Contagious Genealogy: A Pandemic

Thirty eight years of marriage doesn't make the list of the longest union in the family tree or the shortest, but it was a memorable length of time for my second great grandparents, Charles and Matilda Foltz. Matilda and Charles Foltz, circa 1888. Although Charles was raised in Hagerstown, Washington County, Maryland, the Civil War seemed to be the catalyst for his resettling further west. His half-brother John Henry Fultz put down roots in Livingston County, Illinois by 1868 and Charles must have arrived within a few years. There, he met Matilda Stafford, who had grown up in the area. Charles and Matilda Foltz, wedding portrait tintype, Illinois, 1872. On March 3rd, 1872, Charles (23 years old) and Matilda (16 years old) were wed in Eppards Point, Livingston County, Illinois by Reverend H. D. Ledgerwood of Weston (who had also officiated John Fultz's marriage to Harriet Switzer). Charles E. Foltz and Matilda K. Stafford marriage license, Livingston County, Illinois, 3 Mar 1872

One branch of the tree that appears destined for battle was the Hinman clan. Perhaps it was a matter of time and place for this family. They settled in Connecticut from around 1650-1810; a region that witnessed many wars and skirmishes throughout that span of years. The Hinmans originally hailed from England, but Edward Hinman first brought the line to the Americas, arriving in Boston, Massachusetts on the William & George of London ship in June of 1650 as a crewman, refusing to reboard and return to London.  It's alleged that either he or his father (who also carried the given name of Edward) served as Sergeant-at-Arms in the body guard for King Charles I and had to flee during Oliver Cromwell's reign as Lord Protectorate. King Charles I had been executed the year prior, so the timeline of his emigration would appear reasonable. The Dutch records of Albany, New York reported that Sergeant Edward Hinman and Captain John Underhill offered their military services to Governor

On 19 August 1961, William Martin Cole married Beatrice Bethel (Dixon) Dean in Lawndale, Los Angeles, California and officially became the step-father to her five grown daughters, one of which was also getting married that very same day in Palos Verdes! He would from then on be known as "Pop" Cole. William Martin Cole arrived in the world just one year and one day after his parents, Jessie Washington Dillon and Alach Henry Cole, were married. He was born 16 May 1893 in Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia. His younger sister Margaret was born five years later. Margaret Ellen Cole, undated. The Cole family rented a cabin on Big Wheeling Creek, near where the Deans lived, so William grew up alongside Chester Dean (Beatrice's first husband) and the two men were friends. This is how William and Beatrice first met organically, while they were each married to their first spouses: William to Wilma Strautman and Beatrice to Chester Dean. In 1930, William's sister, Margaret Co

Family history research in Australia is quite foreign to me. As far as I know, I have no lines that extend into that part of the world, and I've never travelled there, so I haven't gone looking for anything down there. However, my paternal uncle (who I only met once in person a few years before he passed away) did spend a short time in southern Australia in the 1970s teaching in the state of Victoria. We only have one photo of him at Orbost High School during this time that he sent back home to his parents: Orbost High School, ca. 1973 It wasn't even exactly clear upon initial examination who he was in this photo. None of the males stood out as being the main subject of the photo, and he wasn't clearly marked. We assumed him to be the seated man in the tie toward the top, center of the photograph (next to the standing man with his hand up to his temple). His beard and mustache were two other features he hadn't been known for in previous years, and his writing on the

I inherited my maternal grandmother's recipe card box after she passed away. To be honest, it's probably best served in someone else's hands. Perhaps my sister should take ownership, since I'm the least helpful in the kitchen. I have no interest in cooking or baking -- and detest the cleanup work after! My sister at least gets the urge to bake every now and then. In the meantime, the recipes all have a home in my pantry, with the exception of one that carries more weight in my opinion. My family's Chocolate Almond Bars are really just to die for.  I actually didn't think the recipe had been written down anywhere, but when I went searching through the box, sure enough, I found the card. And a few years ago, I decided it would be nice to memorialize that recipe in a special way for my mom's birthday. I was able to get it glazed onto a dish! An added bonus is that the recipe is written out in her mother's handwriting -- a very nice token to remember her by

As the family story goes, Simon George Mills was a wife beater, and his spouse ran him out of the house because of it. Unless any court documents testifying to this fact (or contrary to it) come to light, this is the disparaging image we're left with of my 2nd great grandfather. But he probably was not brought up to act in such a manner. Simon George Mills alias George Simon Mills He was raised by parents, Lewis Mills and Ann (Jackson Smith) Hopkins, who both originally belonged to the Quaker faith. The official name for their religion is the Religious Society of Friends. It's said that the word "Quakers" was an insulting nickname bestowed upon them by others to describe the way their bodies shook while experiencing spiritual energy, but over time they've come to embrace it. Quakers believe that every individual is capable of experiencing the divine nature of the universe and receiving messages from God or finding their "inward light," even to this moder

The days since my research trip to Dublin, Ireland have quickly slipped away, but in addition to the travel log that I already blogged about, it's important to expand upon the most exceptional discovery I made. What better time to reflect on that find than on St. Patrick's Day? For a full look at how the discovery came about, click here for Day 3 of my Dublin adventures last year in 2023. Kira D. Foltz at the National Library of Ireland, October 2023 It was my very first day of doing research in a foreign country. I was in the Manuscripts Reading Room of the National Library of Ireland, and I was digging through the estate papers of the Cole-Bowen family in hopes of finding any mention of my Keeffe/O'Keeffe ancestors of County Cork. But more importantly, I was hoping to find a map of the local area in which they lived during the famine years.  National Library of Ireland Manuscripts Room, October 2023 The smallest unit of land is called a "townland" in Ireland, b