Category: American History
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George Williams of Bertie County and the Battle of Stono Ferry
Photo: A British map of Stono Ferry referencing the 1779 battle. Source: South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust / As I blogged a few days ago, I have been trying to learn more about a George Williams who served in the North Carolina militia during the American Revolution. If further research prooves the connection, he would…
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Finding Castellaws and Cobbs at the National Archives
Since moving to Washington, D.C., a research trip to the National Archives has been near the top of my list. A recent Saturday morning with nothing planned gave me the chance to check it out. I had time that day for only a few quick searches in the Civil War database, but in a matter…
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Checking Out Robert E. Lee’s View of Washington, D.C.
Earlier this year, I picked up a copy of “Robert E. Lee: A Life” by humorist Roy Blount Jr. (1941-present). It looks like a great book, but so far I have only had time for a quick scan. Reading it has moved to the top of my to-do list, especially now. Yesterday, my family and…
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Visiting Old Salem Cemetery and Battlefield in Jackson
A few months ago, I ran across a website about Old Salem Cemetery and Battlefield in Jackson, Tennessee. So, when my family and I were headed east on Interstate 40, we stopped to check it out. According to the historical signage at the site, the land was originally associated with the Woolfork family and was…
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Louisiana’s Civil War Museum and the Robert E. Lee Monument
We were just in New Orleans and had a few hours before our train left for Memphis, so my wife and I checked out Louisiana’s Civil War Museum and the Robert E. Lee Monument. Having just visited Shiloh a week earlier, we are now one step away from throwing on period clothes and reenacting. Robert…
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Shiloh National Military Park
Last Sunday, my family and I took a slight detour on our way home to Memphis from Middle Tennessee and visited Shiloh National Military Park. I already knew the park had several special events planned because the 150th anniversary of the battle fell later that week. I did not, however, plan well enough to get…
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Early Settlers Richard and Temperance Cocke
For me, genealogy research feels a little like walking through an enormous old house with endless hallways and rooms. Some doors open into empty rooms. Others contain a few scattered clues, just enough to make you keep looking. Then, every once in a while, you stumble into a room previous generations of researchers have already…
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James Shield
As I am researching my family line, sometimes I spiral back and find myself looking for information about a family with a very distant connection. The branch of James Shield (about 1670-July 1727) sits way up and far to the side on my family tree, but it runs through a Revolutionary War story, a president…