Update on the Caldwell War of 1812 Papers

by DARhistoryold recordsresearchUncategorized

A portion of a letter in the Caldwell family collection.

I wanted to give an update to the Caldwell family War of 1812 preservation project that I have been a part of.  The digitization was completed some time ago and I finished the transcription for the Moffat Library this past January.  Everything was put together, finalized, and the papers are now available for FREE online at the Hudson River Valley Heritage site (hrvh.org).

There is a super neat twist to this tale though that didn’t get published but I wanted to share here. 

My Go To Book

by family historygenealogyresearch

For my Moffat genealogy club members, at Thursday’s meeting, I mentioned a small book that I find particularly helpful when I’m doing genealogy work.  The book is called The Genealogist’s U.S. History Pocket Reference: Quick Facts & Timelines of American History to Help Understand Your Ancestors by Nancy Hendrickson.  I hate to say that even as a history major, I’m absolutely terrible about remembering dates.

This book is so handy and amazing to have on your desk for quick look-ups.  When I’m researching an ancestor, I don’t just want to know their birth and death dates.  It’s all the stuff in between that’s interesting, right?

I Added to History Today

by historyold recordsresearchUncategorized

DSC_0265Sometimes there are moments that really help solidify who you are, where you’re supposed to be and what you should be doing with your life.  Since moving to New York, I’ve had more of these types of serendipitous moments than ever before and most of those have had to do with genealogy (as in my Woodhull posts) and historical research.  Through those two avenues, I seem to have found the most wonderful, kindred souls right at the exact times I needed them and some even in the strangest, most random of circumstances.  No matter how odd, weird or inconsequential it may have seemed at the time, everything has since fallen into place like it was “meant to be.”

For this story, let me give a bit of backstory.  My DAR patriot was John Wickham and at one point, he was at Fort Montgomery.  On this past 4th of July, I decided after living in New York for 6 years, I’d like to go see the fort and learn more about where he had been stationed.  That, and they were letting off the cannon!

DAR Margaret Corbin Day Ceremony

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corbinpicture

The DAR monument for Margaret Corbin at the Old Cadet Chapel on West Point.  © Jill Moore, 2010

Yesterday, I attended my first “official” Daughters of the American Revolution event at West Point’s Military Academy to honor the Revolutionary War heroine Margaret Cochran Corbin.  While the weather was positively wretched, misting all day long with nary a beam of sunlight at all to grace us, the ceremony held at the beautiful Old Cadet Chapel at West Point’s cemetery was especially moving and the brief presentation of her life by retired Brigadier-General Maritza Ryan detailing the hard life Margaret a.k.a “Molly” endured beginning at a young age and extending to her post-war years was particularly interesting. There was a gorgeous blue and yellow rose wreath to be laid at her monument and the honor guard provided a gun salute before taps was played.  So moving….

Hannah Woodhull, consort

by cemeterygenealogyhistorymysteriespicturesresearchUncategorizedWoodhull

HannahWoodhullconsortThe other day my husband and I were at the Cemetery of the Highlands in Highland Mills, NY near Woodbury.  (Orange County) My genealogical serendipity continues to amaze me as I stumbled upon yet another set of Woodhulls from my line and from the Revolutionary War era.  I wasn’t even looking for them and yet, there they were… all in a large family section with about 20 of them, including that of Colonel Jesse Smith Woodhull.  Even in my delight at stumbling across a distant relative and seeing his DAR marker in place, I was more intrigued by a nearby grave, that as you can see, is sadly being slowly overtaken by the ground cover.