Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Its March already and once again, Women's History Month.  In the past we have featured women we had never known, noted for their contribution to history and heroic deeds.  We also requested stories from you, our readers, and you came through with stories of your ancestors  ranging from Colonial times to the 20th century. This month let's approach women's history from another angle--research!  Dust off your favorite genealogical tools and get ready to do an exhaustive research of a woman in your family tree or a woman about whom you would like to know more, even though she is not part of your family.   Image courtesy of Kat, on Flickr Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth... from The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost Perhaps your choice will be the wife of your ancestor's sibling, perhaps an a...

My longest standing brick wall has been DISSOLVED, thanks to lectures by Alexis Hacker Scholz on using probate and Carol Friedel using LucidChart for genealogy. I'm also advocating getting enough sleep and awakening slowly, and just thinking, before springing out of bed. 💤 That is where my inspiration arose, on my pillow.  If we've met and talked about genealogy, you have heard about my McBees and the mystery William McBee, known only as a name on his son Samuel B's death certificate. After Alexis' probate lecture, the gears were turning about how to look for probate files - but where to look? When I heard Carol thinking aloud, and saw her charting out a mystery DNA match, something clicked. The descendancies she was charting look like the Ancestry.com Thrulines®, so why not mine those and see if William's purported father, George Henry McBee and Martha 'Patsey' Willis, could be proven to be his parents? Not just by DNA matches, but by records. Thrulines® ...

Lolas? Yes, my children had two grandma Lolas! My mother, Lola McBee Cowan and my husband's mother, Lola Kammer Zimmerman. Even more amazing, their birthdays are one day apart, although separated by some years. My mother was born 11 November 1926, 'Lola Z' November 10, 1919.  Lola Cowan and Lola Zimmerman, ~1997 And they were friends. My mom even briefly worked at Lola Z's business, The Herbfarm in Fall City, Washington. Sadly, they also died a day apart, although again, separated by some years. My mother died 19 February 2001, Lola Z 18 February 2004.  Lola McBee Cowan Lola McBee was born in Indianola, Iowa, the seventh of eleven children. Her father was remodeling their house when she was born, so her first months were spent in a tent! Then he sold their property for $700 and they began a trek up to Alberta, Canada where he believed he would strike it rich. They began by traveling to nearby Des Moines to say goodbye to family there, when illness struck. According to K...

Thank you for the contributions of your stories in celebration of Women in History March 2021.  Each of your stories displays the spirit of the many unsung heroes upon whom we all base our ancestry. Moving West was not an easy task but millions of families did it in the 19th and early 20th centuries.  Here are two such stories. Territorial Pioneer Certificate awarded by Kittitas County Genealogical Society Tom Briggs writes, “My story would be about my grandmother, Arba Scott Livingston Roberts, born in 1895 in Missouri.  The family moved to Oklahoma Indian Territory where her father, James R. Scott, died.  Her mother, Cynthia Evens Scott Olson moved all six children to Cle Elum by train.  One person had to stay awake to keep the cinders from lighting their bedding on fire.  My story is about my grandmother but I think I would rather talk to my great grandmother Cynthia; she must have been one tough lady.” Brittany (in the headband) on Grandpa Tom's lap wit...

  New Eclectic History of United States, 1890 Mary Elsie Thalheimer Eleanor Carothers Wilson--North Carolina I am very proud to count a woman of singular energy of mind and courage, Eleanor Carothers Wilson of Steele Creek, Mecklenburg Co., North Carolina as my 5th great grandmother. A native of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, she was the wife of Robert “Old Robin” Wilson, and they moved their growing family to North Carolina about 1760. By the time of the American Revolution, this whole family was devoted to securing our liberty, with 7 of their 11 sons serving in various campaigns of the war. Two had earlier been captured at Charleston and later paroled, including my ancestor, Robert, Jr., and later Robert, Sr. and another son, carrying supplies to General Sumter at Camden, South Carolina, were also captured. While they were still in British hands, Cornwallis moved into the Charlotte area to forage and plunder the surrounding farms, taking control of the Wilson’s farm a...

Women's History Month | National Women's History Museum Recognition of w omen's contribution to history has grown from a week in 1980 to the entire month of March beginning in 1987.  For the next four weeks, this blog will feature stories and pictures of our society members' women ancestors and their historical experiences.  Some of the stories are short remembrances with pictures. Elizabeth Barrett Gunnell (1822-1907)  Smiles Amidst Tears   Created out of different journal entries  by Elizabeth Barrett Murray File (1893-1994) "When they moved from Virginia to Kentucky they left a set of glass goblets on the table as they had no room to take them. I always wished that I could have gone in and got them. "One time when they were short on food Grandma’s mother went to the mill to buy meal on credit and the miller wouldn’t let her have it. So she came home and threw herself across the bed and cried. I always wondered what the family did." A little background ...