Weddle Lineage
Hearing Voices
Armed with only Grandpa’s name and the names of his parents and siblings, I went searching for my family ancestors. Several hours later, I found him, Harold McDowell, in the 1920 census. He was thirteen and lived with his parents and five siblings in Iowa.
Since that day, ancestors from more branches than you can imagine have been begging me to tell their stories. I love listening to them as I uncover their secrets.
I hope you, too, will enjoy hearing what they have to say…
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KNOWING vs knowing
In genealogy, there’s a lot of emphasis on the difference between KNOWing and knowing. Take my 2nd-Great-Grandfather Patt O’Brien for example…
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Looking for Noah
It’s Easter this Sunday. And for at least one of my maternal ancestors, that would have been a very busy time of year. According to my great-grandmother’s handwritten notes about her family, her grandfather, William Noah Marsh, was “a Baptist clergyman in England.” That really isn’t a ton of information to go on, but I’ve…
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Those Nosy News Reporters
I love them! Nosy Reporters, that is. Were it not for a nosy news reporter, I would know far less about my maternal 3rd-Great-Grandmother than I do. Luckily for me, she knew Abraham Lincoln.
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An Irish Tale of…
I’m a little late for St. Patrick’s Day but I have a little Irish tale of beginnings and endings. It begins like all good tales do: Once upon a time…
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The Disobedient Daughter
When Great-great-great-great-grandpa Thomas Chilcoat passed on, the will he left behind was relatively standard. First, pay all his expenses and his funeral. Second, provide for his wife. Then he starts divvying up his assets among his children: 2/5 to Robert, his eldest son [my 3rd great grandfather], 2/5 to Thomas, his youngest son, 1/5 to…
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Delusions of Grandeur
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by
When I was in the 10th Grade, I had to write a research paper for history. We were given a list of Civil War topics from which to choose. Sadly, Irvin is not my long lost 3rd-Great-Uncle or even my 1st-Cousin-4x-Removed. He was just a very unskilled Union general.
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Top This
I’ve been told my Grandfather Weddle’s maternal relatives, the Marshes, weren’t very close. In fact, on the rare occasions that they all got together, they typically spent their time and energy playing “Top This!” [1] You know how that game goes: one sibling brags about their new car, or big bonus, or the latest remarkable…
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Double Cousins
Remember that old commercial for Certs? Two. Two. Two mints in one. (You youngsters can watch it here.) Well, that’s sort of what happened to Dutch (Harold Seba Taylor, Sr) when it came to cousins. It went something like this…
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No More Elijah
Remember the post, where I waxed eloquent about poor Elijah—my 5th great-grandfather, who died just before arriving in America from Germany? Well, turns out that was a lie. It was an accident, I promise. But, things like this happen when researching ancestry. One tries to be diligent. To check sources. Review information to see that…
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A Father’s Worry
A cool wind whistled at the cabin’s window. At least marching will be pleasant, Benjamin thought, slinging his musket over his shoulder. “Come, Anna, girls; Onkel Martin is waiting for us.” Martin lived near Drapers Meadow; his wife Anna and the children would be safe there while he was gone. They would have to hurry,…