Needpix.com  T h is is the time of year when we think about the sacrifices our ancestors made coming to a new land seeking a better life for themselves and their unknown descendants.   Many of them braved perilous voyages over rough seas in tiny ships seeking religious freedom.   One hundred and fifty years later, their grandsons fought in the Revolutionary War for the right of self-government.   As genealogists, we have the privilege of gathering their stories and preserving them for our descendants.   I hope you will share their stories as you gather with your family this month.   On October 5, Katie Hanzeli, Marilyn Schunke and I attended the Seattle Genealogical Society’s Fall Seminar featuring Dr. Thomas W. Jones.   The topic of the Seminar was “Creating Credible Conclusions While Circumnavigating Walls”, learning how to forge innovative paths around research brick walls with confidence and ethics.   Learning from Dr. Jones is like...

Part II—Fire Spreads Death in Franklin Mine By MaryLynn Strickland By 1894 the miners of Franklin were working side by side—people who had migrated from Pennsylvania and Ohio, immigrants from Wales and England, single young Italian men hoping to earn enough money to bring their families to the US and black miners who had been “imported” from the mid-West in 1891.   Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper articles in 1894 related stories of miners striking throughout the United States.  Miners in Roslyn, Washington, had become divided over a wage reduction.  The August 18 paper reported that black miners had accepted the reduction; white miners were holding out and there was talk of moving black miners from Franklin to Roslyn.  Other news of the world dominated the front page of each issue. Picture property of Black Diamond Museum, permission granted for this purpose But “Stifled by Smoke” was the headline on the front page of the August 25, 1894, is...