Month: February 2021

A Troutveller Feller

I’ve known about Theodore Trautvetter’s disappearance from Warsaw, Illinois, in the early 1890s. I also know that the middle-aged farmer returned home from his absence and lived out the rest of his life in the area. This post is not about that. It’s a quick reminder about a few things involving newspapers. The last name […]

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A Painting From Memory

The red rocker in the picture is nearly eighty years of age and is in amazingly good shape. I have it. It’s color is still vibrant given how much time has passed. The table and chairs have had the light blue paint stripped and have been refinished in a natural color, but are still functional. […]

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AncestryDNA Ethnicity Now Includes East Frisia

AncestryDNA‘s ethnicity estimates now include East Frisia–more affectionately known as Ostfriesland. I’m glad to see they’ve started to work on refining geographic areas within Europe, but I’m still viewing these estimates as pretty much entertainment because they are estimates based upon some actual data, some assumptions, and some guesswork. The only time I put stock […]

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StoryScout Flubs It Up

Ancestry.com’s 1920 census index transcription for Nancy J. Rampley of St. Albans’ Township, Hancock County, Illinois, correctly transcribes her “race” as “white.” It’s easy to read on the actual census. But while looking at Ancestry.com’s new “StoryScout” entry for Nancy, I wondered why it was talking about voting rights for African-Americans. The county in which […]

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