February 24, 2018

Archive

Finding your past: Where to begin? It is as easy as 1,2,3!

This week I am adding a new research section to the blog to help those interested in learning about their own family history. Where to start? How to organize? Where to find information? Here are three tips to help you begin: 1. start at home That family bible in a dusty box in your basement, newspaper clippings stuck in the photo album from your grandma, an old photograph with names in neat script on the back…these are the little clues...

A little mischief?

Nettie Ove with Mary (Conlin) Sullivan and Agnes (Conlin) Gregoire (about 1922-23) This picture of Aunt Nettie with Mary and Nana (Agnes) was taken while the family was living in Poplar, Montana. My favorite part is the mischievous expression on Nana’s face in the corner of the frame....

Gregoire Deblois: Our First Gregoire in the New World

View of Chateau-Richer and the Île d’ Orléans, Québec (1787) by Thomas Davies french roots Gregoire Deblois was born in the small village of Champagne-Mouton, France to Francois Deblois and Marguerite Papelong. The year of his birth, 1632, brought welcome peace after decades of tension between the Huguenots (French Protestants) and Catholic King Louis XIII, which culminated in the Siege of La Rochelle, a nearby shipping port. french Dit Names As the progenitor of our Gregoire family in North America,...

Laughlin McLaren and Celia Ann Losh: A Short Valentine Story

Laughlin McLaren was born in Greenock, Scotland and immigrated to America around 1849 with his family.  It was a mysterious dream that resulted in meeting his wife, Celia Ann Losh. Laughlin and Celia’s nephew, Earl Clinton Burnside, shared the story of how they met and a bit about their lives. According to Earl, after losing a pair of horses, Kate (Celia’s sister) had a dream about where the horses would be. In her dream, she walked along Cedar Creek until she came...

George Gordon: Naming Historic Georgetown

City of Washington from Beyond the Navy Yard by George Cooke, 1833 Visitors to Washington, D.C. today appreciate historic Georgetown for its cobblestone sidewalks, great food, walkable shopping and grand homes. As part of our capital city, it would be easy to assume that Georgetown was named in honor our first President, George Washington, but that is likely not the case since he was a young boy when Georgetown was established. There are a few theories about how the city...