This is a photograph of my mother’s grandmother, Helen Spiegel Dobbs, and a friend putting on a show of international unity at a resort in New Mexico sometime between 1913 and 1916. In this picture, Helen (right) represents the USA, and her friend, Claudia Meador Sanger (left), wearing a sombrero, portrays Mexico as they toast the friendship between those two countries. The photograph was taken … Continue reading Back When We Were Friends
A month ago, I wrote an article titled “Massachusetts Ancestors with Wikipedia Articles.” Yet it’s only now, through further study, that I am realizing the significance of what three of those ancestors did when they put their names on a document in the spring of 1638. These men are ancestors on my father’s side of the family, and their names were Philip Sherman, John Coggeshall, … Continue reading The Importance of the Portsmouth Compact
(or at least it feels that way) A year ago, I wrote about discovering that my ethnicity estimate at ancestry.com had changed yet again. I’m a little thick-headed because I don’t fully understand why it keeps changing. I need to read more. At any rate, it’s December, and I just learned that the ethnicity estimate was updated in July. I’m beginning to understand things better, … Continue reading Ethnicity Update #9
Growing up, I had no idea I had Colonial American ancestors on both my parents’ sides. My mother’s colonial ancestors settled in the South, from the Carolinas to Georgia. My father’s ancestors were YANKEES! These are all ancestors of my father who settled either in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Plymouth Colony, the Rhode Island Plantation Colony, or they are the ancestor of ancestors who … Continue reading Massachusetts Ancestors with Wikipedia Articles
When my great grandfather James M Dobbs was appointed to a consul generalship in South America at the start of the 2nd Cleveland Administration, his name appeared in newspapers all over the United States. In the majority of those appearances, it was one item in a list of other men who had been appointed to an office that April in 1893. Most of the newspapers … Continue reading International Man of Mystery Part 6
The recent discussions about immigrants eating cats and dogs remind me that my ancestors were immigrants. Some arrived from Europe as early as the 1630s, while others came as late as the 1880s. Their experiences varied—some were treated better than others. For instance, my German ancestors managed to preserve their culture and language long after arrival, which the English-speaking population found objectionable. There was pressure … Continue reading From Bavaria to New York: An Immigrant Journey
In 2023, during my visit to Paris, my final stop before heading home was the Arc de Triomphe, located just a few blocks from our hotel. The Arc de Triomphe is one of Paris’s most iconic landmarks, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the center of Place Charles de Gaulle. Commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 after his victory at the Battle of … Continue reading Lucien François Gaume, Veteran of the French Revolutionary Wars
I know of at least two ancestors who were veterans of the War of 1812. I’ve written an entire chapter about my mother’s great-great-grandfather, David Dobbs, who served as a third lieutenant in the Georgia militia during the Creek War of 1814. In this article, I want to share a discovery I made regarding my father’s great-great-grandfather, Corbett Pickering, and his service in the Pennsylvania … Continue reading He Went as Far as Danville
It turns out my father’s ancestor, Dr. John Denny, was not a “real” doctor, a revelation I stumbled upon in yet another history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. This particular account, penned by Emily C Blackmon and published in Philadelphia in 1873, sheds new light on his true profession. John Denny, my 4th great-grandfather, was born in what is now Phillipstown, Duchess County, New York, although, … Continue reading If It Quacks Like A Duck…
In a previous post, I wrote of how I discovered that my mother’s grandfather lied on a passport application that he filled out towards the end of WWI. As a former Consular officer and recently retired from the US State Department, he had to have known that what he had done was illegal. James Monroe Dobbs, Sr. was born July 4, 1859, yet on more … Continue reading International Man of Mystery-Pt. 5
Gathering Leaves 