At the start of the Civil War in 1861, my great-great-grandfather, Constantine Kollros, was 23 years old. Yet, up until yesterday, I was unable to determine which side of the battlefield he was on or whether he served not at all. According to the US census of 1860, Louisville, Kentucky, Constantine was employed as a musician. For years, I searched through Kentucky and Ohio muster … Continue reading A First Draft
I was looking at the nationalities of my great-great-grandparents, and I figure that I am only 6% French, 13% Belgian, almost 20% British, one-quarter German, and nearly 40% Irish. Yet, although I can trace one British branch back to Charlemagne via a daughter of Edward I, and I can trace my DeBacker family back to the early 1500s, most of my Irish branches cannot be … Continue reading The Shamrock Wall
The previous post ended with me wondering who Edward H Strobel was and what was his relationship with my great-grandfather, James M Dobbs, Sr. I thought it would take a while to figure that out; however, it only took me about 15 minutes. Edward Henry Strobel was my great-grandfather’s boss when James was the consul general to Valparaiso Chile (1893 to 1897). Mr. Strobel was … Continue reading International Man of Mystery-Pt. 3
In a previous post, I reported finding that my great-grandfather, James M Dobbs, Sr., had lied about his age on a passport application he submitted in 1918. He was going to the European war zone on behalf of the YMCA, the precursor to the USO. Travel during World War I required approval from the War Department, and the U.S. government was not allowing civilians over … Continue reading International Man of Mystery-Pt. 2
In my search of newspaper archives, I found some curious things regarding my forbearers. Yet nothing has surprised me more than learning that two great-grandfathers were involved in train wrecks that occurred in the 1920s. I discovered these accidents accidentally while searching for something else. Wreck at Gilmore Junction (1921) Patrick A O’Malley (1851-1925) was the father of my paternal grandmother. The O’Malley family lived … Continue reading A Pair of Train Wrecks
Back in December I discovered that my maternal grandparents eloped and were married in Chattanooga Tennessee in July 1925. . It was an extraordinary find that raised the question of how a 19-year-old girl from Louisville, Kentucky came to marry a 23-year-old man from Atlanta, Georgia. Coupled with this is the question of how my mother came to be born in Columbia, South Carolina. Since … Continue reading A Huge Discovery
It seems that after my mother passed away in July, I caught the genea-bug once again following a hiatus of nearly a decade. In the past eight or so months, I have written over two dozen posts on this blog detailing my recent discoveries. These findings have revealed not only new information but also there are certain details in my book that require correction. As … Continue reading Diving into Historical Context
Back in January, I published a post entitled Intriguing Items and in it I discussed some of the mysterious and intriguing items that I had found during my search of the newspaper archives for my Dobbs family in Georgia. One item concerned a mine in Cobb County that was dubbed the Dobbs’ Goldmine and another item was about a plantation located down in Sumner County … Continue reading Carpetbagger or Scalawag?
Searching through newspaper archives, I discovered something about my paternal grandmother, Geraldine O’Malley DeBacker, that I did not know. Apparently, she was a singer of enough renown to have that mentioned a few times in her hometown newspaper. I found the following item in the August 29, 1918 edition of The Atchison (KS) Daily Globe. My father’s mother, Geraldine O’Malley DeBacker, died the year that … Continue reading Atchison People Will Be Interested in an Omaha Item
When I watched the 1939 classic film “The Wizard of Oz” for the first time on television back in the 1960s and heard the Tinman, portrayed by Jack Haley, proclaim, “Someday they’ll erect a statue to me,” I said to myself, “It could happen, you know.” I said this knowing that people who become famous for one reason or another might get a statue or … Continue reading The Birthplace of Me
Gathering Leaves 