by Sharon Hall | Dec 18, 2013 | Digging History Magazine, Ghost Town Wednesday
Route 66 – it was called “The Mother Road” – stretching from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California. The 2448-mile road opened in 1926 and wasn’t completely paved until 1937, crossing eight states and three time zones. The Dust Bowl refugees of John...
by Sharon Hall | Dec 17, 2013 | Tombstone Tuesday
America Virginia Palmer was born on June 11, 1848 in Cass County, Missouri to parents William Henry and Jane Francis (Cowherd) Palmer. The Palmer family is enumerated on the 1850 Census with William listed as a farmer with property worth $340 with three young...
by Sharon Hall | Dec 16, 2013 | Mothers of Invention
Wintry and snowy weather is upon us early this year and one of the most essential devices in our cars is the windshield wiper. Alabama-born Mary Anderson was visiting New York City in 1902. The weather was sloppy and wet and trolley car drivers had to keep the...
by Sharon Hall | Dec 14, 2013 | Surname Saturday
The surname “Sparhawk” is derived from the Middle English name “Sparhauk” or “Sparrowhawk” which was derived from the Old English name of “Spearheafoc”. The name is also thought to have been a nickname for someone resembling a sparrow-hawk. The Sparhawk family is one...
by Sharon Hall | Dec 11, 2013 | Digging History Magazine, Ghost Town Wednesday
The land in Carbon County, Montana which eventually grew into this company mining town was purchased in 1903 by Fred and Annie Bartels. Carbon County had been created out of portions of Park and Yellowstone Counties in 1895, and so named for the rich coal deposits in...
by Sharon Hall | Dec 10, 2013 | Tombstone Tuesday
“Here lyeth interred the body of the Reverend Mr. John Sparhawk minister of this place 23 years last past and dyed the 29th of April, 1718 in the 46th year of his age.” This is the epitaph of Reverend John Sparhawk, buried at the Congregational Cemetery in...
by Sharon Hall | Dec 7, 2013 | Home Remedies and Quack Cures
It’s known by various names – most commonly tuberculosis, but at times throughout history referred to as: “consumption” because the patient experienced severe weight loss and was almost literally “consumed” with the disease; phthisis (derived from Latin-Greek...
by Sharon Hall | Dec 6, 2013 | Feudin' & Fightin' Friday
This range war conducted in the 1880s, sometimes called The Pleasant Valley War or Tonto Basin Feud, was anything but pleasant. It turned out to be one of the more bloody and vicious feuds in American history, certainly in Arizona history. So fierce and violent was...
by Sharon Hall | Dec 4, 2013 | Digging History Magazine, Ghost Town Wednesday
Obadiah Higginbotham and Jonathan Randall and their families moved from Cranston , Rhode Island to the land situated on the outskirts of Pomfret, Connecticut in an area called “Ragged Hills”. Obadiah and Jonathan were both of Welsh descent and named their settlement...
by Sharon Hall | Dec 3, 2013 | Tombstone Tuesday
Shadrach Boaz (a strong Bible name!) was born on November 9, 1809 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia to Thomas and Lucinda (Davis) Boaz. I came across his name while researching another “Shadrach”. His family history is interesting so immediately following is some...
