This week's #family history challenge--What's Your Favorite Discovery--from Amy Johnson Crow's #52Ancestors52Weeks sparked a vivid memory. In mid-January 2009 I discovered first hand what our nation's capital is like in winter. Washington, D.C.'s humid air wraps your body in a vise; a cold breeze off the river increases its grip. I walked briskly from the … Continue reading Grandma Serena Had A Cat
Sayles
The Obituary of George Parker
George Parker George Parker died of grip at his home near Alfred, May 28, 1902. He was born in bondage near Murfreesboro, N. C. Slavery kept few records and the date is not known, but at his death he was probably not far from the allotted age of man. He was sold once. In 1863, … Continue reading The Obituary of George Parker
His Future Was Not Yet Written
Shortly after my father died I began to search for his ancestors, my ancestors. Within a couple of years I had masses of information about Ira Sayles, my dad's mother's grandfather, including a one-line reference in The Alfred (NY) Sun obituary of one George Parker. A little later [George Parker] was brought north by Prof. … Continue reading His Future Was Not Yet Written
Volunteer! Volunteer! Brave Hearts of Allegany!
The Union army appeared to be making quick work of the southern insurgency as the United States entered the new year of 1862. Recruitment offices around the north just shut down. Why keep something open when it was so clear the war was going to end and soon? But then came General McClellan's attempts to … Continue reading Volunteer! Volunteer! Brave Hearts of Allegany!
The Tigerish Glare: part three
Recap The Tigerish Glare: Part One and Part Two On the evening of 29 June 1898, Private Sherman Sayles of the 3rd Missouri Regiment complained of a headache to the night nurse, who notified Camp Alger medical attendant Private Lake. While Lake went to the dispensary to mix some morphine, Private Sayles pulled out a … Continue reading The Tigerish Glare: part three
Shoots, Roots, and Leaves 