Louisiana

Wyoming

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 the

Georgia

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

Texas

Easter Lilies, April 5, 1942

This Sunday, April 5, 2026, is Easter! In the South, children wake up and see what the Easter Bunny brought them. In their Easter basket, small chocolate eggs or perhaps a large chocolate bunny can be found with other candy such as jelly beans and marshmallow Peeps. It is the time that Christians celebrate the resurrection of their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. People come to church dressed in their best clothes to hear the priest or pastor speak about eternal life, forgiveness, and spiritual r

Georgia

Did the Georgia Wilkinson County Courthouse Have a Curse on it?

The bane of genealogists and historians is courthouse burnings, especially those in the South. I wanted to stop by the little town of Irwinton to follow up with some possible genealogical research at the local library and historical society. I already knew about the Wilkinson County courthouse fire in 1924, but I had not realized just how many there had been. How could this county be so unlucky! But there might be a chance that there were some remnants of my McCullar and Pace families who had se

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