Polish Prince Alexander Hohenlohe “knew it was serious” when he first met the 18-year-old Peggy Boyce Schulze (1921-1964). The couple married, he told the New York Times, after only a “four-month courtship which began like many another courtship before it — on a Summer day.” The courtship became anything but typical after military hostilities interceded. […]
Boner House Still Stands Tall in Milan, Missouri
John Quincy Boner (1830-1908) and his wife Sarah Ann Clark had already lost three children to illness by 1876, when they built this home in Milan, Mo. Thankfully, the stately home with its inviting, wraparound porch, is still standing, as I discovered on a visit there last summer. Two children — Minnie (12) and Charles […]
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 […]
Thompson Family History: The First Chapter
The project started out innocently enough. I merely wanted to confirm some of the often bizarre stories my parents and grandparents had told me at family events, typically after a few drinks.
Earliest North American Relative Jailed for Assaulting Tailor
Genealogical research often turns up more than you really want to know. I got a rude reminder of this truism before the Christmas holidays, when a genealogist working in Cobourg, Ontario discovered that my earliest North American ancestor, William Thompson (1806-1849), assaulted a tailor, didn’t pay the fine, and spent time in the lock-up. The […]
Debate Rages Over Which William Thompson Was Actually the Man
Was William Thompson da man? Or was it William Boyce Thompson? A dissident family faction weighs in.