Jacob Dilatush

On this day, 13 December 1852, Jacob Dilatush, my 5th great-grandfather, passed away.

Born on 24 March 1781, in Monroe Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey, Jacob was the son of Henry Dilatush and Geradina Van Wickle. He joined older sisters Syche “Sophie” Dilatush, born on 25 March 1779, and Anne Dilatush, born in 1780.

Lloyd Wilbur Cole

It is Week 29 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge. However, before I present this week’s post, I have to apologize for missing the last two weeks’ writing prompts.

Let me tell you what happened. When I first read Week 27’s writing prompt, Solo, I thought that it was “Sole” and began researching/writing accordingly. (I was going to write my spouse’s Soule predecessors.) It was not until the last day of the challenge that I realized that I had misread the word. Sole was, in fact, solo, so I was S.O.L. with no time to spare and no inspiration to be had.

But instead of frantically scrambling and needlessly fretting in the eleventh hour, I decided to take a “vacation” from writing, especially considering that I was not taking a “real” vacation this year. (Darn you, COVID!). And since I typically take two weeks off, Week 28’s prompt, Multiple, was sacrificed to the staycation god as well.

So here I am, two weeks later, a bit more rested and little less stressed. So, without further adieu, let’s tackle Week 29’s writing prompt: Newsworthy. And boy, do I have a “newsworthy” character for you!

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Middle

We are halfway through the year 2020 and midway through the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge, which is why this most recent writing prompt, Middle, seems quite appropriate.

Middle? Hmm…What “middle” should I write about? Should I write about Middlekauft cousins or Middleton kin, none of whom are direct ancestors? Perhaps I should feature towns and counties in which our ancestors resided whose names contain “middle”, like Middletown or Middlesex? After much deliberation, I decided to highlight the Middle Colonies and a few ancestors who were some of its earliest settlers.

Doing God’s Work: The Monks

It is week 25 in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge. This week’s writing prompt is Unexpected. Unexpected? The one thing I have learned in more than two decades of genealogical research is to expect the unexpected. You never know what you are going to uncover! Take for example my recent “religious” findings…

ABCs & Our Family Trees: Letters N & O

I have always been fascinated by language, specifically where it originates and how it adapts, mutates, and relates to other languages. That is why I found the recent series of blogs by Andrew’s Kindred so intriguing. It combined my love of etymology with my love of genealogy. I was so inspired, in fact, that I decided to try my hand at chronicling the origins of our families’ surnames.

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This is the thirteenth installment of a series of posts documenting the etymology of many of our families’ surnames (recent and distant, direct and indirect.)

Well, since I already covered the M names, let’s now address the letters N and O: