Have you ever wondered why some of your relatives were fat and others weren’t? Thanks to the results of an admittedly shallow survey, we now have the answer: It’s because they had the money to buy more food.
Five Bad Pieces of Genealogy Advice
I’ve been at this family history business long enough, six years (the equivalent of 56 years in Internet terms), to be considered an expert. So I thought I’d jot down some of the worst advice I received during my quest, for the benefit of neophytes who want to embark on a family history project in […]
The Man from Asarco Once Visited St. Louis
Julius Kruttschnitt, Jr. (1885-1974) was so famous in Australia that a letter addressed “Julius Kruttschnitt, Australia” was likely to reach him. But in the late 1960s, when the mining magnate visited the St. Louis suburb where my family lived, he was just another great-grandfather visiting his great-grandchildren. According to his biography, The Man from Asarco, […]
Ernest Kruttschnitt Portrait Moved to Where No One Will See It
The Louisiana Supreme Court has moved its controversial portrait of Ernest Benjamin Kruttschnitt (1852-1906) from its longtime location on a wall by the entry to the courtroom to the mezzanine level where no one goes. If I may editorialize for a moment: This is no way treat a man who was a major driving force […]
History No Longer So Kind to Ernest Kruttschnitt
When New Orleans lawyer Ernest Benjamin Kruttschnitt died in 1906, praise came from all quarters. A partner in one of the city’s most illustrious law firms, Kruttschnitt (1852-1906) had tried many of the most important cases of his time. A long-time president of the New Orleans School Board, he twice turned down opportunities to become […]
Small Palm Planted in 1897 Now Rises to More Than 40 Feet
There’s a picture on the Internet of a small cypress palm tree planted by railroad executive Julius Kruttschnitt, Sr., in 1897 at a train station in Burlingame, Ca., that had opened only a couple years before. The photo, taken in 1901, shows two small children playing near the palm, which was already rising above their […]