by Sharon Hall | Jun 28, 2014 | Surname Saturday
Chisolm The Chisholm surname is Scottish and first recorded in thirteenth-century Roxburghshire, Roxburgh, the county that borders the English counties of Cumberland and Northumberland: John de Chesehelme (1254) John de Chesolm (1296) It is a border name arising from...
by Sharon Hall | Jun 27, 2014 | Feisty Females
Today’s “Feisty Female” more than likely lived a fairly ordinary life. However, as time went on the stories of her exploits as the purported first woman to travel the Chisholm Trail, would make her an almost “larger than life” figure as a legendary Texas pioneer...
by Sharon Hall | Jun 25, 2014 | Digging History Magazine, Wild West Wednesday
Samuel Sixkiller was born circa 1842 in the Going Snake District (now Adair County, Oklahoma) of Indian Territory to parents Redbird and Permelia (Whaley) Sixkiller. Samuel was of mixed blood Cherokee heritage, his father being the son a half-breed Cherokee mother...
by Sharon Hall | Jun 24, 2014 | Tombstone Tuesday
While researching this past weekend’s Surname Saturday article on the Waldo surname, I came across today’s subject. Her story is interesting and a bit intriguing, especially in regards to her parentage. America Waldo was born on June 2, 1844 in Missouri. For years...
by Sharon Hall | Jun 21, 2014 | Surname Saturday
There are two theories as to the origins of the Waldo surname. One source believes the surname is Low German, the name having first been seen there in the thirteenth century along the Franconian-Bavarian border. It is believed that the name is one of the oldest in...
by Sharon Hall | Jun 20, 2014 | Feisty Females
Tomorrow marks the 226th anniversary of the United States Constitution’s ratification when New Hampshire became the ninth state to approve. In honor of that occasion, today’s “feisty female” is a woman whose writings no doubt helped shape that historic document. Her...
by Sharon Hall | Jun 18, 2014 | Digging History Magazine, Ghost Town Wednesday
In 1880 five prospectors, “Skookum Joe” Anderson, c.c. Snow, Eugene Ervin, Pony McPartland, and David Jones, discovered gold in the Judith Mountains near Lewiston, Montana. There are at least two theories as to how the mining town they founded got its...
by Sharon Hall | Jun 16, 2014 | Mining History Monday
During the nineteenth century thousands of people headed west to find their fortunes, but in 1865 gold was discovered in an unexpected place – in northern Minnesota, just south of the Canadian border. The discovery was more or less accidental since the original...
by Sharon Hall | Jun 14, 2014 | Surname Saturday
Like many surnames of Early or Middle English origin, the spelling of the Keep surname evolved over time. These names were recorded, beginning in the fourteenth century: Walter Kep (1230) John Kepe (1290) William atte Kep (1290) Thomas ate Kepe (1327) Robert de Keepe...
by Sharon Hall | Jun 11, 2014 | Digging History Magazine, Ghost Town Wednesday
The area around what became known as Valentine, Arizona was established in 1898 when President William McKinley set aside land for an Indian School. By the way, if you missed Monday’s article about “Henry P. Ewing, The Blind Miner,” check it out here. Henry was...
