Maybe I have too much time on my hands. One of the projects I was working on this week involved finding the ancestry of my dad’s best friend, Cleve Henry. One of my middle names — Cleve — is after this guy. He and my dad were cowboys together in the glory days of their…
Extinct Romans
This is a piece from Masaman about different ethnic groups in the old Roman Empire. Toward the end there is a brief bit about the Etruscans and Rhaetians in the Alps. Of interest to the Hauri DNA project because our G-L42 haplogroup seems to be concentrated in this region and probably originated there. Masaman, Extinct…
The Search for Thomas Place
When I first began researching my Place ancestors, I concluded Brig. Gen. Solomon Place was our direct ancestor. Cousins had reached the same conclusion; it seemed to be a family tradition. But years later, it became clear we were mistaken. It was just wishful thinking. And it was easy to demonstrate our mistake with just…
Brig. Gen. Solomon Place — A Biographical Sketch
Introduction Brigadier General Solomon Place (1770–1834) holds a distinct place in the history of early nineteenth-century upstate New York. A prosperous citizen of Greenwich and a career militia officer during the War of 1812, Solomon’s life is well documented through public records and a family Bible record penned in his own hand. Although family lore…
The Utah Accent (a.k.a. the Pioneer or Mormon Accent)
For Pioneer Day, let’s take a fun little tour of the Utah accent—also known as the Mormon or Pioneer accent. It’s its own thing, a bit different from the typical Midwest sound, and oddly overlooked by linguists. But if you know what to listen for, you’ll catch it all over Utah, southern Idaho, eastern Nevada,…