Category: Religion
Posts about religion as a tool for understanding ancestors.
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Learning about the beliefs of previous generations is never as easy as we want to think it is – and sometimes your ancestors’ beliefs are critical to understanding them.
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Facing sex & religion in history and genealogy As I’ve been writing about the branches of my children’s ancestry this year, I’ve had to consider many points of view that are very different from my own. Most of those differences are due to the religions practiced by those ancestors. The history of America was driven…
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Thinking about Hermeneutics in genealogy Stop and think before you read on: Did you answer the title question based on what you think “godly” means, or did you answer based on what your ancestors thought “godly” meant? Once you’ve fixed your answer in your mind, read on! The question in the title isn’t really about…
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And embarking on the Tartan Trail A somewhat short post today, but it covers a lot of ground. I have known for some time now that James Livingston (1754-1829) was a Quaker, and last time I talked about this family, I gave you a sample of the kinds of records I was able to assemble…
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Using lessons learned from a different family In January I talked about finding some of my wife’s ancestors in the records of the Society of Friends (also called “Quakers”) in Indiana. As it happens, the skills I picked up as I learned about the Dyer family may help me learn more about my Scottish immigrant…
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They only point the way… the rest is up to us If you were a fly on the wall… or if I set up a Twitch stream… the scene that would play out in front of you might disrupt your image of the studious researcher. I know I like to think of myself as a…
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Approaching faith traditions respectfully and academically Oh everyone believesFrom emptiness to everythingOh everyone believesAnd no one’s going quietly John Mayer, “Belief” Religion is a tricky thing to wrap your mind around. A person’s faith is both a personal, private thing and a public signifier of how they think about moral and spiritual issues. Each of…
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A Quick Overview of my work under this surname This surname can be found among my Sixteen great-great-grandparents. We have to go that far back to find my first Murray – Rosa Edith Murray (23 Apr 1861 – 19 Nov 1943) My great-great-grandmother was a Murray, and her grandfather was a Scottish immigrant who came…
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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 Slight – Ida Slight (1863 – 1949) Ida was born in Ackley, Iowa, and married a Dutch immigrant named Bernard Blom on 21 Nov 1885. You…
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originally posted Sunday, July 23, 2017 Note: I composed this post before I discovered WikiTree, so you might find information here that I haven’t posted there, yet. At this writing, Henry B Opp (1811 – 1884) is as far back as WikiTree has documented this family. Things Are Looking Opp The Opp families that lived…
Mightier Acorns 