“I see you’ve found my scrapbook from Yale,” reads a letter recently sent from the grave by Julius Kruttschnitt, Jr. The talking letter suddenly appeared after this blogger opened Julius’s decrepit scrapbook of his undergraduate college years, 1903 through 1907. “As you can probably see, I had a pretty good time.” To say the least. Kruttschnitt received his degree in […]
B.T. Express Tries Out The Colonel’s New Recipe
As a connoisseur of all things Chicken, I was tempted to try out the Colonel’s new grilled chicken. Finding an outlet in Washington DC meant strolling from the comfortable confines of my posh M street office through the transitional wilds of 14th Street, past Bohemian mid-century used furniture stores, shabby chic new restaurants simply titled […]
Old Letter Is Probably Fake, But Still Makes Good Reading
I have a vague memory of my mother showing me this letter from “our relatives in Ireland” that may or may not have been real. It was probably sent to her by her brother, Hugh Simmers, who may have been pulling her leg. Brother Bill recently did a good job of reading it in authentic Irish Brogue. […]
Margaret Thompson Biddle’s Furs Barely Escaped German Bombs in Poland
The furs of Margaret Thompson, whose second marriage was to U.S. diplomat Anthony Biddle, Jr., were lucky to escape unharmed from German bombing in Poland in 1939, according to a diary she kept of what was apparently a very unpleasant evacuation ordeal.
The Magnate Came Up Largely Empty Handed in His Genealogy Research
Stop the digital press–this blogger recently obtained copies of genealogy reports commissioned by William Boyce Thompson that shed light on the family’s distant past. Unfortunately, researchers working for The Magnate ran into the same dead-ends that befuddle family researchers today. That said, The Thompson Reports include some exciting new information. H.H. Plate, Thompson’s secretary who in 1923 was sent on a fact-finding mission to […]
Joseph Ough Made a Big Impression on Great Grandfather Thompson
My great-grandfather, J.E. Thompson, really admired his uncle, architect and builder Joseph Ough. The respect didn’t stem from Ough’s financial success. It was due to the man’s artistic and spiritual achievements. “In your mother’s family, and mine, there were those that were stars in a financial way,” wrote J.E. Thompson in a letter to his son, “but the man […]
Thompson Line Seems to End at William Thompson, Sr.
Like most amateur genealogists, I have reached a maddening dead-end in the quest to trace my family roots. The end of the line is William Thompson, Sr., who appears to have lived most his life in Ontario, Canada, but was probably born in Scotland. Thompson’s very common name, which shows up often in Census counts, church […]
J.R. Boyce Pays Tribute to Dead for Benefit of Living
James Richard (J.R.) Boyce was a real sweetheart, a deep believer in the nobility of womankind. The Confederate Army major, who became a Montana dry goods merchant, wanted to ensure his ancestors knew what outstanding stock they came from. So he left behind a highly detailed October 23, 1893, letter addressed to his grandchildren. Unfortunately, […]