Recent Posts

George and Sophie (Franck) Kienlen were my great grandparents. I never knew them, but, after researching their lives, I almost feel like I did. They were very active people, as you will see in this post. This week's theme is Favorite Photo. I tend to like photos that aren't rigid or posed. I like photographs that give you a little glimpse into the personalities of their subjects. One of my treasured photos is of George and Sophie together. They are outside - he is on a bench

Genealogy is more than collecting names and dates. Done right, it involves the discovery of the stories of your ancestors. Very often, I wonder my ancestors would have been thinking as historically important events were unfolding around them. My third great grandfather, Francis E. Stout, was born in North Carolina in 1828. He married Mary E. Pugh in Alamance County in 1852, where their first 5 children were born. By 1860, they were living in Maury County, Tennessee, where Mar

On December 12, I started writing about my 4th great grandfather, Louis Brazeau. If you missed that post, you can find it HERE. Louis, who often spelled his last name as Brazeaux, with an "x", is one of the ancestor's I would most like to meet. He lived during an interesting time period (1745-1828) in a very remote part of the continent. But he could sign his name. He was a Frenchman who interacted on a daily basis with Native Americans, Americans, the British, and the Spani

It's been a rough week for America. I, like many others, have thought a lot about America the past few days. What makes us who we are as Americans? What do we value? What brings us together, and what divides us? Some things are pretty clear. We are fighters. We are competitive. We are direct. We argue and debate issues. We protest when we believe we are wronged. And, unfortunately, sometimes we riot. I have decided that above all, we value freedom, truth, and equality. We sha