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James Doty Letter To Arthur Shoemaker

I’m coming down the home stretch on publishing the letter that James K. Doty wrote to his cousin Arthur (Clell) Shoemaker in 1965. I have been working on documenting this letter for at least 4 years. I’m still looking for an obituary on James K. Doty, who...

Another Ancestor in the Revolutionary War

I have finally proven my ancestor, Susannah Shafer Shoemaker Ayres, to be the daughter of Adam Shafer and Elizabeth Swartout/Swartwood of Luzerne County, PA. This was a hard one. I first found her listed on an application for NSDAR, as one of the children of Adam and...

Hershey’s Gather in Paradise

Sunday was another Hershey Reunion and was held at Paradise Park in Paradise, PA. Every one of Frank and Lydia (Buckwalter) Hershey’s children, who had children (Esther, Torrey, Ruth, Frank, Elmer, Ada Mae, Ephraim, Vera), had representation. Lots of grand and...

Challenging DAR Applications

I’ve been working on a couple of challenging NSDAR applications this month and have found how many times people on the internet perpetuate incorrect data. One thing that the NSDAR genealogy course teaches is that if they were born in KY, then their parents had...

Genealogy Has Lost a Treasure

I was sorry to receive a notice that a premier Pennsylvania German researcher has passed away. John T. Humphrey, author, researcher and friend died in Washington DC on August 12, 2012. I have no further details yet, but am really feeling the loss of this wonderful...