Kids can be mean. When I was in elementary school, every St. Patrick’s Day meant a day of being pinched if you weren’t wearing green. I wasn’t Irish (or Catholic), so I didn’t pay much attention to St. Patrick’s Day. But I lived in a neighborhood with many Irish and/or Catholic families, and those kids did pay attention. If I…
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Dogs, drinking, dancing…and other distractions for nineteenth century farmers
A few weeks ago, I read something written by A. B. Simpson (1843-1919) that made me think about my farming ancestors and the Bright Shiny Objects in their lives. A Bright Shiny Object (aka BSO), for those unfamiliar with the term, is anything that distracts a person from the task at hand for more than just a short time. Simpson,…
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Closing out 2020 and ‘Keeping Grandma Alive’ in 2021
2020 was a trying year, to put it mildly. Everyone’s life was, and still is, disrupted. Some more than others. I already worked from home, and I don’t have kids in school, so much of my day-to-day routine wasn’t turned upside down. Of course I was affected by the shortages of paper goods, hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, meat for a…
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Beantown Girls: I know my dad a little better now
A few weeks ago, I read The Beantown Girls by Jane Healey. The story follows the World War II adventures of three twenty-something women from Boston. This trio of best friends volunteer to be Red Cross Clubmobile girls overseas. One the women, Fiona, hopes to get to the European continent and somehow find out the fate of her missing-in-action fiancé. …
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James C. Griffin: One Early Death Becomes Two
When I notice an early death in family history records, I’m always saddened. But I’m always curious, too. When I saw that my first cousin, thrice-removed, James C. “Jim” GRIFFIN (1895-1922) died from a boiler explosion I looked for a newspaper article, and I found one. I found something unexpected, too. Jim’s Early Life Jim. GRIFFIN was the son of…
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Henry L. Griffin – Lost in World War 1
Henry Lee GRIFFIN was born 29 Apr 1892 in Platt Springs, Lexington County, South Carolina. His parents were Henry David GRIFFIN (1858-1920) and Annie M. WATTS GRIFFIN (1862-1938). His grandfather, William Harris GRIFFIN, Sr. (1820-1870’s) was my 3rd great grandfather. This makes Henry Lee my 1st cousin thrice removed. Early Life On the 1900 and 1910 U.S. Census, Henry lived…
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