Faced with an early termination fee for my mistakenly purchased annual Adobe Premiere Pro subscription (that is, annual paid monthly), I decided on a new video project instead of canceling. I’ve dubbed it “A Plan 9 From Outer Space”—If you know, you know.. The project involved restoring and then animating a series of old photographs using Adobe Firefly, with the final video edited in Premiere … Continue reading The Making of ‘Night Gallery’
A few years ago, my brother Patrick, while on a business trip to Atlanta, paid a visit to our great-grandfather’s hometown of Marietta, Georgia, and there he bought me a book titled “A Short History of Cobb County in Georgia” by Sarah Temple. Several chapters of the book are devoted to the details of what occurred in Cobb County in the spring and early summer … Continue reading Marietta July 1864
For years, I’ve been trying to unravel the mystery surrounding my mother’s great-grandfather’s civil rights status at the close of the Civil War. I believed I had finally solved it: Was he among the thousands denied property and civil rights due to specific criteria? These categories included former Confederate civil and military officers above a certain rank, individuals who had abandoned U.S. government or military … Continue reading Reconstruction Recall
On this 160th anniversary of the first Juneteenth Celebration, which occurred on Galveston Island, Texas, in 1865, I would like to address the following to the descendants of people my ancestors enslaved in the colonies and the states of Massachusetts, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia, and express my deepest and most heartfelt apologies for their actions. I acknowledge the immense suffering, injustice, and lasting impact … Continue reading Juneteenth, 2025
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
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
A few days ago, I renewed my Ancestry.com subscription despite my annual vow to resist. This year’s offer—40% off a six-month subscription—was too tempting. This package included access to U.S. and international records as well as newspaper and military archives. As I signed up, I told myself I’d regret it if I didn’t find value within the first few days. Navigating Ancestry’s Value Over Time … Continue reading Found: The Obituary of Col. D. J. Dobbs
This one is of my maternal grandfather, James M. Dobbs, Jr., taken when he was a teenager in the late 1910s. The inscription on the back reads: “Taken in street in front of Uncle Clif’s house in 1917 or 1918.”“Uncle Clif” refers to Herbert Clifton Dobbs, younger brother of my great-grandfather. While my great-grandfather spent a number of years in South America, Herbert stayed close … Continue reading Jimmy Dobbs (1917?)
The following is a excerpt from Gathering Leaves – 2nd Edition While growing up I knew almost nothing about my maternal grandfather, James Monroe Dobbs, Jr. My grandparents divorced when my mother was about ten years old. I knew that my grandfather had been born in Dallas, Texas July 4, 1902; that he had an older stepsister; that his father was involved in some business … Continue reading Finding the Long Lost
Gathering Leaves is more than just a history of my family. Its original working title was “How I Did It!” Besides all of the detail and footnotes, I hope to convey to the casual reader my tips and tricks for how anyone with access to the Internet can find their ancestors and connect with long-lost cousins. This began as a labor of love twenty-five years … Continue reading Gathering Leaves – The Book
Gathering Leaves 