Category Archives: Family biographies

Researching Underground Railroad Connections

Forgive my absence. I have been working for the past eight months on a project to document African Americans in Royal Oak Township from 1845-1870 and try to determine if any were freedom seekers or abolitionists. After combing through census, land, and probate records, newspapers, and city directories, as well as utilizing maps, I focusedContinueContinue reading “Researching Underground Railroad Connections”

A Life Lived in Recipes

Lately I’ve been thinking about my great-grandmother Caroline’s cookbook “Oglivie’s Book for a Cook,” printed in Montreal in 1905. It is worn and fragile, the back cover is missing, and grease stains mark nearly every page. Some young child scribbled in it in pencil, and recipes clipped from newspapers can be found scattered throughout theContinueContinue reading “A Life Lived in Recipes”

The Icemen of Yonkers, NY

Iceman in New York. Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. (https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dd-9cc1-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99) It may seem odd to be writing about ice in the middle of winter since winter was the season coal was delivered, not ice. But winter is the season that ice was cutContinueContinue reading “The Icemen of Yonkers, NY”

A Different Kind of Tragedy

Most families will uncover sad or unfortunate stories in their history, often including accidents, alcoholism, abuse, or even murder. The Hale family is no exception. Oscar James Hale (1870-1916) was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He came from a family of silver platers and learned the trade himself.  Around 1891, the Hales relocated toContinueContinue reading “A Different Kind of Tragedy”

Italian Banda in Yonkers, New York

In the mid-1980s, I visited my great-aunt Nettie in Yonkers, New York, where she had lived her entire life. One of my most cherished possessions is a tambourine she gave me that has the inscription “Property of Rinaldi’s Band.” My great-grandparents, Angelo Rinaldi and Maria Bonacci, immigrated to the U.S. in 1903 and 1905 respectively.ContinueContinue reading “Italian Banda in Yonkers, New York”