Wordless Wednesday: Lyman Nelson Run

This week's family photo...

Rest in Peace, Again

Almeron Lyman Nelson of Coudersport, Pennsylvania--my 1st cousin 6x removed--was the original Nelson family historian: he arranged and hosted every family reunion for over a decade; he preserved family heirlooms, portraits and photographs for future generations; and he recorded names and dates for the local newspaper's town history column. Everything I know about the Nelson [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Curiouser & Curiouser

Today I feel like Alice in Wonderland, like the part in chapter two when Alice exclaims, "Curiouser and curiouser!" and subsequently grows to be nine feet tall. You know, like one does. I haven't eaten a sponge cake to reach a skeleton key that opens the door to Wonderland, but I am confused; I've been [...]