Browsing All Posts filed under »Ancestral tidbits«

Let the spiritS MOVE you… with a side of irony

December 7, 2021 by

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It’s been a long time (2018) since I last blogged here (I have occasionally blogged elsewhere, but that’s another story, and related to another field that has been keeping my attention for the last 3 or 4 years), and I’ll not go into all the reasons as to why, but one big one always seems […]

Sheridan, Rienzi, and late 19th century marketing

March 4, 2017 by

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It’s not often that I can blend a little of the history of the Shenandoah Valley with the Cumberland Valley, but… Among the different types of beer bottled and sold by one of my great-great grand uncles (among other beer and soda bottling ventures, James Draden Moore became a distributor for Rochester Brewing Co.), in […]

Pine Grove Furnace – the Ironmaster’s Mansion (Gardners, Pa)

September 25, 2016 by

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Yesterday afternoon, I had a chance for a quick dash through part of the countryside of central Pennsylvania. Having just enough time, I took a short detour toward Pine Grove Furnace. When I saw a sign for the Ironmaster’s Mansion, I wondered… could this be the Ege family home? Even if so, why would I […]

A decade of Southern Unionist studies

September 19, 2016 by

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After receiving a comment last night on a recent post, and while driving into work this morning, I realized that, for over a decade, I’ve been involved in the study of Southern Unionists in the Shenandoah Valley. It was ten years ago this fall when I started writing my thesis on Southern Unionism and disaffected […]

Wars… and wishing those buildings could talk

March 12, 2016 by

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Seeing a Facebook friend’s post, today, of all that remained of an ancestral home… a hearth and chimney… I felt compelled to post one of my own. While I can’t say for sure if it is the remains of an “ancestral” homestead, it is located in Nicholson Hollow. If not an ancestral homestead, it’s likely a place […]

Encouraged discussion about Confederate monument removal… expedites monument removal?

July 20, 2015 by

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One of the arguments I’ve read over the last week or two, is about the fight over monuments. Wait, now… let me be clear. It’s this part of that discussion… Does encouraging discussion of monument removal open a forum that encourages monument removal. Does it, perhaps, even increase the probability that monuments WILL BE removed? […]

The Confederate Flag… what some people seem to fail to realize

July 13, 2015 by

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I’m going to go off topic for just a bit… Still sitting back, watching all that’s taking place… Anyway, I drove down a long country back road in the Shenandoah Valley yesterday. It’s not unusual to see an occasional Confederate flag… not at all. Before mid-June, you’d zip past it in a car and might not […]

7:22 a.m., April 15… what range of emotions followed?

April 15, 2015 by

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At 7:22:10 a.m., there will be reflection by many on the meaning of the day and hour. Sadly… most others, I suspect, will remain indifferent, except for the instance in which they might happen to run across a newspaper article or something on the internet or t.v., and have that “Ah, that happened today” moment. Others […]

Present for the last gasps… on the 150th of Five Forks

April 1, 2015 by

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I thought about how this post might come together, and I think my reflections are on both the meaning of the day, and on the manner in which I’ve taken-in a lot of the Sesqui. So… … it was on this day, 150 years ago that the Army of Northern Virginia suffered a critical defeat […]

To find a cavalry battlefield… on the back roads of Frederick County, pt 3

November 15, 2014 by

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Alright… so where is the portion of the battlefield, of November 12, 1864, where the 7th Virginia saw their heaviest fighting of the day? As I mentioned yesterday… after coming to the aid of the 11th Virginia Cavalry, on the south bank of Cedar Creek, the 7th and the 12th moved to Middle Road to […]

To find a cavalry battlefield… on the back roads of Frederick County, part 2

November 13, 2014 by

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Continuing in my effort to figure out the site of the cavalry fight of November 12, I turned again to Pennington’s report… knowing he had provided estimated distances from Mount Zion to Cedar Creek, and beyond Lebanon Church. Pennington wrote: I moved out with the whole brigade and attacked the enemy… succeeded in driving him […]

To find a cavalry battlefield… on the back roads of Frederick County, pt. 1

November 12, 2014 by

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While I’ve known for many years that one of my great-great grandfathers was grievously wounded, on November 12, 1864, I’ve never given the location much thought. It just seemed that, given the information available in his service record, Pvt. James Harvey Mayes was wounded in a fight at the little village of Nineveh, just north […]

Confederates by choice… or by circumstance?

May 3, 2014 by

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Here were are again… on the eve of a major period of Sesqui events. Just to the east, there is the Overland Campaign… and closer to home, here in the Shenandoah Valley… there is Sigel’s advance up the Valley. Yet, to me, there are more than troop movements and battles, especially when May of 1864 […]

Cole vs. Mosby: The end to a “rivalry”(?)

February 21, 2014 by

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February 21, 1864 was a Sunday. A good day, it seems, for an ending. Mosby had ordered his command to assemble at Piedmont to attend the funeral of Ranger Joseph McCobb (a rather elusive person to find in records, by the way), who had been killed (by a fall from his horse) in the fight, the day […]

From Belle Isle to warmer climate

February 19, 2014 by

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After experiencing life at Belle Isle (even after just a few months), the thought of heading south, to a new POW camp in Georgia may have had its perks. Warmer weather and healthier conditions may have come to the minds of Union prisoners of war, though the thought of being farther from home may have […]

“Wait a minute. Strike that; reverse it. Thank you.”

January 13, 2014 by

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Considering the quote from Willy Wonka, I think he would have loved the versatility of blogging over writing for print. But, apart from me finding the quote useful at this time, that’s the only connection that there is between this post and Willy Wonka… So, what is it, exactly, that I want to “strike and […]

Some shots from yesterday’s Loudoun Heights Sesqui Event

January 12, 2014 by

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I greatly enjoyed the chance, yesterday, to be part of the Loudoun Heights 150th commemorative event. It was nice to speak about my perspective, as a relative of two of Cole’s men… and I was glad to share the experience with one other descendant (friend, Mark Dudrow) of one of Cole’s men (Abraham Dern), who […]

Tomorrow’s Loudoun Heights Sesquicentennial event

January 10, 2014 by

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Though the 150th anniversary of Loudoun Heights is today… the actual commemorative event takes place tomorrow, January 11, 2014. As I’m related to two of Cole’s men (distant granduncle, Joseph Lake McKinney, and cousin James Draper Moore), I’m particularly honored to be a part of the event. I am slated to speak, for about 15 minutes, about the […]

45 minutes, and the long road to Andersonville

January 10, 2014 by

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As they say that it was around 4 a.m. when Mosby commenced the attack on Cole’s Camp, it was, therefore, likely no more than 15 minutes before that when the six troopers of Co. B were captured by Frank Stringfellow’s party of Rangers. I’ll borrow, again, Pvt. James A. Scott’s (of Co. C) poem regarding […]

Waiting for picket duty… Loudoun Heights

January 9, 2014 by

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Today, I’m thinking about seven troopers from Co. B, of Major Henry Cole’s 1st Potomac Home Brigade (Maryland) Cavalry… James Draper Moore, Walter Scott Myers, John Newcomber, Isaiah Nicewander, Abraham L. Sossey, George W. Weaver, and David Hamilton Wolf. Six of these men were waiting to go on picket duty, on this day, 150 year […]

I-81, North… to Scotland

January 5, 2014 by

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The Pennsylvania Farm Show is something that has become an annual destination of mine. It’s a great event, putting… as one would expect… Pennsylvania agriculture in the limelight. There’s lots to see, and I can’t return to Virginia without what I call “my annual re-provisioning of Pennsylvania agricultural goods.” Cheeses, venison summer sausage, mustards, horseradish… […]

Was New Year’s Day, ’64 a bad day for Uncle Joe?

January 1, 2014 by

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I’ve mentioned my 3rd great granduncle, Joseph Lake McKinney, in a few posts. In his service record, there is one entry that is a bit of a mystery to me… mostly because it’s not clear what the circumstances were behind a notation. I know a lot of folks like to talk more about an ancestor’s […]

To keep Confederates busy – the beginning of an active December in the Shenandoah

December 10, 2013 by

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“Stonewall” was gone and Gettysburg was over five months in the past… and, despite being overshadowed by other things in other places, the Shenandoah Valley was still an active arena. While Union Gen. William W. Averell pressed on the rail head of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, at Salem, his commanding officer, Brig. Gen. Benjamin […]

Another assist to Southern Unionists, under the Bowman and Tucker Acts

September 13, 2013 by

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I’ll get back to my current run on the discussion of literacy and literature in the antebellum Shenandoah Valley, but, as I promised… still having a deep and dedicated interest in Southern Unionism…  I know I’ve mentioned it before, that though a Southern Loyalist Claim might be barred or disallowed, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it […]

The socially elite, Southern writers of the 19th century, and their legacy

September 3, 2013 by

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I just responded to a comment on my post from yesterday, and thought that I should raise my thoughts to the level of a post. Who can we point to (among Southern writers/authors of the 19th century), for having had the most influence on defining the ideology of the 19th century South as it existed […]

“Grandpap”, General Ewell, cousin George, and a bigger story

August 24, 2013 by

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Not long ago, while perusing the papers of Confederate civilians in Fold3, I dropped in the names of some relatives in the Valley, just to see what I might find. For starters, I found that my third great grandfather, William M. Dorraugh, was of help to Gen. Richard S. Ewell. It was a small thing, […]

Rolling the clock back just a little further

July 12, 2013 by

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Alright, let’s depart the Sesqui train just for a bit. Forget “150 years ago” for the moment. Let’s think something more along the lines of… 212 years. Let’s even be specific… November 10, 1801. So far, this year (1801), John Marshall was appointed US chief justice; the electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr […]

Who was this Capt. Summers who fell at White House Farm?

July 9, 2013 by

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I first encountered a reference to Capt. Summers (see yesterday’s post in which I mention his death) when I was looking into the names of the different G.A.R. posts in this general area. It so happens that George D. Summers Post No. 13 was out of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. There is, by the way, […]

White House Farm and the death of Capt. Summers

July 7, 2013 by

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Just the other day, I was driving in search of a location which has significance in relation to the Confederate retreat from Gettysburg. I found it, and then (being who I am) ventured… or strayed… along the old Charles Town Pike, toward Summit Point and Charles Town. I think my curiosity proved rewarding, as I […]

“Grace”

July 3, 2013 by

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Today marks the fourth and final day for my Gettysburg Sesqui experience. I’ve seen many sites, making a point of it, to the best of my ability, to be at sites where my kin were involved in the horrors of the battle. For example, last night, I stood on East Cemetery Hill, where my kin […]

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