Ghost Town - Owensville, Texas
As we drove from Texas to the Perkins Reunion in Louisiana, my grandmother told us a story about her grandmother, Emily Winburn Perkins. Emily's parents, John B. and Martha (Jackson) Winburn, were moving from Florida to Texas. They had stopped for a while in Sugartown, Louisiana. Spencer A. Perkins guided the Winburns and later became her father-in-law when she married his son, John Hollingsworth Perkins. Sugartown would later become her home, but at this time, Owensville, Texas, was their final
Nine Weeks on the Bark "Erna"
At the docks of Bremerhaven, a port about 30 miles from the town of Bremen by train, on October 25, 1870, the noise was loud and overwhelming. Ships came in and out, and passengers jostled among merchants, dock hands, and ship crews. Many passengers lined up with their few belongings to board ships. One man, his wife, and their children were part of this crowd: Martin Zapalač (42), his wife, Marianna [Mary] (39), and their children, Johann [John] (7), Rosara [Rosalie] (3), and Johann (age not st
Ghost Town - Owensville, Texas
As we drove from Texas to the Perkins Reunion in Louisiana, my grandmother told us a story about her grandmother, Emily Winburn Perkins. Emily's parents, John B. and Martha (Jackson) Winburn, were moving from Florida to Texas. They had stopped for a while in Sugartown, Louisiana. Spencer A. Perkins guided the Winburns and later became her father-in-law when she married his son, John Hollingsworth Perkins. Sugartown would later become her home, but at this time, Owensville, Texas, was their final
Nine Weeks on the Bark "Erna"
At the docks of Bremerhaven, a port about 30 miles from the town of Bremen by train, on October 25, 1870, the noise was loud and overwhelming. Ships came in and out, and passengers jostled among merchants, dock hands, and ship crews. Many passengers lined up with their few belongings to board ships. One man, his wife, and their children were part of this crowd: Martin Zapalač (42), his wife, Marianna [Mary] (39), and their children, Johann [John] (7), Rosara [Rosalie] (3), and Johann (age not st
The Railroad Runs in the Family!
On one of our RV trips, we had stopped in the town of Claremore, Oklahoma, in 2024 to visit the Will Rogers Museum. While in the museum, we kept hearing that the "Big Boy" would come through the next day and stop for only 30 minutes before heading to the next stop. Everyone in town seemed excited and planned to attend. We learned that the "Big Boy" was the largest steam-engine freight-hauling locomotive that was ever built and was traveling across the United States. Union Pacific built 25 "Big B
Three Cultures and a Wedding: San Fernando Cathedral
By the time Alejandro and Carmen exchanged vows there, San Fernando Cathedral had already witnessed nearly two centuries of people arriving from elsewhere and calling San Antonio home. Founded by families from the Canary Islands, the small parish church built its first walls in 1731 and was initially called Villa de San Fernando de Béxar. Then Mexican, then American hands rebuilt it after war, fire, and flood, layering a Gothic-revival face over its eighteenth-century Spanish masonry without los
James Cole & Coles Creek: Family Tradition Meets the Records
Was Coles Creek named after my ancestor James Cole? That is the story handed down in my family, but as a genealogist and family historian, I want to get the facts straight, and that meant locating sources and documenting my findings and conclusions. Coles Creek is a natural waterway in present-day Adams and Jefferson Counties, Mississippi. Family tradition, Camilla T. Denys's Cole Foot Prints, and several online family trees associate the creek's name with James Cole (1732-1794), husband of Mar
The Fabulous "Dogtrot" House!
I don't know about you, but finding an old "dogtrot" house in the middle of nowhere in the western U.S., in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, near the Grand Tetons, was awesome! Now, you might think, why in the world would someone get excited about seeing this? Blame it on genealogy! A "dogtrot" house, or double house or double pen, is basically two single-room or "single pens" house with a central hallway or breezeway between the two pens with a single roof over all of them. [1] One room was generally theExplore More Content
A Widow's Second Wedding: At Her Father-in-law's House Twice?
On February 19, 1857, a Methodist minister named Joel Turrentine traveled out to a home in Union County, Arkansas, to perform a wedding. The groom was William R. Morgan, about twenty-five. The bride was recorded simply as "Mrs. Sarah McCullar," also about twenty-five.
Worm Gruntin' and Family Roots - Searching for Emily in Sopchoppy, Florida
If you know where Sopchoppy, Wakulla County, Florida, is... well, you must either live there or live nearby, since it is not a very big place or known for having many famous people from the area. However, there is one thing that it is famous for, charming worms [Yes, you heard that right!] out of the ground during its annual American Worm Gruntin' Festival. It sounds like fishing must be really popular around there, eh? However, for me, Sopchoppy is famous as the place where my 2nd Great-grandmo
Oh no! My Ancestor's Place was Buried by TVA!
Whenever I travel to a place where my ancestors lived, I search for the land they owned, rented, or possibly just worked on. This helps me see what environment they lived and worked in, and, especially if they were farmers, it gives me "context" for what their "everyday" life was like. Their land is not always easy to find, especially if it has the old "metes and bounds" descriptions prevalent throughout the original British, French, and Spanish colonies. But if they lived in a "public land" sta
Roots, Records, and the Cherokee Nation in Roan County, Tennessee!
Tracking your ancestors' journeys is always fascinating! You never know what you'll find or learn about a place until you stop, explore, and discover the historical events that shaped it. During a stay in Kingston, Roane County, Tennessee, we decided to spend a few days checking out the courthouse and other historical sites while researching my Stracener line and their allied family, the Kuykendalls. Of course, I am always thrilled to find that a county courthouse's records were not burned! Roa
Maryland, Antietam, and a Possible Ancestor's Fate
I've been to Maryland several times — some trips purely for pleasure and sightseeing, others for genealogy research. One of the places we visited that has stayed with me is the site of the Civil War Battle of Antietam, also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg. Many of the young men who woke up that morning were also in Maryland for the first time. But they were not there for pleasure — they were there for war, and for many, for death. At this point, I have not confirmed any ancestors who fought i