Oliver Langdon: The Largest Man in Queens
From the pages of the Newtown Register in 1886 comes a small gossip blurb about the largest man in Queens, New York. Not large, like Jabba the Hutt large. Not […]
Monthly Archives: May 2013
Is That an Œ Ligature? Peter Mead’s Real Name
My third great grandfather Peter Meid (Anglicized to Mead) came to America in 1854 from Hesse-Darmstadt, a German duchy that existed prior to Germany’s unification. Peter settled at Fosters Meadow (now […]
The Provasi Family Scandal: Mabel and Mr. DeMaestri.
A few months ago, I wrote about discovering your Italian roots, focusing on the marriage records of Arturo Bighinatti and his wife, Amabilia “Mabel” Provasi. I have had some success […]
152 Years Ago Today: Harper’s Weekly Chronicles the 13th N.Y.S.M.’s March to War
The date was April 23, 1861. Fort Sumter had fallen to the South nine days earlier. Americans from Maine to California were enlisting to fight for the preservation of the […]
Being John Miszkowiec: Ellis Island Immigrant
Millions of Americans from all walks of life can trace their ancestry back just a few generations to Ellis Island. The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation estimates that there are […]
