We Might as Well Die Here

We Might as Well Die Here

I feel like I've been on a roll with Civil War ancestors lately--sorry, not sorry. For the longest time, I had no connections to the Civil War, and my only knowledge of the years between 1861 and 1865 came from high school--and later, college--history textbooks. But then I started this blog--forcing me to comb through [...]

Conversations with Gramps

Conversations with Gramps

I spent the past week in Buffalo, New York visiting my aunt and cousins and grandparents; we stopped by the Broadway Market for makowiec and placek, spent an afternoon wandering around Forest Lawn Cemetery and went wine tasting in the Finger Lakes. My favorite part of the trip, though, was going through old family photos [...]

Hurricane Sweeps Nelson Farm

Hurricane Sweeps Nelson Farm

The one thing I often overlook when it comes to researching an ancestor's story is the weather. And it shouldn't be: climate patterns and weather phenomenon guided both our ancestors' day-to-day decisions and their long-term migration patterns, just as they guide our own. Rainstorms were essential to keeping crops alive, but snowstorms may have kept [...]