Mightier Acorns

Journeys through Genealogy and Family History

A parody of a family coat of arms designed with acorns as elements, with the motto "ex gladnis potentioribus" Latin for "from Mighty Acorns"
From Mighty Acorns

Category: Family Testimony

  • Lives and Fortunes: Three Revolutionary War Americans

    This story is part of the celebration of America’s 250th birthday at Projectkin – Stories250. Look for more at https://projectkin.substack.com/p/stories250-now-in-timeline-and-map

  • The No Kings event last Saturday wasn’t just a demonstration of anger or outrage; it was a statement that, like our ancestors before us, we are not willing to have our power taken away by bullies.

  • The Morgan Raid – from War Poems

    John H. Callin, a Union artillery soldier, left behind a book of poems “written in the Army” when he died in 1913. One hundred years later, his words were transcribed and published online for the world to see!

  • Grandma Merle’s Travelogue: Farming and Motherhood

    The last of four installments where we read the transcript of Grandma Merle’s Travelogue!

  • Grandma Merle’s Travelogue: Back to Arizona (1913)

    Grandma Merle finally gets around to meeting Grandpa Dick in the recording of her memories.

  • Grandma Merle’s Travelogue: Glendale, Arizona, in 1907

    In the second part of her 60-minute recording, Great-grandma Merle talked about living in Glendale (AZ) in 1907 and how deeply diseases like TB affected the family

  • You Shoulda Seen the Other Guy!

    First published Friday, October 24, 2014 This October is the first anniversary of Mightier Acorns on Substack, so I thought it would be appropriate to republish some older posts from the days on Blogger. We also talked a lot about “Granpa No-Bob” at my Aunt Vicki’s memorial service, so some of these stories feel fresh…

  • Painful memories are still important memories The year 2001 was already a difficult one for my family. I separated from the U.S. Air Force that May, after returning from three years stationed in the UK. Those three years had taken a toll on us, so we were eager to return to America. And our family…

  • The story behind the book You can get your copy here: Hardcover (only): $38.10 I don’t remember when I first learned about Grandpa John’s book of poems, but I feel like I remember the adults – Dad, Aunt Vicki, Grandma Nancy, and Grandpa Bob – were standing between me and Grandma’s swimming pool at the…

  • A lifetime of caring for the community Vicki Lee Callin was born on 21 April 1943 to Bob and Nancy (Witter) Callin. Bob was an airman in the Army Air Corps (note the “Hap Arnold” star on his shoulder) serving at Luke Field near Glendale, and Nancy and Vicki probably spent a lot of time…