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: American Civil War

Posts about ancestors who fought in the Civil War

  • 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!

  • Dangerous Times in Kentucky

    A Tale of Harassments and Murder Note: this piece was originally published on Projectkin in Feb 2024 in their Member’s Corner. It is being re-published here with permission. Kentucky was not the safest place to live in 1862. Several Southern states seceded from the Union after Fort Sumter, but Governor Beriah Magoffin declared Kentucky to…

  • Finding family in the military Charles Walter Putnam (1859–1922) was one of my wife’s sixteen great-great-grandparents. We talked about his family last year: Some families pass down maternal surnames as first or middle names in their children. In the Putnam family, Charles named his youngest son George Force Putnam (1904–1978), not only giving young George…

  • The downfall of one turn-of-the-century American family Martin L Callin (1853 – 1889) was born in Weller Township, in Richland County, Ohio, and grew up working on farms near Olivesburgh. His father was a shoemaker, Thomas Jefferson Callin, a respected businessman well-known in the town of Mansfield. Martin was this Callin family’s oldest son, though…

  • A woman who saw the changing rights of women in Ohio A story can seem straightforward once the facts are lined up and neatly documented. The life story of one of my 4th great-grandmothers, for example, could be summed up like this: Eleanor Waters was born on 3 August 1810 in Pennsylvania. Her family moved…

  • And a face to go with the name… As many folks may know, I have a deep affection for unusual names. The person at the center of today’s post possesses my all-time favorite unusual name – beating out the likes of “Gladimere Schreck” and “Thor Glyde Day” for the honor. But before we get to…

  • 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…

  • Going four generations back to find another line This surname can be found among my Sixteen great-great-grandparents. We have to go that far back to find the first May: Mary Frances May – 30 Oct 1858 – 19 Mar 1882 Mary (May) Reynolds was the maternal grandmother of my maternal grandfather, Russ Clark. Her parents…

  • Going four generations back to find another line This surname can be found among my wife’s Sixteen great-great-grandparents. We have to go that far back to find the first Frederick – Daisy Deane Frederick – Dec 1871 – 14 Jan 1964 Daisy was the daughter of Lafayette Frederick (1837–1918) and Jane Eliza “Jennie” Smith (1840–1916),…