Back From the Future – Part 3 (With John Rolfe and Pocahontas)

I wish to thank my dear friend, retired College Lecturer, and fellow Pocahontas research enthusiast, Christine Dean, for her ongoing updates about happenings in and around her hometown of  Heacham, Norfolk, England.  From her undaunting energy and perseverance, while delving into local legends about Pocahontas and John Rolfe, I am able to bring you new posts …

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 …

John Rolfe Letter to Governor Thomas Dale, 1614

Continuing to further document and understand the lives of our earliest ancestors - emigrants from England to Jamestown, Virginia, I have included below, the 1614 letter  (transcribed and updated to today’s word usage and spellings by me--I made no changes to word choices or punctuation and kept present-day English spellings).  My  11th great-grandfather, John Rolfe, …

Christmas Traditions in Our Nation’s Capital

One of my former colleagues posted this article from a pamphlet he picked up at the Mary Surratt House Museum titled, “Christmas of Yesterday: A History of Our Treasured Traditions and Holiday Customs.” (If you recall, Mary Surratt was an alleged member of the Abraham Lincoln assassination conspiracy and holds the dubious distinction of being the first …

Thanks Charlie–One Man’s Genealogical Random Act of Kindness

This video shows the great work ethic and commitment this man has for honoring those who paved the way for the rest of us in this world.  As a genealogical enthusiast, I can relate to this man's passion for identifying and uncovering the lost people and histories of our families. In fact, I volunteer for …

May 13, 2017: Jamestown Colony’s 410th Anniversary

Four hundred and ten years ago today (May 13, 1607), one hundred colonists (dispatched from England by the London Company) arrived along the west bank of the James River.  The next day they founded the first permanent English settlement in what is now the Virginia, known as the"James Fort." As I have written in other …

Immigration — A Hot Topic!

The Joy of Discovering New Information Some of you may know that I am a retired career employee from the U.S. Census Bureau.  I love my family and sharing the statistics and data that make up my heritage, family history, and the perpetual stories that keep coming from new discoveries.   Although retired now for nearly …

“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) …

My Genealogy Story

My Desires to Know and to Learn One day my dad and I were talking about his young life, the absence of his mother early on and her mysterious death at age 32 that had left him and his family with unanswered questions. We also visited my paternal great grandmother about once a month for …

Addicted to Genealogy

For the Love of a Dear Sister After many years as an Ancestry.com (the world's largest online history resource) subscriber and enthusiastic supporter, I went looking for a similar but free resource for a friend of 40 years (who's like or better than a biological sister to me) who has never been consumed like me by …

Missionary on Horseback–Key Builder of a Nation

In the past, many of my blog posts have focused on my ancient British relatives and their descendents from the Boling/Bolling/Bowling, Chambers, and Taylor branches on my paternal side, to the Lathrop/Lowthropp and Ford families on my maternal side. Geographically,  all of these families resided primarily on the east coast in the earliest colonies--from North Carolina …

And, together they danced…

The Month for Lovers Continues... My niece, Caitlyn Boling (daughter of my brother John Arthur and his wife Joyce), and her new husband Anthony Rubio, honored my parents' (Frank and Norma Boling) 70 years of marriage together (2/5/1946) at their wedding this past Sunday, February 21, with an Anniversary Dance especially for them. As some …

Let him have his memories…

The picture below is just one of several taken at our home in Capitol Heights, Maryland.  It was a New Year's Eve Party  hosted by my parents Frank and Norma Boling on Thursday, December 31, 1953. (And, in less than a week, I would turn 7 years old.) Among their guests were close knit family and …

February is for Lovers…and that Includes Our Parents

Just two days ago, on the one year anniversary of my blogpost "Hope, Love, Peace, and Tomorrow" I updated it.  The original post began with: “and they lived happily ever after.” "February is the month for lovers and hopeless romantics who like me believe in love at first sight, true and everlasting love, and fairy tale …

Ancestry to Retire Family Tree Maker

I responded to Ancestry the very instant I finished reading their announcement to retire Family Tree Maker.  If, after reading this story, you feel compelled to do the same I encourage you to do so at: http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2015/12/08/ancestry-to-retire-family-tree-maker-software/. Our Families and their Untold Stories Posted by Susie Higginbotham on December 10, 2015  The genealogy community is all …

Dogs Are Family, Too– Part 5 “Lord Jacob of Calvert (Jake)”

To once again borrow a few words from my good friends at Google, “the loyalty, affection, and exploits”of my dogs throughout my years on this earth have inspired a rich body of true, sometimes hilarious and sometimes sad stories that have only added to my life events.   And today, unfortunately, it is with heavy hearts …

A Poem For All You Genealogists

I am taking a short break from working with data sets about my ancestors from the Tidewater Region, Virginia. Today I am exploring old periodicals made available online.This time I happened upon a poem in the monthly magazine, Hobbies from the May 1940 issue.  As an aside, Hobbies began in 1931 with articles of interest to various collectors. Its publisher, O.C. Lightner …

A Fallen Limb

I came upon this poem today, author unknown, and it just seemed right for me to share it on my blog. It's been awhile since a limb has fallen from my immediate family tree and we have only God to thank for this. Yet others, very recently, in our biblical community have lost fathers, mothers, husbands, …

40th Anniversary – Fall of Saigon: April 30, 1975

The Swinging 60's and the 70's Disco Era As a member of the Baby Boomer Generation, I have so many memories of  The Swinging 1960's and the 1970's Disco Era--specifically the years surrounding the Vietnam War. Many of my high school classmates either enlisted or were drafted immediately following graduation to serve their country in Vietnam. …

20 Reasons Why You Should Write Your Family History

The following article was published February 9,2015, by the New York Public Library. I have re posted it here because it best describes my blogging's purpose, reasons, and experiences. The information I've gathered, the places I've been and the very kind people that I have come into contact with through my research and writing adventures …