Colonial Spanish

Spanish and Mexican colonial heritage — mission records, land grants, Spanish colonial archives, and ancestors from Texas, Florida, and the Southwest borderlands.

James Cole & Coles Creek: Family Tradition Meets the Records
Colonial British

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
Moses Austin - Virginia's Forgotten Founding Father
Virginia

Moses Austin - Virginia's Forgotten Founding Father

When you think of Virginia, you think of George Washington and Mount Vernon, Thomas Jefferson and Monticello, James Madison and Montpelier, along with other famous Virginians. However, you usually do not think of Moses Austin as one of those other famous Virginians. But he should be considered one of them because there are not many people who helped start a new country, and one that would later become the proud and great State of Texas! Located in New River State Park and Austin Memorial Park i
From Childhood Wonder to Ancient Lives — The Mounds That Stay With You
Colonial Spanish

From Childhood Wonder to Ancient Lives — The Mounds That Stay With You

Traveling across the South, you see occasional road signs for Native American Mounds. We try to stop and visit each of them when we come across them. Mounds have been important to me since I was a child. We visited the LSU Campus many times since my father went to LSU, and my parents took us to the football games as soon as we were old enough to walk the long distance from the parking lot to the stadium. Two things on campus were always our favorites: Mike the Tiger and the mounds! At first, we