On September 11, 1777, the hamlet of Chadds Ford played host to one of the largest and deadliest battles of the American Revolutionary War, today called the Battle of Brandywine. An estimated 29,000 British and American troops gathered at the fledgling town populated mostly by peaceful Quakers. Britain’s campaign for 1777 was to split off …
Category : Historical Background
66 posts
I’ve got a few Revolutionary War ancestors, namely Moza Hurt, Philemon Hurt, Frederick Boyer, Cornelius Bogart, and Conrad Mehrkam. Sometimes when I’m reading an account of their service, I wonder to myself, what the heck are they talking about? Some of the terms are opaque to modern people. This list helped me navigate the unfamiliar …
A tanner turns animal hides such as ox, cow, bull, and horse and skins like calf, sheep, pig and deer into leather. Hides and skins were procured from local farmers. The process began with cutting the hides into workable pieces called “sides” and trimming off the ragged edges. The sides were then soaked in water …
I visited the Chester Bethel Church and Cemetery this week to shoot some photos of gravestones for FindAGrave.com. I gave myself an hour to photograph three grave sites. Of course, it didn’t work out as planned! The cemetery was larger than I thought and I couldn’t find the headstones in question. I quickly gave up …
Today I’m posting a set of beautiful photographs of Chester County, Pennsylvania, mostly in the southeastern part of the county, especially around Kennett Square, Longwood Gardens, and the Brandywine River. These were taken by my talented aunt who is always willing to share with me. Enjoy!
Slatington is a borough in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, located 20 miles north of Bethlehem, 62 miles south of Scranton, and 70 miles north of Philadelphia. Situated across from Walnutport on the west side of the Lehigh River, Slatington is at the northeast corner of Washington Township. Before the first white settlers established homesteads in the …
Many of my Smith ancestors lived in Carroll County, Mississippi, including my grandfather, great-grandfather, and so on. One Smith, not in my direct line, was Harry Smith, who owned the Pine Bluff Plantation. If you type in the place name of Pine Bluff, MS, into Google maps, you will be shown a spot at the …
These are from my postcard collection. You may use these any way you like. I have higher res versions if you need it for printing or publishing. My Slatington ancestors were the Labars, Jesse and his daughter Laura, who married into the Straub family.
My husband and I both have ancestors who were abducted by native peoples in the 18th century. My ancestors were my sixth great grandfather, Henry Boyer, his son Frederick and his daughters, Dorothea and Catherine, who were taken in a raid of their Carbon County farm in 1755. Henry was scalped and killed but his …
From my collection of Bellefonte, PA, postcards. You may use these any way you wish. For information about the town, please visit my blog post called “Bellefonte, Centre County, PA.”