Alix de Thouars

On this day, 21 October 1221, Alix de Thouars, hereditary Duchess of Brittany and Countess of Richmond, passed away. She was my 25th great-grandmother.

In 1201, Alix de Thouars was born in Brittany, France. She was one of two (possibly three) known children of Gui de Thouars and Constance, Duchess of Brittany. Alix had a twin sister named Catherine de Thouars. She also had an older half-brother Arthur I, Duke of Brittany, and an older half-sister Eleanor de Bretagne, the children of Constance’s previous marriage to Geoffrey Plantagenet.

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Petronilla of Aragon

On the day, 15 October 1173, Petronilla of Aragon passed away. She was my three-times 27th great-grandmother.

Born on 29 June 1136, in Huesca, Spain, Petronilla was the only child of Ramiro of Aragon and his wife Agnes of Aquitaine.

Prior to his marriage to Agnes of Aquitaine, Ramiro of Aragon had been the bishop of Barbastro-Roda, When his brother, Alfonso I, died in 1134 without an heir, Ramiro was elected as ruler. Ramiro sought papal dispensation to abdicate his monastic vows in order to secure succession to the throne. After he received dispensation, Ramiro of Aragon married Agnes of Aquitaine in 1135.

250th Anniversary of the Mason-Dixon Line

On this day, 250 years ago—9 October 1767, the survey of the Mason-Dixon line was completed.

Starting in the early 1700s, my Noel-Ardinger and Taylor-Thomas lines and my spouse’s Spangler family settled in southern Pennsylvania and northern Maryland: Adams, Cumberland, Franklin, Lancaster, and York Counties, Pennsylvania and Carroll, Frederick, and Washington Counties, Maryland—on or near the Mason-Dixon line.

Suffering Until Suffrage

I have voted in every election, primary and general, in which I could vote since I came of age many, many years ago. For me, voting is my right and my responsibility as an American citizen. Too many people for too long were denied this right. Who am I to squander it?

Ninety-seven years ago today—18 August 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, granting women the right to vote.

Susannah Jane (Record) Williams

On this day, 16 June 1877, Susannah Jane (Record) Williams passed away. She was my spouse’s 3rd great-grandmother.

Born on 4 April 1813, in Worth Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania, Susannah Jane Record was the daughter of George Record and Catherine Kelly, who were married on 3 September 1812.