Wordless Wednesday: Sparkplug

This week's family photo...

A Tale of Two Brothers

Two brothers--Wesley and Arthur Cook of Decorah, Iowa--enlisted in the Union Army in the U.S. Civil War on October 25, 1861 at the ages of 21 and 19, respectively. Both Wesley and Arthur were mustered into Company H of the 9th Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment and were ordered to proceed to Franklin, Missouri with their [...]

The Other Nathan Hawkins

My 5th great-grandfather, Nathan Hawkins, fled his newly-purchased homestead for Wayne County, Indiana during the War of 1812 with his wife and children, and he built a one-room log cabin on his brother-in-law's land that still stands today. Nathan built the oldest wagon in Wayne County, was "noted for his strength, tradition saying he could [...]

You Boys Have Been My Life’s Work

Betsy Maria Penfield, my 4th great-grandmother, was born on December 29, 1809 in Connecticut to William Penfield and Betsy Lydia Blish. Her father was a local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church--as well as a shoemaker by trade--and she joined the church herself at the age of 16 in Rome, New York. Betsy married Joseph [...]

Bowater & the Bristol Comfort

I've shared the story of the Beals family on the blog before: Thomas Beals left Chester County, Pennsylvania in 1748 to establish a new Quaker meeting house in New Garden, North Carolina. He traveled far-and-wide throughout the Northwest Territory as a missionary--he was sentenced to death by hanging on more than one occasion--and opened the [...]