The written word, the truth they sometimes hold, their lies sometimes, but those words we document may be the only remnant we leave that we lived at all. When you seek these truths of the past, tell your stories, beyond just the dash between the dates that you find those words to be precious. For the written word can be a powerful tool, and for … Continue reading At The Root Of Unalienable Rights Was He
Gathering all this together, all these stories, one by one, unposted posted going back to the early months of 2013, almost at the beginning of this blog, unsaid has been said, and now I ponder the ghosts of my own past and all the crooks and characters that made me, and in that regard, this post is a bit different than the others. Now, other … Continue reading The Last Unposted Post: a rambling pirate from the past
The year was 2002, the year after Mom died, and for the first time since I was 19 years I was back home, back in Dodge. Not right in my “home”, an apartment in town, actually, on the other side of the river from my actual home. It, I suppose, has become our families response to death, and the grief of, to come together, to … Continue reading Hunting For The American Me
The Bell Tavern was where 26-year-old Martin Dromgole boarded before he was murdered in 1865 on the back yard of a home where Braida & Henry’s law offices now stand. Accused of being the father of a child out of wedlock whose birth caused the death of the young mother, Dromgole was shot by the girl’s uncle when he attended the funeral. Continue reading Dromgole & Co
So Mom… I’m having one of those days. Heck, truth be told it’s just been one of dem weeks. Between this and that of daily life, anniversaries, schedule changes, life changes, weather, ugh… I’m a weary soul. So I’ve found myself holed up here within my abode obsessed this week with a PBS series on African-American genealogies…it’s so very intriguing. I hear these stories, and I see … Continue reading The Butterfly Effect
Hey Mom… ok, so last week I told you about our 3x’s Great Uncle David. That’s where I started, and I have a lot more info on them. First though….did you know that Dad’s related to half of North Carolina? I kid you not. We may dominate a lot of the graveyards in Oxford County up here, but, down there if ya spit you’ll hit a cousin. Last week Lex and … Continue reading The Greatest Great
Hi Mom, I decided that maybe the best way to tell these stories I’m collecting is to tell them to you. It was for you I decided to start this research, so it seems apt that to you I should tell them to. The whole deep dive into the past helped me to cope with the loss of you, and do you know how often I’ve said to myself, … Continue reading Who Was David?
I’ve become very attached to these youngsters, called British Home Children. I never suspected there were so many in our township, but for the last few days I’ve discovered 16, and have been following the trail of two in particular. Here is a bit of their story. In late August of 1895 two boys, ages 13 and 10, departed from Liverpool and crossed the Atlantic … Continue reading Abandoned, But Not Forgotten
In 1909, three brothers got together (one of them my 4th or something Great Grandfather), and decided to have a picnic. The next year, 1910, there is a photograph of the Clan all gathered. In that year it went from a simple picnic, to a Reunion. I guess they had so much fun at the first, they decided to make it an annual event. And … Continue reading The 104th Clan Picnic
These stories do not just exist in little packages, never changing. Stories are just not like that. They are entities onto themselves as you grow and change. A decade or more ago now, someone like Aunt Margaret was of no relevance to me and I didn’t care at that time that I didn’t know more about her. Now she is very relevant. Continue reading The Mysterious Margaret
by PaulaB 