Skip to content

Menu

  • Home
  • The Serendipity Tree Blog
  • Services & Rates
  • About Me
  • Reasons to Hire a Genealogist
  • FAQ
  • Contact Us

The Serendipity Tree Blog


Writing about my family’s history and sharing their forgotten stories with others is my absolute passion. From simple farmers, teachers, small-town bankers, and soldiers, I find every aspect of their lives fascinating. I write about them today so they’ll be remembered for many more tomorrows to come. I hope you enjoy!

 

Published Articles

The Disrespectful Epidemic Affecting Cemeteries & Historic Sites

Utilizing Muster Rolls to Identify the Dead

Are Genealogy CD’s Worth It?

Recent Posts

  • My Kentucky Conundrum
  • My Spot in New York Stories Live!
  • The Scourge of Bad, Dirty Trees
  • I’ve been gone awhile…
  • My Loafer Follow-Up

Archives

”special
National Genealogical Society Member

Virtual Genealogical Association

ProGen
GeneaBloggers


APG Member


Hull

UPCOMING EVENTS

There are no events currently scheduled due to the coronavirus crisis. All classes are being conducted online through GoToMeeting.

Current students, please check your emails for upcoming class links. If you're not a current student but would like to join, please send an email using our Contact Me page.

... STAY TUNED FOR MORE!

serendipitytree

Jill M.
Sharing from the National Purple Heart Hall of Hon Sharing from the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor FB page. This day means a lot to me as my father has 4 Purple Hearts from Vietnam. 89 YEARS AGO TODAY: 22 February 1932 The modern #PurpleHeart medal was established on this date, by General Order #3, signed by General Douglas MacArthur. The date was chosen in observance the 200th anniversary of the birth of #GeorgeWashington. The award was inspired by the Badge of Military Merit, created by Washington in the waning days of the Revolution. As was the Badge of Military Merit, the Purple Heart was also originally a merit based award. Wounds received in action were one way a person could qualify for the award. However, since 1942, the medal is awarded to U.S. service members who have been killed or wounded by enemy action. . . 💜 #nationalpurplehearthallofhonor
Supposed to be doing #conspiracytheory homework bu Supposed to be doing #conspiracytheory homework but this #benjaminfranklin filter was too funny to resist! #sohistoricallyaccurate
I found this so humorous last night! From The Eve I found this so humorous last night! From The Evening Mail #newspaper in #London England on Friday, 12 Oct 1792! Sounds like they both were real keepers. (If you're not familiar with the long S character of old, keep in mind that words like laft is actually the word last.) . . . #genealogy #familyhistory #newspapers #newspapersdotcom #londonengland
My 47th day of birth has been filled with #bluevel My 47th day of birth has been filled with #bluevelvetcake, a cat stealing #cupcakes, #paint purchases, #BabyYoda cups, #GeorgeWashington, and #books !! Getting old isn’t so bad. 😜
My son knows me so well! Gave me an early birthda My son knows me so well! Gave me an early birthday gift of #GeorgeWashington and I couldn’t ❤️ him more! #historynerdgift
Spent the morning on a personal tour of the newly Spent the morning on a personal tour of the newly renovated #PurpleHeartHallofHonor in #NewWindsorNY with the #QuassaickChapterNSDAR
Well, that’s certainly #bizarre! This was writt Well, that’s certainly #bizarre! This was written in the back of the #usedbook I bought for #school! Who knew the name Lisa was so dire? @sunyempire
I couldn’t make my grandma Clara Lou’s famous I couldn’t make my grandma Clara Lou’s famous #Buckeyecandy this year because my @kitchenaidusa mixer is on its last leg but I did manage to make some of my #chocolatechipcookies for the fam instead. Still, it’s not the same and it’s making me miss her something awful this Christmas. #familyrecipe
Isn’t this #handwriting just lovely? Found this Isn’t this #handwriting just lovely? Found this in a #Warof1812 #widowspension and had to share. #genealogy #dotyfamily #familyhistory #militaryhistory
Umm I don’t think my #floetrol is supposed to lo Umm I don’t think my #floetrol is supposed to look like this. I’ve heard of other #acrylicpaint people say they had bad batches but I hadn’t seen it myself until today. It even has a really funky smell. Going back to @loweshomeimprovement ! So gross and gloppy. #floodfloetrol
Does anyone remember this #book from childhood in Does anyone remember this #book from childhood in the 1970’s? It’s Dean’s A Book of #Fairytales and I used to read it like every day! So beautifully drawn! I found my grandbaby one today in mint condition and I cannot wait to give it to her. She is such a #booklover already at 4! Making me so #nostalgic looking through pictures of it online. I know she is going to love it as much as I did. #vintagebook
When you talk about food, people wouldn’t necess When you talk about food, people wouldn’t necessarily tie it into #genealogy but it is! This #butterhorn #recipe from my great aunt Rosie is near legendary in our family. My uncle Robert has made them as long as I can remember and this is the first year I’ve incorporated a #heritagerecipe into my celebration. We’re actually making them simultaneously (quite by coincidence) - they’re in Ohio & I’m in New York. What #familyrecipes will you be sharing at your table this year?
I posted on the 21st that we had just cleaned this I posted on the 21st that we had just cleaned this black soldier’s #headstone from the #CivilWar and look at the difference in just 9 days! Holy cow! Go go #Orvus soap and #D2 !! Work that magic! So crazy.
Pro tip for reading #headstones that are faded or Pro tip for reading #headstones that are faded or worn. Wait till the sun is facing the stone or use mirrors to angle the sunlight onto the stone face so little details, like the small lettering, pop out. Poor little Adelaid here spends most of her day in the shade of a tall pine. A mirror should be in any #cemetery kit! . . . . #cemeteryphotography #cemeterywalker #headstonereading
I thought it was appropriate to use a @usps.offici I thought it was appropriate to use a @usps.official Women Vote #19thamendment #stamp to send in my #ballot this time. 🇺🇸 🗳
@shamrocks74 and I did a thing Sunday. Good deeds @shamrocks74 and I did a thing Sunday. Good deeds and all that! Harry was an #enslaved man who was born in Mississippi but raised in Louisiana and joined the #USNavy during the #CivilWar after finding his way to freedom. These are the before/after pictures. A biological inhibitor was applied as well so, in the spring, this should shine like new as it takes time to kill all the lichen on the stone. Still, we're pretty proud. He was face down last weekend in dirt. These are the before and after. . . . . . #cemetery #cemeteryphotography #headstone #gravestone #hudsonvalley #washingtonville
When your @makarohn order arrives and nobody is ho When your @makarohn order arrives and nobody is home but you! First dibs! Muwhahah! 🤪 #makarohn #macarons #snoozeyoulose
#monday in a nutshell. No-fault accident at 9:45, #monday in a nutshell. No-fault accident at 9:45, no injuries. 10:30 rode to repair shop with tow truck and fell out of said tow truck and sliced my ankle wide open. Ended up in the ER for 7 stitches! #2020sucks #mondaymayhem
Happened to me today! Found the headstone for Will Happened to me today! Found the headstone for William Halsey who was a black man duped out of his bounty for the #CivilWar and I’ve been scouring our #cemetery for him. Today we scrubbed a stone and magically, there he was. Tears y’all, literal tears. My personal project has been to identify all the #USCT soldiers in the #Washingtonville cemetery. William here was my first and he’s about one of 14 so far that’s been verified to be with us. So many of them had been forgotten and undocumented so to find William today, my heart melted and I hugged his stone. ❤️ #uscoloredtroops #genealogy #Halseyfamily #genealogymeme
Don’t you ❤️ #cemetery mysteries? I like th Don’t you ❤️ #cemetery mysteries? I like the hard ones that you can barely read like this little gem for Frank #Hulse . Now I just have to identify his parents which is the most worn part of this stone. Off to the #censusrecords ! You may be wondering why the census instead of the cemetery records. They’re very spotty journals and notebooks and most are names with no dates. Helpful, eh?! How do you solve cemetery identification problems?
Load More... Follow on Instagram
Copyright © 2021 . The Serendipity Tree & Jill Moore. All rights reserved.