“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.” -Martin Luther King, Jr. Slavery has at times been referred to as “peculiar institution” and at times the word “peculiar” was used to imply that the institution was … Continue reading A Peculiar Institution
I am still sifting through little things that I discovered here & there, hither & yon during my recent exploration of 19th newspaper archives. Searching for my late mother’s ancestors in the deep South, I was finding lots of hits for her great, great-grandfather David Dobbs and his son David Judson Dobbs and his grandson James M. Dobbs who all lived in 19th century Georgia. … Continue reading Intriguing Items
Two cousins on my mother’s-side were famous men in the first half of the 20th century, both living in Atlanta, Georgia. One was a sports figure during the silver-age of baseball and the other was an early civil rights activist. John Gordon Dobbs (June 3, 1875 – September 9, 1934) was the grandson of my great, great-grandfather’s eldest brother, he and my grandfather were 2nd … Continue reading Two Dobbs Cousins
First Baptist Church of Marietta It was about 10 years ago that I learned that there was a street in Marietta Georgia that was named after my great, great, great grandfather David Dobbs. It was the other day, when I was going back through my notes, that I realized that I had never bothered to look to see what was on Dobbs Street in Marietta. … Continue reading Milestones & Tombstones
According to the Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution, Evan Prothro, my 5th great-grandfather on my mother’s side, was a soldier of the American Revolution. He served in the South Carolina militia during 1781 and was a hog driver during 1782. In those days, long before canning and refrigeration, hog drivers had the task of keeping the army provisioned with livestock. Following … Continue reading Where It All Started…
It has been ten years since I published the 2nd edition of Gathering Leaves. Back then, I thought then that I had found everything that I could and that I would probably never do anymore family history research. Then fast forward to 2019 when I was contacted by the granddaughter of my maternal grandfather’s half-sister. She surprised me with the gift of nearly 2 dozen … Continue reading Pardon me, boy…
From the late 1890s to the late 1960s a newspaper called the Kentucky Irish-American was published in Louisville Kentucky. This is in the town that my grandmother was born in and that her parents and her parent’s parents lived in going back to the 1850s. This newspaper catered primarily to the Irish Catholic community and through association, German Catholics and people who were loyal Democratic … Continue reading Kentucky Irish American
A little while ago, I made the discovery that the family of one of my great, great-grandmothers lived for a time in a New York City neighborhood that was then known as Little Germany. The family of Sophia B. Spiegel (AKA Sophia Schmidt, Sophia Precht, Sophia Brecht, Sophia B. Spiegel, Sophia Von Spiegel) lived, from the mid to late 19th century, in a neighborhood found … Continue reading Christmas Eve 1874 in Manhattan’s Little Germany
I made another pass at searching for my Dobbs ancestors in 19th century newspaper archives at NewspaperArchive.com, specifically David Dobbs, a 3rd great-grandfather and his son, David Judson (D.J.) Dobbs, my great, great-grandfather, both of whom were born and raised in antebellum Georgia. What I found was little bits and pieces of the puzzle… David Dobbs (1791-1871) was an attorney-at-law and a military leader in … Continue reading Bits and Pieces
I have made yet another discovery about an ancestor of mine. This time I found a photograph and possible evidence of the commission of a felony, but first a little background is in order… When I was a kid the only tangible ancestral artifacts that we had around the house was a very old flintlock pistol and a set of walking sticks. These were items … Continue reading International Man of Mystery-Pt. 1
Gathering Leaves 