1] found time to contribute to her daughter’s happiness:

61 Bowdoin Street, Boston,..

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In a recent meeting here at NEHGS, the conversation turned to the ease with which visitors to our Newbury Street building could fill out a three-, four-, or five-generation family chart, listing..

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The month of January 1865 brought further deaths to Mrs. Gray’s [1] circle, but also allowed her a welcome respite in visits to local galleries to see the latest paintings.

61 Bowdoin..

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I was recently reminded of just how small a town Hollywood is as I wrote up some notes on two photos featuring a (now) little-known actress named Kathryn Crawford. Born Kathryn..

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Early in the new year of 1865, Regina Shober Gray [1] had news to report on her son in Philadelphia and on sad situations closer to home:

61 Bowdoin Street, Boston, Sunday, 8 January 1865:..

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Regina Shober Gray [1] often used her final diary entries for a year to review the previous twelve months. At the end of the year 1864, death was much on her mind, with the recent loss of..Continue reading →

[Author's note: This post originally appeared in Vita Brevis on 8 December 2015.]

As genealogists, we tend to focus on the more remote past, rarely pausing to consider our parents’ or grandparents’ times in a rush to get back to..

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In this diary entry Mrs. Gray [1] depicts some of the economic forces on an upper-class Boston family, one dependent on the largesse of wealthier family members. Her brother John Bedford..Continue reading →