An Intimate Exchange With Dad – Part 2

I hope you are following this series of interviews that I conducted with dad. If you have not yet read the first interview that begins with Question 1, I suggest you read it before moving forward. Question 2. What did you love to do in junior high school? "When I was 13 and 14, I …

75 Years; Three Generations, Blue Collar Tradespersons

In earlier posts about my parents, Frank and Norma Boling, I mentioned that they met when they were in their mid-teens shortly after dad's 33-year-old estranged mom passed away in March 1944. But, I neglected to say where they were when they first met. You see, schools were on break for the summer and families …

Are/Were Your Parents Frugal to a Fault?

My answer would most definitely have to be a big resounding "YES!" To this day, the thermostat needs to be kept on 78 degrees because the gas company advised that this is the most economical setting--despite how much water and sweat is flowing from guests foreheads and armpits; keep all doors and windows closed and …

My Genetic Genealogy: 1775-1825

Continuing on through my genetic genealogy timeline, my DNA has been found to match with 1,000+ 4th cousins or closer relatives who now live as far north as Vermont, span southward down the eastern coastline into Georgia, and inland to the now midwestern states of Illinois, Indiana, Kansas,  Minnesota, Missouri, and Ohio.  We also can …

Moments (1980-2011): A Personal Career Anthology

Before I "turned off the lights" and "closed my office door" on my professional career in marketing and communications for the last time, I sat down and wrote a generic thanks and goodbye to my many colleagues and friends at the U.S. Census where I had worked for 32 years.  And,  the following is the …

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, …

“Snuffing Out” Tobacco in Southern Maryland

Tobacco's 17th Century Beginnings in the Colonies Maryland's tobacco growing farms date back to the 17th century. Upon their arrival in 1634, Maryland settlers quickly hopped onto the tobacco bandwagon which the Virginians had started at the beginning of the century in Jamestown, Virginia. Borrowing seeds from my 11th great grandfather, Captain John Thomas Rolfe's (1585-1622) …

Before there were Alarm Clocks

There were "Knocker Uppers" Sometimes I go searching and researching for interesting stories to share on my blog site.  And, sometimes, the stories just come to me.  Most times, my posts are personal, about hardships or successes of my ancestors or relatives despite their challenges, and almost always lack humor.  But today's post is factual, telling …

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 …

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 …

100th Anniversary–Opening of the Panama Canal–August 15, 1914

If You Build It--Apparently, They Do Come! When the 48-mile long Panama Canal was finally finished in 1914 it was described as the "eighth wonder of the world" and observers said it would have an impact akin to "shifting the nations on a map". August 15, 2014, marked the 100-year-anniversary o the Panama Canal opening.  And, …

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 …

ISO my Family’s Sociological “Big Bang!”

According to my most recent research into the Bolling-Chambers-Taylor families, I am descended from an ancient line of folks who were known to be bald, short, fat, stammerers, and some even barbarians! At my eldest grandson's wedding in Chicago last weekend,  my third eldest grandson approached me for genealogical help. For his college sociology class, his assignment …

A Girl Jekyll and Hyde Who Embezzled $110,000

I subscribe to World Explorer Ancestry.com which gives me full access to everything Ancestry has available, including Fold3.com, the military records site, and Newspapers.com, which includes unlimited access to more than 50 million pages from more than 1800 newspapers across the United States with billions of articles, obituaries, and announcements that may contain stories of my …

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 …

More Perspectives Into Our Southern Ancestry

Since its founding in 1845, the New England Historic Genealogical Society has been helping its members to research, record, and tell their own unique family stories. The following story was published in the American Ancestor Magazine in April 1986 and lends yet another perspective into my southern ancestry.  I have added some sketches, pictures, maps, …

Mother of the Modern Hospice Movement: Rose Hawthorne Lathrop/Mother Mary Alphonsa

Here's yet another story of our Lathrop family lineage that adds to our long and growing list of notables... It further exhibits their societal/cultural status as well as their talents and gifts for writing, painting, illustrating, and their lifelong philanthropic dedication and commitment. Rose Hawthorne Founder of the Servants of Relief for Incurable Cancer (1851-1926) …

Our 28th President, His First Lady Edith Bolling Galt Wilson, Pocahontas, and Me

In Celebration of November -  Native American History Month President Woodrow Wilson - husband of my 3rd paternal cousin Edith Bolling Galt Wilson Edith Bolling Galt Wilson was the 35th First Lady of the White House. President Wilson's daughter, Margaret Woodrow Wilson served as First Lady for a brief period following the death of President Wilson's …

A Perceptive Eye…Today’s Generations

The following post by waitbutwhy.com appeared on Sunday, September 15, 2013, at HuffingtonPost.com, titled Why Generation Y Yuppies Are Unhappy.  It's about Lucy, who is part of Generation Y, the generation born between the late 1970s and the mid-1990s--like children in our family whose parents are baby boomers and like so many of my coworkers and subordinates …

Railroaded in Colonial Virginia…

THANKFUL THURSDAY...PART 2 King George County, Port Royal, Virginia We are picking up from Part 1 of this post, dated January 30, 2013, in King George County, Virginia, meandering toward our final destination the Centre Hill Mansion Museum to do the annual January 24th Ghost Walk through the house originally built by Colonel Robert Bolling …