Contagious Genealogy: A Pandemic

In 1873, my 3rd great grandparents, John and Margaret (Marshall) Dean, were living along Wheeling Creek in West Virginia. They had been married for about 20 years and had raised 7 children by that point. John followed in his father's footprints making a living as a blacksmith, and Margaret took care of their home. Relying only on the fact that they never separated or divorced and were able to pose for a family photo together later in life with their grown children, I would surmise their marriage was a fairly happy and satisfying one. The Dean Family (Front Row L to R: Joseph Dean, John Dean, Margaret (Marshall) Dean, Athe Dean;  Back Row L to R: Ralph Dean, Ben Dean, Chester Dean, John A. Dean) However, in September of 1873, it would seem Margaret had a bone to pick with John. A piece of their dirty laundry was aired when she published a post in the local newspaper for all the neighbors to see! "Notice.,"  The Wheeling Daily Register,  Ohio County, West Virginia, 27 Sep 1...

One of the conflicts that Americans participated in, which I know the least about, happens to be the Vietnam War. I won't even pretend to know the first thing about what sparked the initial standoff between North and South Vietnam, nor why the United States felt the need to become involved.  With minimal research, I can report that the war spanned 20 years, from 1955 to 1975, with ties to the Cold War which was "raging on" as the backdrop. North Vietnam was backed by the Soviet Union, and South Vietnam had the U.S. and other anti-communist countries backing its interests. The U.S. military was actively involved from 1965, under President Lyndon B. Johnson's command, until its withdrawal in 1973 during President Richard Nixon's term. According to the Department of Defense Statistical Information Analysis Division (SIAD), nearly 60,000 American service members died as a result of the war, with another 300,000+ wounded in action. Many of those men had not enlisted in...

My paternal grandparents were married on the 9th of April in 1939. It was a Sunday in San Bernardino, California. Harry and Alta (Eggenberger) Foltz, 9 Apr 1939, San Bernardino, California. But it wasn't just any Sunday in April, it happened to be Easter Sunday. They were accompanied by two of their friends from the Pasadena area, where they were living at the time, Jesse E. Chamberlain and A. E. Myers Jr. Jesse was a laundry mangler residing nearby Alta, so I assume they met by chance within their community. Myers and his family ran the restaurant that Harry bartended at on the corner of Orange Grove and Fair Oaks avenues in Pasadena. It appeared to be a very small affair, indeed, as I know Harry's out-of-state mom was not able to be in attendance and I assume the same went for Alta's out-of-state mom, as well, their fathers both having passed away when they were younger. Harry and Alta (Eggenberger) Foltz with marriage witnesses Jesse Chamberlain and A. E. Myers, Jr., 9 A...

It's ironic that the most colorful character in my family tree was born with the surname of White! Related to me only through marriage to a great granduncle, Gertrude was anything but plain, white bread. "Grandma Dean, 1912"; Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 Nov 2024), user-submitted photo by Shannon Katz-Dean on 11 Feb 2018. The images left behind of Gertrude clearly shine a light on this woman's wild and free spirit. She certainly didn't maintain societal norms for her day.  "Gertrude White";  Ancestry  (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 Nov 2024), user-submitted photo by Shannon Katz-Dean on 29 Aug 2017. Born in 1893 in Upshur County, West Virginia to farming parents of modest means, the U.S. censuses show her education spanned at least from age 7 through 17 reaching the 8th grade, which is already far superior to the majority of the men in my family tree who typically dropped out of school around the age of 12 or so to begin earn...