by Sharon Hall | Jul 24, 2014 | Feudin' & Fightin' Friday
It was a Kansas feud, a county seat war, but the massacre occurred in a strip of land which is now part of Oklahoma, the “panhandle” part. In 1888, however, it was called the “Neutral Strip” or “No Man’s Land”. Stevens County, Kansas was established in southwest...
by Sharon Hall | Jul 22, 2014 | Tombstone Tuesday
This cemetery was apparently a family cemetery on a plot of land owned by John W. Measles of Lavaca, Sebastian County, Arkansas since the first person buried there was John’s son Emil who died in 1891 at the age of twenty-two. How long it remained a private cemetery...
by Sharon Hall | Jul 19, 2014 | Surname Saturday
Boaz There are several theories about the origins and meaning of the Boaz surname. First of all, Boaz appears in scripture as a forename, the kinsman redeemer for Ruth, who later became her husband. Thus it is possible that Christians in England took Boaz as a...
by Sharon Hall | Jul 16, 2014 | Digging History Magazine, Wild West Wednesday
This event which took place on January 24, 1876 might have been just an obscure piece of American Western history if not for the fact that it involved twenty-three year-old William Barclay “Bat” Masterson. He was born on November 26 ,1853 and raised in Kansas. His...
by Sharon Hall | Jul 15, 2014 | Tombstone Tuesday
Hiram Hezekiah Leviticus “Hez” Luttrell was born on July 19, 1867 in Lincoln County, Tennessee to parents Newton and Juliana Howard Luttrell. Newton had served in the Civil War in the 41st Tennessee Infantry and was captured on February 16,1862 at the Battle...
by Sharon Hall | Jul 14, 2014 | Military History Monday
While their menfolk were off fighting the Union, many Southern women stepped up to defend their homes and families. One group of females in LaGrange, Georgia, however, officially banded together and formed an all-female militia. They called themselves the Nancy...
by Sharon Hall | Jul 12, 2014 | Surname Saturday
Today’s surname is another that is somewhat unique and thought to be a variant of the more common Gifford surname. It is believed to be an old French name introduced after the Norman Conquest of 1066 and found especially in the northern counties of Yorkshire and...
by Sharon Hall | Jul 9, 2014 | Digging History Magazine, Wild West Wednesday
July 8, 1898 was an eventful day in Skagway, Alaska. A scoundrel by the name of Jefferson Randolph “Soapy” Smith met his untimely demise. Soapy had been making a name (and not a good one) for himself for years from Texas to Colorado to Alaska. Conduct a search at...
by Sharon Hall | Jul 8, 2014 | Tombstone Tuesday
Zebulon Frisbie was born July 4, 1801 in Orwell, Bradford County, Pennsylvania to parents Levi and Phebe (Gaylord) Frisbie. Phebe’s father, Aaron Gaylord, had been slain at the Battle of Wyoming on July 3, 1778. Levi was a private in the Connecticut militia...
by Sharon Hall | Jul 5, 2014 | Surname Saturday
Even though these surnames share the same Scottish origin, the family crests are distinct and different. “Hutchins”, “Hutchings” and “Hutchinson” are variations of a name first used by Viking settlers in ancient Scotland, all derived from a diminutive form of Hugh,...
