Researchers usually don’t get very far before they find an ancestor who seems impossible to find. Many times this is because they are used to calling their ancestor by a certain name when, in fact, they were named something else. Names evolve, shorten, and modernize over time. Taking an ancestor from what everyone called them…
Befuddled by the 1880 Census
I have been working on the Kelly family this week. After finding Michael Kelly living with an Uncle, John Kelly, I renewed my efforts to fill in the blanks on his Father, Martin Kelly. I was pouring over data last night when I realized that I never found Martin’s sons, John Joseph Kelly and Matthew…
Working at the French Laundry
[Fearless Females–Women’s History Month, March 12th: Working Girl] This photograph was taken around 1905-1910. It shows the Mazeres family in front of one of their French laundries in Oakland, Alameda Co., California. My great grandmother, Brigitte (Breilh) Mazeres, always worked alongside her husband, Charles. When he died in 1921, she ran the laundries. In the…
The Lady Engineer: Olive D. Wetzel Dennis
Another fearless female, though not in my family tree. Olive Wetzel Dennis was a university graduate and became the first female engineer for B&O Railroad. This is her story. Olive D. Wetzel Dennis was born in 20 Nov 1885 (some sources have her born in 1895) and died in 1957. She held degrees in science…
Wedding Chapel Wednesday: Tony Red and Jennie
When I was first handed this photo, I was told “Oh, this is Tony Red and Jennie…some Pacheco or other”. Great…My Grandfather only had 45 Pacheco cousins who made it to adulthood. A whole host of them were name: Antao, Anton, Anthony, Antone, Antonio, and Tony! I did identify the couple eventually. The couple is…