-
52 Ancestors – Week 17 – War
52 Ancestors – WEEK 17 – War By Cynthia Keefer Patton I can’t talk about war. I hate war. War causes pain and suffering. War has long-term effects on families. War makes no sense to me. I was proud to serve in the Army. My father, my husband, and my brother were all proud to…
-
52 Ancestors – Week 16 – Step
52 Ancestors – WEEK 16 – Step By Cynthia Keefer Patton When I was first married at the age of 20 to a man who was 38, I immediately became a stepmother. My new family included a 13 year old girl and a 15 year old boy. They had a mother, I was barely older…
-
52 Ancestors – Week 14 – Favorite Recipe
52 Ancestors – WEEK 14 – FAVORITE RECIPE By Cynthia Keefer Patton I suppose if you ask anyone, “what is your favorite recipe?”, the answer will be as varied as the flowers in the fields. One of my favorite recipes was made by my mother-in-law. She was born and raised in south Mississippi and…
-
52 Ancestors – Week 13 – Worship
52 Ancestors – WEEK 13 – WORSHIP By Cynthia Keefer Patton My mom was born in Washington, Pennsylvania and up there people said the word worship as “washup” and the word washing (as in washing machine) as “worshing”. So, I found this all quite amusing when I was a small girl and when she…
-
52 Ancestors – Week 11 – Achievement
52 Ancestors – WEEK 11 – Achievement By Cynthia Keefer Patton I sat and pondered as I looked at my family tree on Ancestry. I kept asking “who achieved something?” Who achieved something? I have. I have completed a successful career in the Army followed by a second career as a Defense Contractor. I have…
-
52 Ancestors – Week 10 – Language
52 Ancestors – WEEK 10 – Language By Cynthia Keefer Patton Even though I am sure that quite a few of my ancestors might have spoken other languages: German and French in particular–the majority of them spoke English or some variation of it with an accent (those from Ireland or Wales). But my husband Denny…
-
52 Ancestors – Week 9 – Changing Names
52 Ancestors – WEEK 9 – Changing Names By Cynthia K. Patton Why would someone change their surname and then every generation for two hundred years here in the United States continue to us it? That question may never be answered but the story behind the story goes like this. My mother was a Mahanna….
-
52 Ancestors – Week 8 – Heirlooms
52 Ancestors – WEEK 8 – Heirlooms By Cynthia Keefer Patton My family does not have a lot of heirlooms. Not physical ones. Very little saved to pass down through the generations. Probably because my grandparents all lived in Pennsylvania, and we lived in Georgia and only got to visit at most once a year…
-
52 Ancestors – Week 7 – Immigration
WEEK 7 – Immigration By Cynthia Keefer Patton Ever wonder if your ancestors immigrated through Ellis Island? Did any of them come over on the Mayflower? These are probably the original questions that get people started in the hobby of genealogy. You remember the old conversations with aunts and grandparents. “We are from Germany. My…
-
52 Ancestors- Week 6 – Earning a Living
WEEK 6 – Earning a Living By Cynthia Keefer Patton My Dad called his grandfather on his mother’s side “Bumpy”. Charles Wesley Thomas was born on 12 September 1882 in a place called Bridgeport, Pennsylvania. It was in the heart of coal country. He was one of six children and by the 1900 census[1], his…