Contagious Genealogy: A Pandemic

I think it's possible that without my 5th great grandfather, Isaac Wilcox, I may never have become as infatuated with genealogy as I am. He was supposed to be my ticket into the lineage society, Daughters of the American Revolution. My great grandmother, Ethel (Hinman) Eggenberger, and her daughter, Vera, had become members based on his alleged participation as a patriot in the war for independence. However, when his records didn't hold up under the scrutiny of modern day genealogical standards, he became that enigma for me that has held my interest ever since. While I did, eventually, gain admittance into the DAR (via another ancestor's service), Isaac has remained a constant question mark for me. Upon submitting my original application to DAR's offices in D.C., the genealogist assigned to verify my case, wrote me a kind rejection letter explaining why Isaac Wilcox was no longer considered a "valid" patriot. It turned out that when this registrar did their d...

  NOVEMBER 14, 2021 I believe it's a common misconception among the general American population that the Revolutionary War ended with the birth of our nation, 4 July 1776. In fact, the fighting had only just begun the year prior and the battles raged on through 1783, with Great Britain only recognizing the colonies' independence with the signing of The Treaty of Paris. John Trumbull, The Declaration of Independence. 1776, 1817-18; George Washington Bicentennial Commission, ca. 1924-12/31/1934, Records of Commissions of the Legislative Branch, 1928-2007; National Archives, online database with images ( https://catalog.archives.gov : accessed 14 Nov 2021) NARA identifier 532924, local identifier 148-GW-662. Week 46: Birthdays In the midst of this harrowing affair, my 5th great grandfather, James Stark of Dutchess County, New York, had joined the fight. He fought under George Washington in Captain Ranson's 2nd Independent Company of Colonel John Durkee's 4th Connecticut R...

  NOVEMBER 04, 2021 Middle names, also known as second given names, tend to be shrouded in mystery a lot of the time. This happens because they don’t really serve much purpose, at least in the United States, unless of course you’ve committed murder. In that event, as you might well be aware, a murderer’s full legal name is printed up in all the papers to help distinguish them from other persons who share the first and last names. It also comes in handy differentiating yourself from a terrorist who has found their name plastered on the “no fly” list. But aside from those rare and uncommon occurrences, middle names do not tend to be well known, even amongst close friends or family at times. Week 39: Steps Ethel (Hinman) Eggenberger, ca. 5 Feb 1930. This was certainly the case for Ethel Hinman, my paternal great grandmother. When I first began researching my family history, I had no sources that recorded her middle name. And both my father and aunt (her grandchildren) were not aware o...

2020's Got Nothing on Genealogists: The Journey Into Joining the D.A.R.! AUGUST 20, 2020 While there are a plethora of options of lineage societies to join, for me, it wasn’t even a choice! I’ve known since high school that I would one day apply for membership into DAR, because I learned at an early age that my paternal great grandmother, Ethel E. (Hinman) Eggenberger, and my great aunt, Vera Madine (Eggenberger) Wicke, had both been members of a DAR chapter in Kansas. In fact, Vera’s DAR application form has been the only record I have found in existence, as of yet, that has indicated what her mother’s middle initial of “E” stood for – Eulala! Not even Ethel’s own DAR application form had spelled out her middle name, and maybe for good reason…because where the heck did Eulala come from?? Unfortunately, my path to membership did hit a few bumps in the road, when I submitted my short form application and learned that the documentation proving lineage from my great grandmother to our...