EOGN's Other News

EOGN's Other News

Author's Pa. series of books priceless

Nationally known genealogical author and lecturer John T. Humphrey has deep Pennsylvania roots, and thank goodness, since his interest in the state’s people has resulted in a series of books called Pennsylvania Births.  Humphrey recently issued the 15th book in the series, Pennsylvania Birth: Dauphin County, 1757-1825. The new volume includes nearly 10,000 births from 14 church registers.

Nearly 200,000 births, mostly from church baptismal records, are documented in the previous volumes of this series, which cover Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, Philadelphia and York counties.

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Reunions help families reconnect

Childhood memories of family reunions may include generous aunts, annoying cousins and a potpourri of mystery casseroles. Those memories last a lifetime and, for some reason, it's comforting to know your cousins - no matter how pesky they were as kids.

Summer is traditionally the favorite season for family reunions. Yet the chances are good your family gathering will be much different than it was decades ago. These days the hottest trends for reunions include resort hotels, golf outings and Caribbean cruises.

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Civil War Hero Honored in Penn. Ceremonies

An honor guard of seven men dressed in Union Civil War uniforms held up their rifles and pointed them to the sky as they fired a volley of three shots on a bright and sunny Sunday afternoon (July 10) at the Oakland Cemetery in Indiana, Pennsylvania. A crowd of about 50 people including a half dozen Asian American students and visitors stood at attention to witness this unusual event.

The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War held the special commemoration to honor four Civil War veterans including Chinese American Thomas Sylvanus.

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Woodville, Massachusetts unites long-lost family

On Saturday, July 23, a salute to Woodville becoming a Historic District will take place at the Rod and Gun Club. But that's not the only cause for celebration that day. Long lost family members of Woodville's founder, Captain John Wood, who settled in the area in the early 1600's will finally be united.

Brandon Wood Caswell, 89, of Lakeland, Florida will meet a close relation of his, David Wood, 49, of Long Island, N. Y. for the first time. Wood, who has never visited Woodville before is looking forward to visiting the small, New England village that his grandfather, Albert Granby Wood called home.

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Sweet Briar gets grant

Research is an important part of education, but it can also be an expensive part. So Sweet Briar College will gladly accept a grant that will benefit its archaeological department.

The college recently received a research grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in Washington, D.C. The grant will provide $100,000 over the next three years that will go toward a project that investigates historic black American mortuary traditions in Central Virginia.

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Abandoned Cemeteries Rediscovered

When Bruce Kern went in search of the final resting place of an unknown number of his maternal relatives in August 2003, he never expected that all he would find were bits of broken headstones. Nor did he expect to find project that would take him over two years to complete.

However, that is what he found when he finally located Atkinson Cemetery in West Virginia.

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OHS Partners With Tyler Family in Legacy Project

Descendants of James Seneca Tyler, first African American elected Clerk to the Ohio House of Representatives, and his wife, Maria McAfee, daughter of an indentured servant who helped raise the children of the prominent Alfred Kelley family of Columbus, will meet August 5-6 in Columbus for the Tyler Family Homecoming. Many of the descendants will be meeting each other for the first time.

In the Tyler Family Legacy Project, a partnership between the Tyler family and the Ohio Historical Society, the Tyler Family Homecoming will include a reception, a small exhibit and a genealogical workshop at the Ohio Historical Center’s Archives/Library in Columbus. Staff members of the Ohio Historical Society will videotape interviews with Tyler family members, make copies for the family and place the series of recordings in the Society’s permanent collections. In addition, the Tyler family and the Ohio Historical Society will unveil an Ohio Historical Marker about the Tyler family, which will be placed in Goodale Park in Columbus later this year. James Seneca Tyler lived at 1107 Highland Ave. in Victorian Village with his family from the 1880s until his death in 1916.

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Archivist wants to record WWII veterans' stories

A resurgence of interest in World War II might be helpful in collecting data about North Carolinians who served then and in other facets of the military, the state's military archivist said.

Ret. Lt. Col. Sion Harrington III of the Archives and Records Section of the state Division of Historical Resources, has spent the last 10 years compiling a roster of North Carolinians who have served in various branches of the military. He has already gathered thousands of photos and documents, plus 500 interviews of veterans collected for an oral history.

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Loyal to their Roots, Descendants keep UEL spirit alive

She boldly affixes the letters UE to the end of her name every time she signs it. And it doesn't faze Sandra Shouldice that almost nobody knows what the letters stand for. "Unity of the Empire," Shouldice states matter-of-factly. "I do it just so people will ask."

Dressed in period costume, Shouldice turned out at a military re-enactment weekend held in Morrisburg, Ontario recently, drumming up interest in the St. Lawrence Branch of the United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada, of which she's a past president. With 29 UELAC branches across the country, St. Lawrence is one of the largest, having been given its charter in 1977. The national association was incorporated in 1914.

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