by Sharon Hall | Oct 13, 2014 | Mining History Monday
By the mid-nineteenth century there were few Chinese immigrants who had made their way to America. In early 1849, there were only fifty-four in the entire state of California, but that would change as word spread and gold rush fever took hold. The prospect of work,...
by Sharon Hall | Oct 10, 2014 | Surname Saturday
The Purchase surname originated as an occupational name, although it’s uncertain when the name began to be used as a surname and passed down to succeeding generations. According to New Dictionary of American Family Names, the name referred to “one who acted as a...
by Sharon Hall | Oct 8, 2014 | Digging History Magazine, Ghost Town Wednesday
Gold and silver were discovered in the late 1880’s in what is now southwest Catron County, New Mexico. Preferably, in order to contain costs, gold and silver needed to be processed as close as possible to the mines. However, the problem in this particular...
by Sharon Hall | Oct 6, 2014 | Military History Monday
Today’s Military History article continues the story of the Quattelbaum (Quattlebaum) family whose American progenitor, Petter Quattelbaum, arrived in America in October of 1736 (see this past week’s Surname Saturday article here). Johannes Quattelbaum, son of Petter,...
by Sharon Hall | Oct 3, 2014 | Surname Saturday
For the first two generations after arriving in America, this German family from the Palatinate region, spelled their surname “Quattelbaum” but eventually settled on a slightly different spelling as “Quattlebaum”. The second part of the name, “baum”, means “tree” in...
