Historical color and context — places, customs, institutions, and everyday life — that helps bring an ancestor’s world into focus
One thing I love as much as chasing history: knitting. I’m what they refer to in pattern instructions as an expert level knitter. I knit socks, sweaters, complex cables. I rewrite patterns to spice things up a bit. So when does knitting and history collide? In knitting history of course. …
There’s something really quirky and enjoyable about finding someone I didn’t expect to find on an old record. It’s hard to believe, but Napoleon’s brother, Joseph Bonaparte actually lived in the US and his descendant, a US citizen by birth sat on an European throne. That’s right, Joseph Bonaparte of …
I’m still amazed by all the tree damage done to Connecticut by the “storm” on May 15th. I think the man who wrote to the editor was Noah Webster. You know, the guy who wrote the dictionary! He wrote of a tornado in 1839: “I was at the house of …
