America’s First Murderer

I gathered the following information from Plymouth's Governor William Bradford's Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation, 1606-1646, The Human Tradition in the Atlantic World, 1500–1850, and https://history.howstuffworks.com.  America's first murderer, his victim, and his execution are revealed in these histories: My 12th paternal great-grandfather, John Billington, was a Mayflower pilgrim.  As one of the 41 signers …

My Cousins Declare America’s Independence

Many Americans take for granted our annual July 4th Independence Day.  While working in my genealogical databases, I came across the name of John A. Hancock, a familiar name from America's history.  I decided to compare our family's John Hancock (my second cousin, seven times removed), to the list of 56 signers of the Declaration of …

From My Family Tree–

Founding Father Fables & Folklore I received three gifts from the Ages of Enlightenment (1700-1800) and Reform(1830-1850).  My family tree revealed that I am descended from three distinguished founding fathers -- our first, third, and 12th presidents: George Washington (1732-1799) My 6th paternal great-granduncle was Virginia's Robert Bolling IV. His wife, Sally Washington, was the …

Commemorating the 111th Women’s History Month– March 2022

Remembering My Ancestors: Pocahontas and Edith White Bolling Wilson... Strong Women and Role Models for Young Girls How many young girls can claim they descend from Pocahontas? I knew little about my ancestors or my relationships with them when I was a girl. But I'm very glad that I made time throughout my adult years …

Family Ties

After 33 years of searching for my estranged paternal great-grandfather who disappeared without a trace to his wife and family, I was given my answer through a delightful and unexpected Christmas gift in 2013 from a stranger, who we later learned was family. Maynard Nelle Chambers was this gift giver who on a whim and …

Lives, Duties, Levels of Commitment

The beloved Canadian, Alex Trebek, game show host of Jeopardy for 36 years and over 8,200 episodes, succumb to pancreatic cancer on November 8, 2020, following his very transparent and valiant effort to stay with us a while longer. I like to think of him as "The Old Guard," who honored, protected, and preserved the integrity of …

Movie Star Descends From Clan of Thieves; Tragedy Was No Stranger

Jan-Michael Vincent, who became nationally recognizable on the 1980s television series “Airwolf,” but whose career later foundered, in part because of problems with drugs and alcohol, died on Feb. 10, 2019, at a hospital near his home in Asheville, NC. He was 74. I always had a teenage crush on him and would watch anything …

Back From the Future – Part 2

 A Quote from the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, June 2014: Christopher Columbus never reached the shores of the North American Continent, but European explorers learned three things from him: there was someplace to go, there was a way to get there, and most importantly, there was a way to get back. Thus began the European exploration of …

Following in the Footsteps of Hawthorne, Melville, and Thoreau?

This post is dedicated to our family's radiant and clear-sighted history lover, hiker, and nature lover, Mrs. Corrie Priola Dickinson--our eldest grandson Joe's bride of 18 months.  We don't get to see them much these days because they are stationed in Monterey, California, but we think of them daily and wonder what great adventures they …

The Lee’s–a Historically Significant Virginia and Maryland Political Family

Colonial America and Prominent Lee Family Members Many prominent members of the Lee Family are known for their accomplishments in politics and the military.  This family first became prominent in Colonial America when Richard Henry Lee I arrived in Virginia in 1639 and went on to become possibly the richest man in Virginia by the time …

“It Shines Like Liquid Gold–Sparkles Like Amber Dew”

Many of the men in our family in their younger days were beer drinkers.  Today, not so much.  In fact, at our family gatherings for the past 30 years we have had only non-alcoholic beverages. The Beginning of My Family's Beer Drinking Days My dad was an attractive but scrawny child, who in 1949, three years after …

Honoring our Family’s King–from Car Park to Cathedral

Over Two Years Earlier... This writing follows up on my post in February 2013 about my Royal and sometimes controversial Plantagenet family and whether I would choose to claim them.  That article was sparked by the forensic archaeological discovery of King Richard III‘s remains under a parking lot in the English city of Leicester.  Now, 25 months later, all the forensic studies have …

Historically and Genetically Speaking, I Guess I’m Naturally Frank

My dad's name is Frank.  I wonder from whom/where his name came?   One such theory comes from the  Merovingian dynasty where "Frankish" kings ruled a frequently fluctuating area in parts of present-day France and Germany from the 5th to the 8th century AD. They were sometimes called the "long-haired kings" by contemporaries, for their leaders' …

Native Americans, White People, and Scottish-Irish Emigrate to North Carolina

Native Americans A recent blog post focused on my maternal great-grandmother Mary Susan MORRIS's family--our Native American heritage through the Morris branch--and the freshly fallen bricks of a wall I had been up against for years. White People Not abandoning this wall, but continuing on, I returned to my maternal great-grandfather--Grandmother Susan's husband, John Carpenter Ford's (1864-1961) family. Similarly, I found …

Our Native American Heritage–A Follow On

 My post just a few days ago focused on our Native American heritage and the tribes who resided along the borders of the Chesapeake Bay. In my April 24, 2014, and December 3, 2012, posts we looked at our paternal Pocahontas ancestry--First Lady Edith Bolling Galt Wilson (my third cousin), and our lineage to Pocahontas …

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 …

The Robin Williams – A Fellow Baby Boomer

Like so many others my emotions flew from disbelief to sadness, to a true sense of personal loss--almost as though he were a greatly loved family member.  We were fellow baby boomers who experienced some of the most incredible and incredulous moments in life on this planet.  No disrespect intended, Robin had been a part of …

Firefighting in Colonial America

Introduction As some of my blog readers may know, my husband, Bob, has been a firefighter for nearly 25 years and his dedication to community goes back as long as I can remember.  Today, he serves as Chief of a local county volunteer fire department.  With so much of his time devoted to and around the …

Bi-racial Relationships of the 60’s–the 1860’s!

The Year 1868 Last week my genealogical research took me back to my second paternal great-grandfather, Lawrence T. "Larl" Boling.  I already knew that Larl married Sarah Elizabeth "Bettie" Tapp in Fredericksburg, Virginia, but when I looked more closely I found that their wedding took place just one week before Christmas 1868--that was the Christmas day when our …

1914: My 3rd Cousin’s Husband Proclaimed Mother’s Day a National Holiday

A Presidential Proclamation On May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson (husband of my third cousin, Edith Bolling Wilson), issued a presidential proclamation that officially established the first national Mother's Day holiday to celebrate America's mothers. But, there are two lines of thought about where and when the idea of Mother's Day was first brought up. Julia Ward Howe 1) …