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Monthly Archives: March 2014
Let’s Play Ancestral Name Detective!
First names, like eye color, tend to run in families. In my (ex) brother-in-law’s family, every first son is James, every second son is John. It has been like that for generations. He broke the tradition by a hair, naming … Continue reading
Posted in 16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century, Strange Facts, Uncategorized
Tagged ancestor names, Anglo-Saxon, Battle of Hastings, family naming patterns, names, Norman, Pilgrim, Puritan, Ruth
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Least Popular Baby Names for 2014
My seventh great grandmother was Fear Brewster, daughter of Elder William Brewster of Mayflower fame. Fear’s siblings were named Love, Wrestling, Patience, and Jonathan. Jonathan was apparently named before the Brewsters got their hands on the Geneva Bible, which became … Continue reading
Posted in 17th Century, Strange Facts
Tagged Biblical names, Brewster, Fear Brewster, Geneva Bible, Pilgrim, Puritan
4 Comments
I’m Finally Embracing My Scots-Irish Ancestry
I’ve never embraced my Scotch-Irish ancestry. In the first place, my mother always emphasized that the word is “Scots,” not “Scotch.” I’m pretty sure it’s because she disliked Scotch’s association with whiskey. And she never hyphenated “Scots” with the “Irish” … Continue reading
Posted in 18th Century, Art
Tagged 18th century, Born Fighting, Fighting Scots-Irish, Scots-Irish
12 Comments
I’m Thinking About the Children
Searching for your ancestors teaches you a lot. When you start to see past the organizational structures of genealogy, past the dates and towns and who begat whoms, you find small truths that touch your heart, or hidden stories that … Continue reading
Posted in 17th Century, 18th Century, 19th Century, Old Photos
6 Comments
Superstition Day: Pretty Is As Pretty Does
My mother is 93 and still of good mind. She grew up in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, but plenty of her ancestors were from up in the “hollers.” I like to visit her just before she goes to sleep … Continue reading
America: Conceived on a Beer Bender?
It’s time for a break from our John Fitch series. File this under strange facts…. The Mayflower wasn’t heading for Plymouth Rock back in 1620. It was heading for Jamestown, Virginia. It might never have landed at Plymouth at all … Continue reading
Posted in 17th Century, Strange Facts
Tagged Allerton, beer, Continental Army, Isaac Allerton, Mayflower, New Amsterdam, Phymouth, Pilgrims, Revolutionary War, Roanoke, William Bradford
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My Mother’s Special Drawer
My mother had her own drawer as a child. With a family of 12 in a four-bedroom farmhouse that’s all she could get, one drawer. But she didn’t feel deprived, she felt special. The way she put it was, “My … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Shenandoah
Tagged Arm & Hammer, bird cards, Childhood, Depression, Louis Agassiz Fuertes, mother's drawer, Ruth Berryman, Ruth Merica, Shenandoah, tea party
17 Comments
