Getting to Know Hannah Lathrop Keith: Contacting Archives

This is a continuation of my previous two posts about my ancestor, Hannah Lathrop Keith. She lived for a short time and did not show up by name in census records or vital records. I had a few family sources about her, but I wanted to see what else I could find online. My firstContinue reading “Getting to Know Hannah Lathrop Keith: Contacting Archives”

Getting to Know Hannah Lathrop Keith: Online Sources

This is a continuation of my previous post about my ancestor, Hannah Lathrop Keith. She lived for a short time and did not show up by name in census records or vital records. I had a few family sources about her, but I wanted to see what else I could find online.

Getting to Know Hannah Lathrop Keith: Family Sources

How do you find more information on your ancestors, besides just names and dates? Here’s how I did this with one of my ancestors, Hannah Lathrop Keith, using family sources.

My Ancestor’s Struggles with the Civil War Pension Office

As I write our series of tips about how to do Civil War genealogy, I think regularly about my own ancestors in the Civil War. My great great grandfather, Newell Elijah Gile, comes to my mind very often. He fought hard to receive an adequate pension for wounds he received during the conflict. I imagineContinue reading “My Ancestor’s Struggles with the Civil War Pension Office”

Healing Through Stories

I have ancestors on both sides of my family tree who fought against each other in the American Civil War. My Dad’s family was from the South, my mom’s family was from the North. My ancestors fought against each other in this gruesome, brutal war. Stories about wars often paint one side as heroes andContinue reading “Healing Through Stories”

When Your Family History Connects with History

First flight, 120 feet in 12 seconds, 10:35 a.m.; Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Source: Library of Congress On this day in 1903, the Wright brothers successfully flew an airplane for the first time in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The following year, after repairing their airplane, they conducted flight tests in Huffman Prairie, just outside theirContinue reading “When Your Family History Connects with History”

Caroline Gile’s Scrapbook

This is my great-great grandmother, Caroline Jane Webber Gile, as a new mother with her first child, as an old widow with her grandson, and a scrapbook with poems and jokes she collected from newspapers, no doubt to help her smile and carry on in her widowhood and old age. She experienced much tragedy inContinue reading “Caroline Gile’s Scrapbook”

Reflections on Mothers Day

Thinking back on this last Mothers Day, I remember the mothers who came before me. The mother in this picture is my grandmother, Margaret (DeWitt) Gile. The tiny baby is my mother. Being a mother now myself I realize how difficult it really is. I only have one kid right now and she is soContinue reading “Reflections on Mothers Day”

Michigan Research: Detroit Existed in 1784

Featured image: The City of Detroit (from Canada Shore), 1872, by A. C. Warren. Wikimedia Commons. I have been trying to do more research in the Midwestern United States, to build up hours of experience so I can take the ICAPGen accreditation test. One of the Midwestern states I have had very little experience with isContinue reading “Michigan Research: Detroit Existed in 1784”

Little Jonnie Lathrop, or, Child Deaths in Great Plains Genealogy

This is my great-great-grandmother, Caroline Jane (Webber) Gile. I love this picture. Usually in pictures this old the people don’t really smile. Old photos of babies usually have them by themselves or in mother’s lap. Half the time baby is blurred out because she is moving too much for the camera to focus. But inContinue reading “Little Jonnie Lathrop, or, Child Deaths in Great Plains Genealogy”