While browsing the internet, I have on two occasions come across portrait paintings that are presented as depictions of my ancestors. On one occasion, I discovered an image on Ancestry.com that another researcher was using as a profile portrait for our shared ancestor, Evan Prothro. My initial inclination was to simply copy this image and use it as the profile picture for my mother’s 2X … Continue reading Solving Mysteries with Google Lens
The Civil War era saw a significant but overlooked resistance against conscription, particularly among fathers determined to protect their sons from battle. This struggle, deeply rooted in love and familial bonds, played out in areas like Holmes County, Ohio, where groups protested the draft, leading to armed conflicts and legal consequences. Continue reading Resistance Runs in the Family
Katherine Talbot married Nicholas de Eyton, Sheriff of Shropshire (Nicholas Eaton).[1] John Talbot, the father of Katherine Talbot, was the 1st Earl of Shrewsbury during the reign of Henry VI and the Hundred Years War. He was born in 1384 and died in 1453. Although Katherine Talbot does appear as the daughter of the 1st Earl of Shrewsbury in Treswell’s The Visitation of Shropshire (1623) and in The Visitations of Essex … Continue reading PART X-CHAPTER SIX
Sir Peter (III) de Eyton, a 12th great grandfather of Elizabeth Eaton, was born before 1246. He married Margery in 1246. He died after 1292. The first mention of his name, otherwise than as an infant, is early in 1272, when Hugh Burnell had a Writ against him for disseizing the said Hugh of common-pasture in Eyton, and John de Apple had a Writ against him … Continue reading PART X-CHAPTER FIVE
I suspected that a wealth of information regarding the Pickering’s and collateral families of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts lay hidden within out-of-print 19th-century books. Furthermore, I believed other genealogists were, and had been, investigating these same family lines, placing them years—even decades—ahead of me. These realizations prompted me to adopt new and radical research technique. I began by gathering information from personal trees on Ancestry.com’s OneWorld section. While recognizing … Continue reading PART X – CHAPTER FOUR
The book, “Pickering Genealogy,” provides detailed information on ten generations of Pickerings, but my direct lineage extends only to the third generation covered in the book. After that, my branch left Salem. Benjamin’s son, Edward Pickering (6x great-grandfather) was born in November 1701 in Salem and died in Mendon, Massachusetts. In 1724, he married Hannah Bancroft in Lynn, Massachusetts, and shortly after that, he relocated … Continue reading PART X – CHAPTER 3
Let’s pause the Pickering saga for a moment to introduce some other key persons in Cordelia Pickering Gaume’s family tree. Understanding these relationships, which go beyond just marriage, is vital. They all shared the major event of the Great Puritan Migration and the Winthrop Fleet in the 1630s, which connects them significantly. On top of that, some of them were participants in a pivotal case … Continue reading PART X – CHAPTER 2
I’ve been procrastinating since April, but now finally getting back to working on my book, Gathering More Leaves. I’m up to the tenth and final part of the book, which will probably be about seven chapters. Originally, I was hoping to be completed by my 70th birthday next month, but that’s not likely to happen (although I am committed to working on this every day). … Continue reading PART X – CHAPTER 1
This coming Saturday, April 19th, marks the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Given the current circumstances of tyranny, this anniversary holds even greater significance. I have revised my previous list of ancestors who served during the American Revolutionary War. It now contains ten individuals: six ancestors of my father’s great-grandmother, Cordelia Pickering, and four of my maternal grandfather, James M. Dobbs, … Continue reading Ten Patriots
One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. However, when it comes to slot machines and genealogy, repeating the same actions can sometimes lead to surprising and rewarding outcomes. That’s why, every year around St. Patrick’s Day, I visit Ancestry.com to continue searching for my Irish ancestors. On my father’s side, the O’Malley family settled in … Continue reading Typical (Irish) Immigrants!
Gathering Leaves 