Chipping away at my William T Hughes “brick wall”

Who’s his daddy? Who’s his mommy? At some point, every genealogist encounters a “brick wall” ancestor. These are the ancestors whose document trails baffle, frustrate, and block all attempts to trace and extend a family tree line at least one more generation further back. Running into these obstacles is inevitable. But sometimes, it is possible to break through them or, at least, chip away at them. My 2X great-grandfather, William T Hughes (1823-abt 1875), is Read More …

Some Gifts Just Keep on Giving

A Christmas surprise On Christmas 2016, our grandson received a very special gift from his great-aunt Trisha. She had made him a teddy bear that he calls, “Special Bear.” That name is perfect because his great-aunt had used family heirloom quilt tops to construct the bear (see Image 1). This is a story of how “Special Bear” came to be. But, it’s mostly the story of the fascinating woman, Kate Emeline Harrell, who originally hand-stitched the quilt Read More …

Honoring Our Family Heros

Remembering Those Who Served I awoke this morning thinking of my dad, my granddad, and other family members who served our nation. As I think about these everyday heroes who are no longer with us, I want honor and thank them and all of the other men and women who sacrificed to defend this country and its citizens. I am grateful to these amazing people who loved me and helped me to become the person I am today. I am also Read More …

The Elusive Robert Lee Marshall

Who is Robert Lee Marshall? Using the small bits of information that my grandmother had shared about her early life (see In Search of My Father’s Father), I began looking for Robert Lee Marshall by searching the Internet. Of course, this was such a common name that the search engines returned thousands of hits. Even when I added other identifying terms into the search box, the results were still too numerous. It didn’t take me long to realize that if Read More …