Trees and Friends and Friends in Trees The eighth page of Sally’s photo album featured…

John Borden (1729-1801) Two hundred and eighty-seven years ago, John Borden was born on 12…

Robert Boyes (1743-1803) Happy 273rd Birth Anniversary to Revolutionary War soldier, Robert Boyes. Robert Boyes…

Rochester Minnesota, like a lot of places, is exploding with craft beer. In the last…

Edward Morris (1688-1769) Edward Morris was born on 09 Nov 1688 in Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts…

Caroline Hilson (1863-1940) Today is the 153rd anniversary of the birth of Caroline Hilson. Birth…

Johann Friederick Streich (1784-1852) It is amazing that we know anything about Johann. He didn’t…

This week we remember Frieda Lemke who was born 135 years ago today. Henriette Clara…

This toddler is outside on the farm. The photograph was part of a collection of…

Stephen Bacon (1677-1766) Stephen Bacon was born on 21 Aug 1677 in Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts,…

Boating and Iowa The 30th page of Sally’s photo album included pictures of boating and…

John Thomas Estes (1856-1947) Birth and Youth John Thomas Estes was born on 07 May…

Torkjel Johannesson Ovstedal (1772-1838) Torkjel Johannesson Ovstedal was born in 1772 on the Ovstedal farm,…

Taylor Webster (1748/49-1802) Taylor Webster was born on 18 Jan 1748/49 in Essex, New Jersey….

This is the sixth installment of the series on the 19th amendment. Thus far, we’ve…

James W Huleress “Hugh” Fawcett (1848-1935) James W Huleress Fawcett was born on 12 Aug…

When we last left Floyd, he was asleep on board a Norfolk & Western train…

Hiking, Kids, and Madison The 20th page of Sally’s photo album featured a collection of…

One of Floyd’s brothers wrote him a letter and signed it “Balsy.” Comparing handwriting and…

Joseph Baldwin (1751-1844) Joseph Baldwin, signature Birth Joseph Baldwin was born on 13 Sep 1751…

Barebo Engebretsdtr Torset (1848-1940) Barebo Engebretsdtr Torset was born on 09 Mar 1848 in Endredokken,…

From her hospital room in Aurora, Florence Manning wrote to Floyd. Florence was the fiancé…

Katharina Barbara Muench was born and baptized on 04 Mar 1810 in Obrigheim, Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg,…

Friedrich Samuel Aschbrenner (1810-1885) Friedrich Samuel Aschbrenner was born on 19 Oct 1810 in Posen,…

Zelpha Lou McCall (1866-1900) Zelpha Lou McCall was born in July 1866 in Callaway County,…

Camp Wakanda and more The 14th page of Sally’s photo album featured a collection of…

Remember that letter that Arthur wrote to his brother Floyd back in late January? The…

Some letters are more entertaining than others. This one is a gem. Albert Harold Phillips…

Philander Baldwin (1809-1876) Arrival at Watertown Two hundred and seven years ago today, 16 April…

I am very excited to announce that my book “The Christianson Family” is now available….

Marta Knudsdtr Horvei was born in about July 1789 on the Horvei farm in Voss,…

Convert your old media to digital… Before it is too late! Restoring old media may…

DC and a Trip Home The 43rd page of Sally’s photo album featured pictures taken…

Sabra Billings (1751->1840) Sabra Billings was born 265 years ago and lived in a volatile…

Roseanna Fuller (1759-1844) Roseanna Fuller was born on 16 May 1759 in Amenia, Dutchess, New…

Halvor Stemson (1835-1927) Halvor Stemson was born on 14 Feb 1835 in Nes i Hallingdal,…

Mildred Holland (1779-1854) Today is the 238th anniversary of the birth of Mildred Holland. She was…

Live Y’ers The 27th page of Sally’s photo album featured a collection of photos taken…

Birgit Tolleivsdatter Uppsata was born on 29 Sep 1760 in Ål, Buskerud, Norway. Uppsala has…

Washington and Niagara Falls The 39th page of Sally’s photo album featured a collection of…

George Leifheite Miller (1830-1921) George Leifheite Miller was born on 14 Oct 1830 in Nassau,…

This past week was a continuation of the study of the probate for William McCall’s…

My latest book, “The Aldahl Family,” is now available. Nearly all my time in 2020…

George Brownell (1711-1800) George Brownell was born on 21 Jun 1711 in Little Compton, Newport,…

People and Indian School The 47th and final page of Sally’s photo album featured many…

Bennett Nils Christianson (1902-2000) This week of each year is always a little tough. For so…

Florence Estelle Manning, the fiancé of Floyd’s brother Arthur Guy Phillips, wrote another friendly letter…

Joy cometh later in the afternoon – helping an adoptee connect Nearly every week, a…

I am quite humbled to have been nominated and beyond thrilled to have been selected…

When Bennett and his son Merlin hear a strange scratching sound inside the granary, they…

I was excited a week ago when I started thinking about the event. But now, the…

Barbara Mary Meyer (1881-1972) Barbara Mary Meyer was born on 09 Jun 1881 in Mendota,…

Thomas Leland Estes (1896-1968) Thomas Leland Estes was born on 28 Mar 1896 in Castana,…

After several days on the boat, life was probably getting a bit monotonous. Floyd reported…

Bertha Auguste Henriette Kluender (1848-1936) Bertha Auguste Henriette Kluender Aschbrenner. Bertha Auguste Henriette Kluender was…

Floyd spent another day in the middle of the Atlantic. He ate, rested, and took…

In the last post in this series, we saw a letter that Gertrude Lovin Boyce…

Hooray! After months and months of effort, the Phillips book has finally been published. Though…

Sally and friends The 28th page of Sally’s photo album featured a collection of photos…

Bernhard Richard R Krueger (1873-1927) Bernhard Richard R Krueger was born on 18 Nov 1873…

Girls and Relatives The fifth page of Sally’s photo album contained shots with friends and…

2013. SocialICE. Last night we attended our seventh annual SocialICE. This is the eighth year…

Friedrich Samuel Aschbrenner (1810-1885) Friedrich Samuel Aschbrenner was born on 19 Oct 1810 in Posen,…

Johann Carl Friedrich Lemke (1845-????) Johann Carl Friedrich Lemke was born on 22 May 1845…

Charlotte Johnson (1820-1904) Charlotte Johnson was born on 14 Sep 1820 in Genesee, New York,…

Winter in Marathon Park The 16th page of Sally’s photo album featured a collection of…

Lars Olson Aldahl (1856-1940) Lars Olson Aldahl was born on 24 Nov 1856 in Voss,…

It’s done! It’s done! It’s finally done! I’m happy to announce that I have completed…

February 12th is National Plum Pudding Day! Happy National Plum Pudding Day! Plum pudding with…

Georg Adam Stadler (1804-1864) Georg Adam Stadler was born on 08 Dec 1804 in Mörtelstein,…

Family, Woods, and Water Elizabeth Lemke, front and center, and friends. Selma Cornelia Aschbrenner. Philip…

Leona Catherine Miller (1899-1976) Leona Catherine Miller was born on 26 Aug 1899 in rural…

Adam Boyce (1787-1874) Birth Adam Boyce was born on 25 Jul 1787 in Londonderry, Rockingham,…

Lucretia Brownell (1799-1857) Lucretia Brownell Johnson. If I had a time travel machine, Lucretia is…

Engebret Asleson Torset (1814-1885) Engebret Asleson Torset was born on 16 Jul 1814 in Nes…

Picnic and Party The tenth page of Sally’s photo album featured a collection of photos…

The Lodge The 41st page of Sally’s photo album contained photos of Sally at a…

Included in a mess of loose photos in a box at my parents’ house that…

I have been asked on more than one occasion why I am so interested in…

This is the fifth segment in our series about women’s suffrage. In the first, you…

Nathaniel Collins (1641/42-1684) We haven’t been this far back in time for a while. It…

Can you identify the guests at the wedding of Florence Dern and Ervin Anklam on…

John Webster (1718-1800) John Webster was born on 22 Apr 1718 in Plainfield, Essex, New…

It’s official! I have become approved as a member of the Daughters of the American…

Who was Virginia Best? I was struggling last week with one of the descendants of…

As we have seen in earlier posts, women fought to gain full voting rights, missed…

Hannah Tolman (1642-1729) Hannah Tolman was born on 27 Jul 1642 in Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts…

Christian Oleson Rukke (1805-1874) Christian Oleson Rukke. Christian Olseon Rukke was born to Ole Thorson Tollefsgardie…

Gertrude spent time thinking about her faraway son, Floyd. He was missing the Sandwich Fair,…

Gals and Farm and Family Sally Aschbrenner is in back row, third from left. Elizabeth…

Margaret Spike (1781->1855) Margaret Spike was born on 16 Mar 1781 in Saratoga, Saratoga, New…

Jacob W. Phillips (1781-1847) Jacob W. Phillips was born on 27 Sep 1781 in Claverack,…

Girls Gone Wild 1917 Style Nearly every week, a mystery is solved or some interesting…

Alice Rosalie Fehlhaber (1880-1970) Alice Rosalie Fehlhaber was born on 10 September 1880 in the…

Peter Christianson Paaverud was believed to have been born in 1697, but an exact date…

A rare photograph from Friday, 16 May 1919, shows Floyd posing with a colleague named…

Josiah Fuller (1729/30-1797) It has been verified that Josiah Fuller is in our family tree,…

John Estes (1800-1859) John Estes was born about 1800 in Kentucky as the second child…

Friedericke Stroede is largely a mystery. We know her name but little else. Even so,…