A Series of WWII Memoirs (4): William Carl Simpson (1908-1947)

Or, Subtitled: Not all veterans survived the war after they returned home This is the fourth in a series of memoirs I’m compiling, memoirs that focus on the World War II service of my father, his brother, and my mother’s brother and half-brother. This posting will talk about the WWII experiences of my mother’s half-brother … More A Series of WWII Memoirs (4): William Carl Simpson (1908-1947)

A Series of WWII Memoirs (3): William Zachary Simpson (1915-1999)

Or, Subtitled: “I never was so sure before of exactly what I was fighting for.” As my last two postings (here and here) have said, I’ve been working on a set of memoirs of the World War II service of my father, his brother, their brother-in-law, and my mother’s brother and half-brother. As the two … More A Series of WWII Memoirs (3): William Zachary Simpson (1915-1999)

A Woman’s Lot: Three Generations of Maternal Forebears

Or, Subtitled: “A Woman’s Lot“ The collage above, which shows the three generations of female ancestors prior to me, happened to be on my Ancestry page when I opened it on International Women’s Day (8 March). Ancestry had prepared this collage from photos in my tree, and, though I doubt that Ancestry did this to … More A Woman’s Lot: Three Generations of Maternal Forebears

Notes on Identifying Old Family Photos as a Genealogical Project: A “Gathering” of Batchelor Family Photos (3)

And, Subtitled: “Let us now praise famous women, and our mothers that begat us” In a few days, I’ll resume my project of following family lines down from the earliest proven ancestor in my Brooks family, Mary Brooks, who died testate in Frederick County, Virginia, in 1787, and whose maiden surname I don’t know, as I … More Notes on Identifying Old Family Photos as a Genealogical Project: A “Gathering” of Batchelor Family Photos (3)

Notes on Identifying Old Family Photos as a Genealogical Project: A “Gathering” of Batchelor Family Photos

Or, Subtitled: Mystery Photos of Two WWI Soldiers I’m going to take a short break from my current project of chronicling family lines descending from Thomas Brooks (abt. 1745 – 1805) and wife Margaret (probably Beaumont/Beamon) of Frederick and Wythe Counties, Virginia, to talk about another project on which I’ve recently been working. It’s a … More Notes on Identifying Old Family Photos as a Genealogical Project: A “Gathering” of Batchelor Family Photos

Family of Valentine Ryan and Bridget Tobin of County Kilkenny, Ireland, and Grant County, Arkansas: New Information

Or, Subtitled: Things Are Seldom Quite as Simple as One Would Like in Genealogical Research, Are They? Throwback Thursday they call it, right? This posting is a throwback to a series of posts I did in April 2018, which began with this posting entitled “In Memory of Valentine Ryan, Born in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, Feb. 23, 1810, … More Family of Valentine Ryan and Bridget Tobin of County Kilkenny, Ireland, and Grant County, Arkansas: New Information

“In Memory of Valentine Ryan, Born in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, Feb. 23, 1810, Died Feb. 22, 1881. Erected by his son Patrick Ryan”: Irish Roots of Ryan Family, Grant County, Arkansas (1)

In two previous postings in my series about Patrick Ryan (here and here), I’ve shared a few pieces of information about Pat’s Irish roots. As I told you in those postings (the first link has a copy of his baptismal record), his parents were Valentine Ryan (1810-1881) and Bridget Tobin (1818-1873), who married 21 September 1836 in … More “In Memory of Valentine Ryan, Born in Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, Feb. 23, 1810, Died Feb. 22, 1881. Erected by his son Patrick Ryan”: Irish Roots of Ryan Family, Grant County, Arkansas (1)

Prob. Died Young, Or How Pat Ryan Lost His Eye (As a Union Soldier) (8)

I’m floundering a bit as I try to draw to a close this series of postings about Pat and Delilah Rinehart Ryan and their pension applications for Pat’s Civil War service and injuries. The problem is that the deeper I reach into the treasure trove of information this file contains, the more connections I’m spotting … More Prob. Died Young, Or How Pat Ryan Lost His Eye (As a Union Soldier) (8)