Today, being a nice day before the polar vortex arrives midweek (or not), I went down to Baltimore for some cemetery exploring. On Monday, I found a reference to my great-grandfather Allyn Gardner in a defunct Baltimore daily German language newspaper. According to a one-line note, he was the witness to a marriage license issuedContinue reading “Gathering Evidence on a Genealogical Puzzle”
Tag Archives: Genealogy
A Potential Genealogical Discovery
I found something interesting yesterday, a reference to my great-grandfather in one of Baltimore’s German language newspapers, Der Deutsche Correspondent, on December 1, 1899. Der Deutsche Correspondent was Baltimore’s daily German newspaper, and it was published for nearly eighty years, from the early 1840s to 1918. It reads (translated thanks to Google): Marriage LicensesMarriage licensesContinue reading “A Potential Genealogical Discovery”
2018: The Year in Review
Most every year I do this — go back through my blog archives and post a link to the first post I made each month. The results are random, to say the least; there’s no consistency. But about six of these are worthwhile. Which six? That’s for you to find out. 🙂 January: Winter Misanthropy:Continue reading “2018: The Year in Review”
A Christmastime Visit to the Cemetery
Earlier last week I took a short trip to Baltimore’s Loudon Park Cemetery, where my great-grandparents, three of my great-grandfather’s siblings, and his mother are buried. The Baltimore area received about three and a half inches of rain over the weekend (from mid-day Friday to Sunday evening), and, since the cemetery floods, I wanted toContinue reading “A Christmastime Visit to the Cemetery”
My Armistice 100 Adventure
In mid-September it dawned on me that November 11, 2018 would mark the 100th-anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I. Intellectually, as an historian, I knew this. I knew it in the same way that I know that water freezes at 32 degrees and objects fall to the earth at 32 feet perContinue reading “My Armistice 100 Adventure”
Exploring Cemeteries in Leesburg
Over the weekend, I went down to Virginia to visit my parents, whom I’d not seen since the Carbon Leaf show back in March. On the way down, I decided, I would to visit a cemetery in Leesburg, Virginia; according to Find-a-Grave, my great-grandfather’s brother James is buried there. I’d been skeptical of Find-a-Grave’s information,Continue reading “Exploring Cemeteries in Leesburg”
Scenes of Terrible Beauty
Ducks splashed in the water. Two larger ducks, adults obviously, sat on outcroppings just beyond the shoreline, while four ducklings paddled in the water. Sometimes, the adults would move from one outcropping to another. Sometimes they would see me, twenty yards distant or more, and take flight, either jump-flying to the opposite shore or, moreContinue reading “Scenes of Terrible Beauty”
A Cemetery Underwater
It was all I could do not to vomit when I stepped from the Beetle. I’ve been to Baltimore’s Loudon Park cemetery a few times in the last year, first to locate my great-great-grandmother’s grave, which I found right away, and then follow-up visits to find my great-grandfather’s brother’s grave, which I finally located aboutContinue reading “A Cemetery Underwater”
A Cemetery Find, Five Years Past
Five years ago today, I visited Washington’s Congressional Cemetery for the second time. The Cubs were in Washington, the game was in late afternoon, and before the game I went to Congressional Cemetery to do some exploration and, more importantly, confirm the location of my great-great-grandfather William Gardner. My first visit had been in SeptemberContinue reading “A Cemetery Find, Five Years Past”
Finding a Distant Relation
Spring has been oddly slow to arrive this year. The first nice weekend of the spring, I went to Lynchburg and saw Carbon Leaf. The second nice weekend of the spring, I went to Cecil County and poked around cemeteries. This was the third nice weekend of the spring, and on Saturday I drove downContinue reading “Finding a Distant Relation”