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An Exploration of my Family's Genealogy, Ancestors and Their Journey Through History
Chasing Family Ghosts
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Jun 30, 20245 min read
A Blue In Gray
John Monroe Blue was born March 25, 1834, four miles north of Romney, Virginia, now West Virginia, along the banks of the South Branch of...
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May 5, 20243 min read
The Sheriff of Luzerne County
John Stephen Oberrender was born on 4 September 1829 in Ebersdorf in Saxe-Coburg, Germany. He was the oldest child of Johann Nicholaus...
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Apr 14, 20247 min read
The Life & Times of Daniel Shaner, Jr, Part 1
Daniel Shaner, Jr. was born in Eastbrook, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania on 18 May 1845. He was the eldest son of Daniel Shaner, Sr. and...
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Jul 4, 202312 min read
Colonel Smith And the 71st PA At Gettysburg, Part 2
The story continues. For Part 1, click here. Colonel Richard Penn Smith, Jr. was standing with General Alexander Webb near the Copse of...
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Jul 3, 20238 min read
Colonel Smith And the 71st PA At Gettysburg, Part 1
A family history story in honor of the 160th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg Richard Penn Smith, Jr. (R. Penn Smith) was born on...
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Jun 18, 202312 min read
"Whose Father Was He?"
Welcome to my 200th post! Here is a story for Father's Day. Since it began by a woman honoring her father who fought during the Civil...
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Nov 14, 20226 min read
The Pattons, Part 2: Brothers George & Tazewell
The story of the Patton family continues. Click here for Part 1. George Smith Patton was born 26 June 1833, in Fredericksburg, Virginia,...
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Jul 3, 20227 min read
Gettysburg: The Semicentennial
This year marks the 159th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, fought the from the 1st to the 3rd of July 1863. It was considered...
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Feb 14, 20227 min read
Hannah and William, Part 5
(Click here for Part 4) The new court convened on 15 February 1864. Before his arraignment, William again asked for the court's...
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Feb 7, 20224 min read
Hannah and William, Part 4
(Click Here for Part 3) William ran away but not for long. After Abraham Bertolet's body had been carted off, he returned home. That...
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Jan 31, 20226 min read
Hannah and William, Part 3
(Click here for Part 2) William left Washington, D.C. during the last days of December in the company of about twenty men. They...
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Jan 24, 20227 min read
Hannah and William, Part 2
(Click Here for Part 1) After boarding the train, William Howe and the 116th Pennsylvania Regiment stopped in Washington, D.C. where it...
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Jan 17, 20225 min read
Hannah and William, Part 1
Hannah Krebs Shaner was born 14 July 1833, the second child of Charles and Elizabeth Krebs Shaner. Her mother died on 6 March 1837. ...
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