One of my favorite activities on vacation is visiting a local cemetery. Not just to view the ornate memorials and beautiful architecture, but to learn about the people that a particular region/state appreciates and associates with its national pride.

On my last trip to..

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In the first year of Kenny and Alice McLean’s daughter’s life, labor strife at the Telluride mines was affecting the community.  

On 1 September 1903, difficult and scary times came to Telluride. Union..

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[Author’s note: This series, on Mrs. Gray’s reading habits, began here.]

Letters as well as books constituted Regina Shober Gray’s [1] reading. First, though, a note on the configuration of..Continue reading →

[Author’s note: This series, on Mrs. Gray’s reading habits, began here.]

Of particular interest in these entries is Regina Shober Gray’s [1] depiction of being photographed in September..Continue reading →

In preparing a lecture on house histories, I was reminded of the importance of chaining deeds – that is, linking the deeds for your house together using a deed chart – as the first step in researching the history of your home. Deeds are the primary source when..

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[ Author's note: This series, on Mrs. Gray's reading habits, began here.]

By the winter of 1861, an American civil war loomed. Regina Shober Gray[1] – a native of Pennsylvania with Southern..

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One of the delightful things about genealogy is that it often leads us to learn, and re-learn, our history lessons in unexpected ways.

I have struggled for many years trying to find any New York documents on my immigrant ancestor John LeClear. He came from France..

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In February 1904, the Great Fire of Baltimore raged for two days, burning much of downtown. It was a devastating disaster that helped prompt standardization and reform in the firefighting industry. A month later, my..

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Sometimes we all, like Tennessee Williams, depend on the kindness of strangers – whether we realize it or not. While I’ve always shared my family research and stories, it has been only recently that I’ve come to understand how..

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The Parson Capen House sits in the historic section of Topsfield, Massachusetts, a charming New England town about 30 miles north of Boston. It is quite remarkable that this minister’s home has survived nearly unchanged since the seventeenth century. Visitors can walk..

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