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Van Sorrels, the Woodcutting Musician
As the woodcutter sawed and chopped and hewed oak, hickory, maple, and pine, he sang songs to the past, to the land, and to the Lord. His name was Van. He was a simple man. He could read and write … Continue reading
Posted in American History, Biography
Tagged arkansas-history, fiddlers, genealogy, history, rural-arkansas, wood-hewers
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Diary for 1933, 1934, 1935, and 1936 by Lida J. Newcomb of Haverhill, Massachusetts
Lida (Elizabeth) Jane Newcomb was born in San Rafael, California, in 1871; she died at Country Pond, Kingston, New Hampshire, in 1941. She lived most of her life in Maine and Massachusetts, wife to Robert Eugene (Gene) Newcomb, a tinsmith … Continue reading
Posted in American History, Biography
Tagged 1930s, Biography, diary, great-depression, history, housewife, massachusetts, new-hampshire
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Marian Opala’s Fight for Freedom
September 1, 1939, Marian Piotr Opala was an eighteen-year-old student living with his parents in Lodz, Poland, when he heard the news that the Germans had invaded his homeland and were headed toward Lodz from the west. Marian, a law … Continue reading
Katherine (Katie) Florence Perkins (1875-1937) of Pawtucket, Rhode Island: A Single Woman who worked as a bookkeeper, brush-maker, and house-cleaner
Katie Perkins was born in 1875 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, a small factory city of traditional New Englanders and immigrants from Europe. Her parents were George Henry Perkins of Rhode Island and Margaret Rennie Crawford, an immigrant from Glasgow, Scotland. … Continue reading
Posted in Biography
Tagged family-history, genealogy, History of New Engand, women's history
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Diary of Maria Antoinette McCrillis, widow with two young children, living in San Rafael, California, and Moving to Palmyra, Maine in 1876
Maria Antoinette McCrillis was a 24 year old widow with two children from her marriage to James Sullivan Collamore: Eliza, born in 1871, and Edith, born in 1873. James was a carpenter, born in 1838. Maria, nicknamed Nellie, was born … Continue reading
Posted in Biography
Tagged Diaries, History of California, History of Maine, women's history
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Diary of a 17-year-old student, Florence Beatrice Brown Phillips, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, 1917
Florence Beatrice Brown was born August 1, 1899, in Pawtucket Rhode Island to Samuel and Hattie Perkins Brown. She was 17 years old and still a student when she kept this diary for the first three months of 1917. She … Continue reading
The Largent and Amos Families of the American South
When in 1911 Claude Christopher Largent and Bessie Lura Amos were married, they brought to their union centuries of ancestral history that spanned the American South and Southeast, as well as early modern England and France. They descended from families … Continue reading
Posted in Biography
Tagged Amos Family, family-history, genealogy, history, History of the South, Largent Family
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The Working Class of Pre-Industrial and Industrial New England: The Phillips and Camac, Brown and Perkins, Families of New Brunswick, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island
The United States is a land of immigrants. This is clearly seen when examining the Phillips, Camac, Brown, and Perkins families of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Brunswick. These families were the ancestors of the current living Phillips descendants, including … Continue reading
Posted in American History, Biography, books
Tagged books, genealogy, history, History of New Engand, Perkins Family, Phillips Family, women's history
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The Lawsons of the American Southern Hill Country
The search for the self can take many paths. I especially like the path of the past. Past lives open up so many avenues for exploration of self. I love to engage in a dialogue with past individuals: the way … Continue reading
Randolph Lawson, Veteran of the American Revolution and Southern Appalachian Farmer
Like many early Americans, the story of Randolph Lawson’s full life is very unclear for the historian of today. It is not known precisely when and where he was born, precisely who his parents were, and precisely who his children … Continue reading
The American Plutarch 