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: Arizona

Families that lived in the state and left records behind there.

  • More of Aunt Vicki’s legacy We lost my Aunt Vicki this summer. But before she left, Vicki spent her time on countless thoughtful projects that will continue to remind us what was most important to her. Her son, Jeff, was the first of my generation of cousins, and for Christmas of 2021, Vicki assembled 50…

  • A celebration of a wedding trend I’m at a special wedding this week – so I’m re-purposing an old post about weddings in my family. Here are three couples with a few things in common: How young were they? Well, that’s the basis for our trivia question – “Which of these brides was the youngest…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Originally Published on 2/26/2015 I found it difficult to compose a story about Grandma Nancy. She was probably the most present of my grandparents but I haven’t quite isolated a narrative thread for her, yet. This is the patchwork story I chose to tell a decade ago, in actual snapshots. (Lightly edited to update links…

  • Musing about an inflection point In my defense, there is just so much to know! Let me back up: a few weeks ago, Substacker Kevin Ferguson asked, …and you can go see what I said, of course, and take a look at Kevin’s newsletter about family history and winemaking. But ever since, I’ve been thinking…

  • posted on Friday, February 27, 2015 This is one of my favorite finds – thanks to my cousin, Chad, for sending it my way all those years ago! I’d love to hear about your famous connections if you’d like to share. In 2007 music journalist Andrew Means published Some Memories: Growing Up with Marty Robbins –…

  • posted Friday, December 5, 2014 Re-posting Note: this post covers the family of my paternal grandmother’s maternal grandfather, Albert C. Huff (1854 – 1936). I think I tested all of the links to make sure they worked, but let me know if you find one that doesn’t. Sample-More Meats – a Businesswoman’s Story Note: I’m…

  • A Quick Overview of my work under this surname When I was new to genealogy, I did what a lot of people do: I uncritically relied on the work of others. A lot of what I know about the Huff family came to me via the late Max Huff. Unfortunately for me, by the time…

  • posted Friday, November 21, 2014 This piece was adapted for this blog from a longer two-part piece on my Tad’s Happy Funtime blog. That version spends more time on me than is proper for a biographical sketch of my grandfather, Russell Hudson Clark, Sr. (1920-2002), but if you’d like to see that longer version, part…