My Brick wall is the Solomon Johnson family of Vermont.This is my biggest dead end. The last name doesn’t help. Nor does the difficulty in finding records in Indiana in the 1830- 1850 time period. As an example, I found out that the burial records at the Oslo Township Cemetery were lost in a fire.Sorry […]
Read MoreDo We Have Royal Connections? Abell Edition
Genealogical research has identified a few American settlers as Gateway ancestors. This means that the ancestor has a line of connection to a member of Royalty. One of those ancestors is Robert Abell, our 11th Great Grandfather. As proof, I offer this descendant chart from King Edward I to Robert Abell. This was found in […]
Read MoreOur Family’s Role in the Invasion of Canada (1777-78)
Sometimes, road blocks lead to interesting finds. One of the family’s greatest road blocks has been the Solomon Johnson ancestors. Born in the “pre-records ages” and having traveled from Vermont to Indiana in the 1840s, there has been very little data to provide clues. Recently, however, I discovered a reference to Great Grandma Minerva Powell […]
Read MoreConnecting Two American Heroes
One, our Ancestor, Benjamin Merrill. The other, Daniel Boone We have addressed the importance of Captain Benjamin Merrill and his hanging by the British after the Battle of Alamance before. We have also discussed the lifelong connection between Daniel Boone and Great Uncle Michael Stoner. I don’t know exactly when, but Stoner and Boone likely […]
Read MoreHobnobbing with Henry the VIII
Sir George Cotton: Our 13th Great Grandfather? One of the tidbits you may find while researching family are connections to royalty. One such connection was laid out in a book entitled “The Abell family in America : Robert Abell of Rehoboth, Mass., his English ancestry and his descendants” published in 1940 by Horace Abell. In […]
Read MoreHenry Van Der Wal’s Military Career
Henry Owen Van Der Wal had a unique military history. He served in the Navy at the end of World War II, then was drafted into the Army during the Korean War and served on the Air Force’s Elmendorf Air Base. How? Henry joined the Navy in September of 1945 just over a month after […]
Read MoreThe Work of Henry Owen Van Der Wal
Henry Owen Van Der Wal did a large number of jobs in his life. For example, he and his father-in-law, Oliver Stiehm were on the crew finishing cement at Milwaukee County Stadium. But his primary work was with the Edward E. Gillen Company as a pile driver. Here are some of the jobs he worked […]
Read MoreBillington’s “Bind Out” Their Children
An excerpt from “The Times of Their Lives: Life, Love, and Death in Plymouth Colony,” by James Deetz and Patricia Scott Deetz pages 116-117 In 1642, Francis and Christian Billington “put Elizabeth, their daughter, apprentice to John Barnes and Mary, his wife, to dwell with them and to do their services until she shall accomplish […]
Read MoreSpeculation: Are there connections to Charlemagne?
I designate this as speculation because I found this published, but with no real documentation. Therefore, it is fun to speculate. Research is necessary. FROM: Abell, Horace A.. The Abell family in America : Robert Abell of Rehoboth, Mass., his English ancestry and his descendants, other Abell families and immigrants, Abell families in England. Rutland, […]
Read MoreHistory’s Tangled Web: Sir William Phipps, Our Family, and the Oak Island Conspiracy?
EDITORS NOTE: William Phips is NOT related to us. He did, however, play a large part on our family’s history. Specifically, for their participation in the Quebec excursion: Lt Preserved Abel, Sgt Samuel Sabin, and John Ormsby. And with the Salem Witchcraft Trial – Samuel Abbe. This first article discusses those events. Lt Andrew Newcomb […]
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