When I Grow Up, I Want to be a Nurse!

Yes, a nurse is what I said I wanted to be for many of my developmental years. In third grade, I checked out a lot of biographical books from my school library.  Two of them were on the lives of Clara Barton (the pioneer nurse who also founded the American Red Cross), (1821-1912) and Florence Nightingale, …

Nobleman, Minister, Prisoner, And Exile–My 9th Great Grandfather’s Saga

Introduction I know my recent posts have focused on my maternal grandmother, Alice Lauretta Lathrop's, noble family who emigrated from England to Massachusetts, Connecticut, and then onto Pennsylvania and places farther down the Atlantic coast. Specifically, this post, focuses on the 400th Anniversary Year of a church that got its beginnings in England by my 9th …

The Chesapeake Bay and Our Native American Heritage

This post focuses on our Native American heritage who resided along the borders of the Chesapeake Bay.  Digressing just a little into my lineage, my paternal Bolling ancestors were among the first in Jamestown and my maternal Lathrop ancestors the first in New England.  My ninth great-grandfather, Colonel Robert Bolling married Pocahontas' granddaughter, Jane Poythress …

Getting to Know My Cousin – 5 Generations Later

We are so blessed that our 13-year-old granddaughter is an avid reader and also enjoys writing her own stories.  So, when she came to me a couple of weeks ago to say she had a social studies project and wanted to focus on proactive women from our past I just jumped with joy.  It just …