Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Book Report: Life in Civil War America

Life in Civil War America

By Michael O. Varhola
OH: Family Tree Books, 1999



Chapter 1: North & South, One Nation, Two Peoples
Chapter 2: Where People Lived: Life in City, Town, and Country
Chapter 3: Education: From Schoolhouses to Universities
Chapter 4: Slang and Idiom: How People and Events Shaped Language
Chapter 5: Religion: What People Believed
Chapter 6: Fun and Games: How People Entertained Themselves
Chapter 7: Wages and Currency: Coins, Greenbacks, and Postal Currency
Chapter 8: Clothing and Dry Goods: What Items Cost and the Impact of Shortages
Chapter 9: Food and Diet: How People Ate at Home and on the War Front
Chapter 10: Technology: Inventions That Changed Life and Warfare
Chapter 11: The War on the Home Front; the Draft and Civil Unrest
Chapter 12: Brothers at War: Billy Yank, Johnny Reb
Chapter 13: Arms, Equipment, and Uniforms: Supplying the Servicemen

Do you want to know more about the Civil War than the battles? What was happening on the home front? How did everyday life continue despite shortages? How was life different in the north and in the south? I have lots of questions about how the lives of our family members were changed by the conflict. This book answers lots of those questions. It is very interesting and fun.

Test yourself. Do you know the definitions of these words?

Cashier           To dishonorably dismiss from the military
Calaboose       Jail
God’s Flag       Term used by the Union troops to refer to the US flag
Jawing            Talking
Pie-Eater        A country boy, a rustic
The Shakes     Malaria
Spondulix       Money
Tay                 Tea
Top Rail          First class


Did you know:

 The gatling gun, the player piano and barbed wire were invented during the war? 
Doctors did not yet have hypodermic syringes, blood transfusions or antibiotics.
 Most of the nation’s railroad tracks and rolling stock existed in the north. The south had difficulties maintaining and repairing the track and equipment they did have. 
Confederate rations, when available, included: bacon, chicory, cornmeal, molasses, peanuts, sugar, tea and vegetables. 

That’s just a small sample of the little details included in this book. Pick up a copy. It is a fun read.

MY LIBRARY

At the top of this blog, click on My Library for many more books that I have found useful for genealogical & historical research.







Saturday, June 23, 2018

Happy Fathers' Day!

Happy Fathers' Day


My Dad,
Delbert Keith Brown 
1928 OH - 200 NY

Son of Roy Jesse Brown & Ivy Regina Mark
Oldest of seven children
Mechanic, Trucker, Proprietor of Gas Station

With my brothers & me in days gone by.


Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Forget Me Not: Joseph Pershing Brown, 1993 MS

Joseph Pershing Brown

31 August 1918 LA - 5 March 1993 MS
Son of Junius Earl Brown & Armetha Blades

My First Cousin, Once Removed



Photograph from FindAGrave
Memorial #22479547


Joseph P. “Joe” Brown, 74 of the Progress Community, died March 5, 1993, at Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center in McComb. Visitation will be until 12:30 pm today at MR. Brown’s home at Route 4, Box 134, Magnolia. Funeral services will be at 2 pm today at Progress Baptist Church with the Rev. Billy Ray Simmons and the Rev. Wilton Miller officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Capps Funeral Home of Tylertown is in charge of arrangements.
He also was preceded in death by his wife, Norma Rea McDaniel Brown, and one son, Joe Earl Brown.
He is survived by two daughters, Aline Knippers and Kathy Fortenberry, both of Magnolia; one son, Robert “Mickey” Brown of Magnolia; one brother, Everett Brown of Spencer, W. Va.; 11 grandchildren, eight grandchildren and two nephews.
Pall bearers will be George Simmons, Fay Smith, Robert Knippers, Edgar Knippers, Hollis Holmes, Hugh Brown and Willie Knippers.



Source: Joseph P. Brown (McComb, MS: Enterprise-Journal, 7 March 1993)12; digital image, Newspapers.com: accessed February 2018.


Saturday, June 9, 2018

Our 40th Anniversary


10 June 1978

Bride & Groom,
Donald T. & Colleen G. (Brown) Pasquale

Parents of the Bride (left),
Delbert K. & Alberta Joy (Gardner) Brown

Parents of the Groom (right),
Thomas F. & Angelina 'Ann' (Palilla) Pasquale


My husband & I are celebrating our 40th Wedding Anniversary. We have many happy memories from our years together: the years we spent as a young couple living in Buffalo, NY; welcoming each of our beautiful children into our family; holidays & travels; quiet moments with our little family. There were difficult times but we got through them together. And all along our loving family & loyal friends made the hard times easier & the happy times more joyful. Now we have two handsome grandsons who always add smiles to our lives. We have been blessed in many ways. It is a time for looking back at our memories and looking ahead for what comes next.


Here we are, cutting cake, 40 years later.




Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Forget Me Not: Denny Herbert Smith

Denny Herbert Smith 
3 March 1892 MS - 18 March 1966 LA

I was hoping this would reveal the names of Denny's parents but his parents and his wife are not included. He was married to Mavis Marie Brown, my great aunt. 





Tylertown. Funeral services for Denny Herbert Smith, 74, farmer of the Silver Creek Community were conducted Saturday afternoon from the Silver Creek Baptist Church where he was a member. Mr. Smith, a native and life-long resident of Pike County, died Friday at a Denham Springs, La. Hospital after along illness. He is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Nathalee Comeaux, Denahm Springs, La., and Mrs. Wilma Bushler, Baton Rouge, La.; one son, Fay S. Smith, Osyka; two sisters, Mrs. H. A. Brown, Osyka, and Mrs. Maude Brock, Baton Rouge, and seven grandchildren.

Source: Pike Native, D. H. Smith, Dies at Age 74 (McComb, MS: Enterprise-Journal, 21 Mar 1966) 7; digital image, Newspapers.com: accessed Feb 2018.




my photograph
Silver Springs Cemetery, MS

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