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Spring has sprung, and soon the yard will start bursting with new growth and the flowers with new buds. My other passion is gardening, or ‘yardening’ as I call it. I love getting out in the fresh air and enjoying what nature offers. It is excellent for my mental health, tending to plants, bees, pollinators, and birds.
But I love researching my ancestry too. Lately, I’ve been dabbling and making headway into some ancestors who have been sitting on my branches waiting to be explored. I proved a so-called family myth: “Wild Bill” Hickox William Hickox- 1608-1645 (Logan Family) was related to my Hickok line. I also connected him to his 4th great-grandmother, who was accused of being one of the Salem witches. Warrant for Arrest of Susannah Roots (Logan Family).
FamilySearch has this “Are We Related?” feature where you can see if you are related to famous people or others you follow in social media groups, etc. One thing they don’t really explain to the novices of the genealogy world is that the accuracy is only as good as the tree it is based on. When you place your tree on FamilySearch, anyone can change it anytime. This is because the premise behind FamilySearch’s trees is to have one shared tree.
This is not meant to be your private working tree. It is one public tree where anyone can provide input and collaborate. But, because not everyone understands this, things get changed and deleted without information. In other words, when you click on the “Are We Related?” feature, beware! You may not be related at all. I spent several weekends digging into several of these so-called relations. Most were untrue because of the wrong information in the tree, but a couple of them were correct, which was pretty exciting.
Do not get me wrong, I love FamilySearch for its immense repository of free information compiled and maintained by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Their records are second to none! I highly recommend using their records for your genealogy research.
Several years ago, I wrote about my 9th great grandfather, a Scottish POW, John MacBean – Scottish POW (Logan Family). A few weeks ago, as I was dabbling in my tree, I discovered that his daughter married his POW friend, John Sinclair, making them my 8th great-grandparents. Sinclair evidently comes from the noble St. Clair family of Roslin, Scotland. And, as intermarriage goes, John MacBean’s grandson married John Sinclair’s granddaughter.
I also researched my Coffyn/Steven’s line, which stems from my Convicted of High Treason! Oh No, 9th Great Grandfather! (Logan Family) Gove family. Dionis Stevens was part of the Great Migration to New England and arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1642. She was quite the businesswoman. More on her after some more research.
Things have also been changing in my personal life, giving me more time for gardening and family history. In a couple of months, I will be going part-time. I’ve been working towards this goal for a while now. It is exciting and scary at the same time. This means you’ll be hearing more from me, I hope.
Until then, keep researching your own family tree. As always, let me know if I can help.
He was the founder of Sonoco Products Company (not to be confused with Sunoco) and Coker University (which was Welsh Neck High School, then the Coker College for Women, now Coker University).
“He was able to hire so many people that were in desperate straits after the war that he just uplifted the progress of everybody, black and white, urban or rural. He also was a leader in racial and social progress,” Dr. Will Joslin (his great-grandson) said.
Click the video below (no sense in recreating the wheel, there are many websites and videos about him.)
Founded in 1899, Sonoco Products Company is a United States-based international provider of diversified consumer packaging, industrial products, protective packaging, and packaging supply chain services and the world’s largest producer of composite cans, tubes, and cores. Wikipedia Stock price: SON (NYSE) $60.71 +0.07 (+0.12%) Dec 30, 4:00 PM EST – Disclaimer Headquarters: Hartsville, SC Subsidiaries: Sonoco ThermoSafe, MORE CEO: R. Howard Coker (Feb 2020–) Number of employees: 21,000 (2017) Revenue: 5.237 billion USD (Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2020) Founder: James Lide Coker Founded: May 10, 1899
Having a full-time job means I spend a lot of time away from my family tree. More time than I like. But, in a way, it is a good thing. When looking at your family tree day in and day out, it can be frustrating, making you feel stuck and getting nowhere.
I have also had people tell me that they do not like the subscriptions to the big databases because they have taken all records that they have to give. But, this is not true. Remember, the big databases add new records all the time, meaning new hints are bound to occur. For instance, Family Search added about 180 new records from different countries, including the U.S. just last month. Find My Past updated titles and added new titles. Ancestry also updates and adds records regularly, lately adding about 40-50 collections. Chronicling America, one of my favorite newspaper databases, does the same thing. They’ve added and updated 100s of records. MyHeritage is doing the same, adding billions of records each year.
The old adage, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” is true for taking a break from your research or at least move it in a different direction. During my recent vacation, I hopped on Ancestry and learned that I had some new hints on one of my proverbial brick walls, my 7th great-grandmother. Low and behold, it was her will! That will listed her children and grandchildren! That hint led me to her father and his will! I have been able to add her mother and siblings, expanding that whole line.
You can also take a break by moving in a different direction. For instance, a lot of people tend to focus solely on their direct line. By not researching sideways; brothers, sisters, cousins, etc., you are missing out on a full picture of your direct ancestor. You can then develop a more detailed picture of their lives. When I first started out, I did this exact thing. I concentrated only on my direct lines. By adding their siblings and their children, I’ve been able to expand my tree so much.
You do not need to stop researching to take a break. I like to review some of the sources I have attached to an ancestor. With experience, I’ve learned more about reading records. I review older sources and often find some information I have overlooked or apply what I have learned to that older source.
Remember, not all family records are online. Archives, libraries, and local family history societies may be able to help. Write to a few and see what they have. They are very helpful and sometimes will assist you for free.
You can also look into an ancestor’s social history. The history around your ancestor can add context to the world your ancestors lived in. The internet, including YouTube is full of how-to videos with research tips you haven’t tried yet or a record collection you haven’t heard of.
Do not let that brick wall stop you! Take a break, go a different route and get a fresh outlook for when you return.
If you need someone to take a look at a brick wall you have, give me a shout. I am happy to dig around and give you a fresh angle to search.
Last weekend, I wrote the blog, Hidden In A Letter, in which I was trying to connect the Ohio Stephanz’s to the Kansas Stephanz’s. Little did I know the mystery man was right in front of me the whole time.
I was confusing my generations a bit, but it was the same family nonetheless. I was also so focused on the fact that MY Stephanz was in Kansas that I was not seeing the facts staring me right in the face! It took two other people seeing my conundrum to help me put the puzzle pieces in the right place.
Back one generation of the Kansas family is my third great-grandfather, Matijas Štefanc married to Marija Fugina. I did not have much information on him except that he was born on 17 Sep 1845 in Stari Trg ob Kolpi, Slovenia, and that his son was also Matijas Štefanc who immigrated to Kansas. It turns out that my third great-grandfather was living a double life. Newspaper articles helped me figure out the secrets.
Matijas Štefanc married Marija Fugina in June 1866 at the Parish Church of St. Jozef in Stari Trg ob Kolpi, Slovenia. In 1867, their son Matijas was born at #10 in Dolenji Radenci, Slovenia. According to a newspaper article, the two separated around 1869 and Marija immigrated to Kansas to be with family.
Another article states that Matijas left his wife and son in Slovenia around 1865 (it was 1869) and came to America. In 1872, he met and married Clara Latour in Toledo, Ohio. They had three children together. They also had an adopted son who went back to his birth name sometime after 1911.
In 1892, the son, Matijas, travels from Slovenia and visits his father. This is when it became apparent that ‘ole Matijas had a second family and was still married! He makes it legal and divorces his first wife (I have not found a record of the divorce) and remarries Clara in October of 1892. Eight years later, Clara died. A month after her death, he remarried Marija on 15 October 1900 who immigrated here on 26 June 1900. She died in 1904 of tuberculosis.
Yes, he married both wives twice!
Now I have two more 2nd great-grand aunts and a 2nd great-grand uncle giving me numerous cousins! My 1st cousin 1x removed (my mom’s first cousin who is four years younger than me) will be meeting one of those descendants soon! They both have the same 2nd great-grandfather in Matijas (1845) but two different 2nd great-grandmothers.
In the letter, my great-grandfather, Matijas (1894), mentions he’s staying with Alice. I believe this Alice is his first cousin, Matija’s and Clara’s daughter’s daughter.
Look at all these cousins! And I haven’t even traced the bottom two lines!
And, I owe it all to a letter my great-grandfather wrote to his sister in 1916.
As always, there is more to the story, so I’ll keep digging.
Do you have ancestors you want to find out more about? Contact me. I’ll be running a holiday special soon. I also have gift certificates to purchase for that hard-to-buy person on your Christmas list.
The postmark and what he wrote on his letter says “Detroit, Mich”. I can only assume he was visiting. In his letter, he refers to his adventures in “Toledo”. He starts it with what must be her nickname, (written as he wrote with punctuation and spelling.)
“Dear Squib,
I got your letter all ok. I spent the 4th in Toledo and went to Toledo Beach sure had a good time. I am going to tell you something that I don’t want the old folks to know. I think I’ll marry in Toledo. I’ve got the girl at last I believe and I found her myself too. Her name is Bessie Jacobs. Tell you how I met her Elizabeth’s old friend Frances (can’t read last name) has been trying to land me “ha ha” the old fossil she got me to come over and meet her cousin from Detroit and this little girl happened to be there too and she didn’t introduce us but I made up my mind that I didn’t need any and the funny part of it Bessie told me later that she had her mind made up to know me too but Frances kept on her tail so much that I couldn’t talk to her alone until the next day. She is a telephone operator and I’ve got the job taking her home when I am there now there’s another fellow but his name will be mud before I’m done. Sis, you can talk about fast work, but listen to this I met about 2 o’clock Monday and Wed night about 12 I proposed (she would not give me a final answer yet) She didn’t know me well enough yet but I think my chances are good. I wish you or Leah could come here on a visit and meet her I wonder if she is a big as Joe’s girl she weighs 103 pounds and reaches about to my arm pit and she wears glasses but she can look nicer in them than any girl I ever saw she 19 years old and she can cook and do housework too she’s not a fancy cook but she can put up a meal so I should worry. I’ll think I’ll move to Toledo and go living Alice’s husband is trying to land me a job there and I can be making 100 (word looks like “bones”) in a short time and I know I’ll like it better he’s got 2 uncles that are engineers too so it will all be in the family and I can save more money there too. What’s the matter with the King (Joe’s nickname maybe?) I thought he was going to be a candy maker he better try something where he can learn to be something so he won’t be a common laborer when he is my age I wish you all would move to Toledo you could all get jobs here easy enough and we could all have a dandy time better than in KC I believe. Well sis I guess I told you all I could so I will close now hoping to hear from you soon and tell all my friends hello for me Leah and Joe too (Leah must have been Joe’s sister, Lizzie- maybe a nickname) Tell that King to get a job dam quick and tell the Belgian hello too I almost forgot her.
With Love, Mat
P. S. I repeat I would like picture of the bunch as soon as possible. ”
~~~~~~~~~
A few days ago, my 1st cousin, 1x removed (my mom’s 1st cousin) instant messaged me asking. “The Ohio connection is still a mystery, right?” She found a person on Facebook that lives about 20 minutes from her who has a maiden name of Stephanz and has connections to Toldeo, Ohio. I had to refer back to this letter to re-familiarize myself with the details.
So, with her name and the names of her uncles and her half-siblings, I decided to create an Ohio Stephanz family tree to see what I could find. Sure enough, I was able to build her tree. I was able to trace it back to another Mathias Stephanz, born in Austria. The kicker is that he was born the same month and year as my great-grandfather and he married a Clara. However, this Clara’s last name was Latour. About a month later, he married Marie (maiden name unknown) in Wyandotte, Kansas! This has to be our Kansas connection! But, I need proof.
And why did he marry again only a month after Clara died? Well, see this article for the reason.
There were other connections. In the letter, he mentions Alice and that her husband’s uncles are engineers, “keeping it all in the family.” The Toledo Mathias’ sons work with the railroad. And, his daughter Francis had a daughter named Alice. She is only a couple of years younger than the Kansas Mathias. Could this be the Alice he was staying with when he wrote the letter?
We now know that Mathias and Marie had a son before he came to the states, according to the news article. What was his name? We know Marie came to Kansas after they separated, did she bring her son?
How is the Ohio Mathias Stephanz connected to the Kansas Mathias Stephanz?
That, my friends, is the million-dollar question. I am hoping by blogging this story, someone connected will contact me. I also hope my cousin’s meeting with the Ohio Stephanz baker will shed some light.
Sometimes it is the answers you do not find. A couple of months ago, I received an email from a man in the UK looking for an old friend who he heard had passed away here in America. At first, I didn’t answer thinking it was one of those scams, “You’ve inherited $5000 lbs from Uncle Larry.” In addition, I research family history, not long lost friends. However, he wrote again and his story piqued my interest.
His friend was a psychiatric nurse in the UK and used to travel to America through his work. This friend also changed his surname, maybe by deed poll, from his birth surname to his adopted surname. Tragically he died while in America, his friend heard, by being hit by a train or hit by train shrapnel.
“TH” (alias for the person who contacted me) thought the incident was bizarre and had contacted his friend’s brother, but the brother wouldn’t discuss anything with him, further adding to the mystery. The brother traveled from England to America to take care of the details when he died, but “TH” doesn’t believe the body was brought back to the UK. With only an approximate birth year to go on, I looked through all my resources, newspapers.com, etc., and found no mention of this friend or incident. Without knowing where his friend died, it was fruitless. “TH” continued his research from his end and wrote me again a few weeks later.
“TH” had found out that his friend had died in New Jersey. Thanks to “Reclaim the Records“, he was able to find the death index. That in turn gave him the exact birth and death of his friend. With that information, I found his friend’s birth parents and confirmed that the record pertained to the right person. “TH” was close to the information he provided but forgot that our date formats are different than theirs.
I still could not find a newspaper article on the incident. Curious about the name change, I wrote the National Archives of the United Kingdom to search their deed polls. A “Remote Enquiries Duty Officer” emailed me right back and explained that he could not find a deed poll entry for a name change for “TH’s” friend. The gentleman also explained that “Changes of name by deed poll are only recorded officially if a fee is paid to have the deed enrolled in court – not many people do this and so there is often no official record other than the original deed poll issued to the person themselves.”
With further research, I found he was issued his social security number in Arkansas in 1988, but could find no further records. Next, I wrote the New Jersey State Library and the researcher was very kind. She had access to the Morristown Daily Record from 1995. She tried several different searches to see if she could find an obituary or article about either the train accident or an obituary for him but did not come across anything. Doing a general search for “train accident”, “hit by a train”, or “train” for June 6, 1995, and broadly for June 1995 did not have any results. She also did a general search in NJ Newspapers via NewsBank as well and did not find anything either.
I then heard back from the New Jersey History and Genealogy Center. They too searched different newspapers from 1995 and could find nothing on the friend or any mention of a train accident or similar. Could it be that this isn’t how he died? Unfortunately, because “TH” is not a relative, he cannot obtain a copy of the death certificate.
I built a family tree in my Ancestry account and found their biological parents, but no hits so far.
Now I have two questions, 1) Did he really die by train? 2) Why won’t his brother share the specifics with “TH”?
The hunt continues…
This was out of my realm, but very interesting for me as I love mysteries and researching. Investigative Genetic Genealogy is the popular way to solve crimes now due to DNA and it is very intriguing. However, not only can it be used to solve crimes but, I believe it can solve family history mysteries and help adopted parents or children, etc.
But for able to get into this part of genealogy, I need more practice in the genetic part and Reverse Genealogy. I hope to broaden my research skills and do just that!
According to the Pennsylvania Genealogies: Chiefly Scots-Irish and German by William Henry Egle, MD, MA, the Galbraiths were from a remote part of Stirling, Scotland in the “Parish of Baldunoch.”
“A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, Volume 1” states that In Frazer’s statistical account of the inhabitants of the Isle of Gigha, the following occurs: “The majority of them are of the names of Galbraith and McNeill, the former reckoned the more ancient. The Galbraiths in the Gaelic language are called Breatannich, that is Britons, or the children of Briton, and were once reckoned a great name in Scotland according to the following lines translated from the Gaelic:
“Galbraiths from the Red Tower, Noblest of Scottish surnames.”
Culcreuch Castle
In Fintry, Stirlingshire, Scotland was recently a hotel, now a private residence, but once was the ancestral home of Clan Galbraith; built in 1296. This castle replaced the clan stronghold of Inchgalbraith in Loch Lomond. Other Galbraith castles included Gartconnel, Balgair, Balvie, Bannachra, Bardowie, Barskimming, Craigmaddie, Garscadden, Mains, as well as Kincaid House. All were located between Stirling and Glasgow. ~From the Clan Galbraith Society
My Galbraith line starts with Martha, my 3rd great-grandmother, born about 1800. And, according to the Pennsylvania Vital Records, Vol. II and Lineage Book: NSDAR: Volume 164: 1921, married John Stitt on 23 October 1817. According to the same DAR Lineage Book, her father was John Galbraith and her mother was Anne, last name unknown. They married about 1786.
John’s parents were James and Martha McClelland, as the lineage shows. The lineage book also states, “James Galbraith was county lieutenant with the rank of colonel, 1777, and also served as private in the Pennsylvania troops under Colonels Miles, Bull, and Butler. He was born in Cumberland County; died, 1802, in Pennsylvania.”
I have not been able to find anything more about John, but his father was James, born about 1743 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, according to the DAR lineage and the Sons of the American Revolution. He married Martha McCelland about the year 1760. He was a captain in William Peebles company in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania March 1776.
In the Pennsylvania Genealogies: Chiefly Scotch-Irish and German by William Henry Egle, 1886, it states, James Galbraith ,5 (John ,4 Andrew ,3 James ,2 John ,1) born about 1741 ; died prior to 1790 ; was county lieutenant of Cumberland county in 1777 ; a soldier of the Pennsylvania Line in the Revolution; in 1783 , resided in “Washington borough , near Carlisle ;” married Martha McClellan , daughter of John McClellan ,* of Donegal .
Revolutionary War Battalions & Militia Index Cards. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
James’ father was John born about 1717. (notice the names alternating and staying in the family).
John married Jennet McCullough about 1742. Not much is known about this John either.
His father was Andrew born about 1692 and married to Mary Kyle.
Appletons’ Cyclopedia of American Biography; Volume: Vol. II
Andrew Galbraith,3 (James,2 John,1) was born about 1692 in the North of Ireland; came to America with his father, and settled along the run which has its source at Donegal meeting house, now Lancaster County, Pa., in the year 1718. Upon the organization of the county of Lancaster, he was appointed the first coroner, afterward, in 1730, one of the justices of the Court of Common Pleas and Quarter Sessions, a position he held for six years. In 1732, he and his neighbor, John Wright, were candidates for the General Assembly. At that time, none but freeholders were allowed to vote, and the only polling place was the town of Lancaster, where all voters were obliged to go. Mr. Galbraith took no active part in the canvass himself, but his wife mounted her favorite mare, Nelly, and rode out through the Scotch-Irish settlement, and persuaded them to go with her to the county town. She appeared at the courthouse leading a procession of mounted men, whom she halted and addressed. The effect was that her husband was triumphantly elected. After his first election, he seems to have had no opposition. He took out a patent for two hundred and twelve and one-half acres, May 2, 1737; and was one of the first ruling elders of the old Donegal church; appointed a justice of the peace in 1730, a position he held until 1747, when he removed west of the Susquehanna; he served several years in the Provincial Assembly, and was one of the most prominent of the pioneer settlers–a safe and trustworthy officer. After the year 1746, when he disposed of his farm, very little is recorded concerning him. (Pennsylvania Genealogies: Chiefly Scotch-Irish and German. William Henry Egle, 1886.)
Andrew’s father, James, is thought to have been born in Donegal, Ireland about 1666 and emigrated about 1718. He was one of the founders of the Old Derry Church. He was said to be a “man of prominence.” James married Rebecca Chambers about 1689.
Ca. 1880s lithograph: Old Derry Church – – Built A. D. 1720 – – Repaired A. D. 1760 (Palmyra, PA, Dauphin County)
He died 23 Aug 1744 at age 78.
James’ father was John, wife unknown. He was born about 1646, born in Baldunoch, Stirling County, Scotland. It is thought that he died before the emigration of his sons, James and John.
From William Gilbreath of the Clan Galbraith Facebook group:
We do not know if James of 1666 was born in Ireland but he came from there in 1718. We don’t know that his father was John and we have failed to link James back to the first Galbraith family of Ireland, who arrived there about 1613. Our last Chief from Culcreuch fled to Ireland in about 1625 and left living sons in Scotland who might have lines to the present. We are pretty sure that Group 1 links back to the 1400s at Culcreuch–but we do not know if the Chiefs maintained the DNA into the future (or past to Bretnach of 1150).
From Dana Love same group: We know the two groups have the same YDNA Haplogroup and most of the same markers which lead us to believe they were related at some point, but they are several generations apart. We haven’t found any source documents to tie them together.
DNA has become an important tool in genealogical research, and as more people take the test, the number of matches increases, making it even more useful. Hopefully, this will be true for these family lines.
Hello followers! It has been many months since I have written. I could blame it on the virus, and I will. It did start because of Covid-19. When the students from my school were sent home in March, I had additional admin duties. Yes, I was blessed because I was considered “essential” and was able to work many hours from home, but I was swamped.
Being home, I spent a lot of time in my yard and garden in between having to be on the computer. I started concentrating on the garden as it reduced my stress level. I have blogged about this before; gardening helps you forget the world’s problems and be in the moment. If you want to follow my trials and tribulations with my “yarden”, follow me at @marleesyardening on Instagram.
I also wrote an article for Family Tree (U.K.), and it was published this month. You can read it here (although it looks much better in the magazine itself!) My Wolcott Family, I hope you enjoy it. You can also follow my Loganalogy posts at @Loganealogy on Instagram or @Loganealogy on Facebook.
Recently, I was able to help my cousin’s wife’s family with her mother’s history. Here is their story.
“Both my mom and my Aunt have been trying to replace their U.S. naturalization papers for years. After 9/11, they haven’t been able to renew their driver’s licenses, which means they can’t write a check, travel anywhere, etc. The problem has been the lack of documentation of their immigration from Latvia to the U.S. in 1949. Their names were missing from the ship’s manifest, the courthouse clerks I contacted told me they didn’t have a record of them, they weren’t listed at Ellis Island. It was like they didn’t exist. We consulted an immigration attorney, worked with Senator Bill Nelson’s office and spent countless hours on the phone with USCIS and the local USCIS field office. Aunt Roz was going through the same nightmare in California… she hired an immigration attorney, etc. Nothing.
A few weeks ago, we decided to ask Matt’s cousin Marlee, a genealogy consultant, for help. All we asked her to do was to verify the ship the family was on and what port they arrived. Last week, Marlee sent us 25 perfectly clear documents: scanned copies of the original immigration cards for my entire family, the amended ship manifest with their names on it, my grandparent’s work application, written notes about the camp in Germany they were in, and how they had to flee Latvia, even the list of items in my mom’s suitcase when she arrived. My Aunt and I were both in tears when we received it all. We are kicking ourselves for not seeking Marlee’s help sooner, but we are so thankful we finally did.”
I am happy to say that you’ll be hearing from me more often as I help others discover their roots and find connections, especially my own. If you know of anyone who would like help building their family tree, let me know.
Hello Followers. I wanted to check in with you since I have not written a blog in quite some time. The last real blog was March 19, so almost a month now. Like you, my family has been self-isolating. Not only from the virus but the crazier people who do not think it is a serious threat.
My son and I are both essential works so we have been working except for my Easter vacation. I am working four hours in the office and four hours at home. My son works all day in the warehouse. Neither of our companies allows outside visitors. We are both very careful as my mother, who is in her late 70s, lives with us.
Since I am working from home I have not had a lot of the extra family history time I see a lot of people talking about. But, I have tried to take advantage of the free sites and free records that have become available. It’s funny, some of the records I have run across have names that I could have used a couple of years ago. But, now I at least know I am on the right track.
I did have success with my 80 year old uncle’s tree. Back on Thanksgiving he was telling me about his brick wall with his grandparents on his mother’s side. Her father seems to have disappeared after deserting her and her brothers. The name he always went by with this family seems to actually be a nickname. In tracing the date of birth and his birthplace, we tracked down what we think is his real name.
With the help of the West Virginia Archives and History Library, we followed these coincidences and found all kinds of information on his family. But, until we find a document where he uses his nickname along with his real name, we cannot be 100% sure it is him. Or, until we can find some DNA matches. Once we entered his real name into our database, a whole slew of information and family members popped up. Including others on their public trees who seemed to have come to the same conclusion. And, here’s the kicker, it seems there is another family who this man deserted…under his real name. We hope to connect to this family to find some answers.
West Virginia Archives and History Photo Gallery
I’ve also been doing a lot of gardening, my other great passion. We had some umbrella palms start to take over so we had them pulled out, by the root balls. Little did I know a few years after I planted them, they would become evasive! They loved the wet clay soil, too much! I’ve since been filling the spaces in with some organic matter from my compost pile. I’ve also added a few pieces of cardboard and will mulch and soil over that. It’s like having a blank canvas to start planting in.
And, my flowers are blooming. Always a welcome sight and lifts the spirits. My garden is defintely a great boost for my mental health.
I cannot seem to concentrate enough to pull an ancestor story together for a blog, but I did want to check-in. I hope that you and your family are safe and well. As our ancestors did from their pandemics, this too shall pass.
Loganalogy- The Family Historian 
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