On a Monday in September of 1857, Pattie Bird set out on her normal route from her home in Halifax County to the town of Weldon, North Carolina. She lived just a couple miles from town with her 17 year old son, Willis. Pattie shopped at Parker's store in Weldon that day. She purchased nine …
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Save the written word…
Proof that preserving the written word is important…… Family cousin’s letters sent to my Mom tell a story possibly not recorded anywhere else. Before reading these letters, I never thought to question that my Great Grandmother Melvina and her Father, David H. Smith were buried anywhere other than in the Pinehurst City Cemetery in Pinehurst, …
The Letters
Anyone who has had a conversation with me in the past couple years most likely knows about the letters. The letters my sister and I found in my mom's attic. The letters my sister so graciously let me possess. The letters my grandparents wrote to each other almost daily just shy of 100 years ago. …
Paulina and Theodosia
This Mother's Day, homage is due to two women who will not show up in anyone’s direct ancestry line. Paulina Smith and Theodosia Harris both entered my family’s lineage as stepmothers to my Grandmothers. Both of my Grandmothers being the youngest child in their families, I can only imagine that Paulina and Theodosia may have …
Sideways glances……
Walking through cold, damp European cathedrals as a teenager, I became intrigued that hundreds of years ago people were buried in the floor, in the walls and in the crypts of these magnificent structures. Chartres, Reims, and Notre Dame in France. Salisbury and St Paul's in England. All of these cathedrals with their beauty and …
Longevity
Not having run across any centurions in the family, I went with another aspect of the term. Endurance, perseverance and resilience come to mind. How did someone press on through a life situation. Searching back, my maternal 4th great-grandfather stands out. John Yost Meetze was born December 2, 1756 in Ederbringhausen, Hesse, Germany. Stories …
Finding Progenitors 