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Fact or Fiction? More Answers on the Dewitt Blackman Mug Book Bio

In " Fact of Fiction: Dewitt Samuel Blackman and the 1890 Mug Book ," I wrote about my project to see how accurate a county history "mug book" biography was for my husband's great-great-great-grandfather. His biography appeared in the book  Portrait and Biographical Album of Sumner County, Kansas, Containing Full-Page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County , published in 1890. For this just-for-fun project, I entered each fact noted in the bio into a spreadsheet and researched each to determine if they were true, false, or somewhere in between. Some claims were about Dewitt, his wife, and their family, while others involved his parents, his wife's parents, and even some generations further back. There were many claims to document, and I didn't complete the task with that first post. I've continued to research the facts, and here's my latest update. The following facts in the biography are tr...
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So Many Stories to Tell

Young Thomas J. "Tommy" Kozlina and my mom Anna Margaret Kozlina.
Friends,

This past year, I have dedicated much time to my favorite hobby: family history. I have read books, listened to podcasts, attended workshops, and begun again, to research our family lines.

I do so for a variety of reasons, but mainly I am intrigued and excited by the people the research reveals. At first, it was all about the names and dates, and "how far can I get back?" And, while that is still somewhat of a focus (Apparently, we cannot go back to Ireland until I find out where the Casey line is from!), I find more and more that I am just drawn into the stories that emerge, as I find more details of our ancestors' lives.

There's the funny stuff : "Polish Wedding Causes Trouble," is the headline of a newspaper article featuring my great grandmother Margaret McAndrew Gilbride. We'll save that one for another post.

There's everyday life: "So-and-So is visiting their mother this week." The not-so-everyday: "Sleeping Sickness Fatal to Girl."

There are stories which break your heart, and ones that make you nod your head and say, "Oh, so THAT's why..."

There are discoveries of familial likenesses, shared hobbies, tales of travel from abroad, and tales of deeply held American roots. There are railroad men, a hockey player, a prominent blacksmith, several coal miners, a nun and a priest...

Newspaper snippets - the Facebook of the time - recording who visited whom, or who wore what to whose wedding. There are both slices of everyday life and memorable moments in photo. There are bunches of interesting folk, who lived sometimes ordinary, sometimes extraordinary lives.

So many stories to tell. And here in this little space, I hope to share them with you.

Come on along.
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