52 Ancestors

52 Ancestors: Weathering the Storms of 1979

Posted on April 17, 2018 in 52 Ancestors, 52Ancestors

Why did my car end up buried in the snow? Read on to find out. I had always wanted to see a solar eclipse at totality, live and in person, but the Mid-Atlantic weather conditions tended to make this unlikely. After some persuasion, I talked several friends from work into making a trip with me to Winnipeg, Canada, listed as […]

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52 Ancestors: Do You Use Tax Records in Your Research?

Posted on April 13, 2018 in 52 Ancestors, 52Ancestors

In 2009, I had some research in tax records completed at the Pennsylvania State Archives by eminent genealogist, John T. Humphrey, CG (decd.). My ultimate goal was to identify the father of my 3rd great grandfather, Peter Strausser. I first found Peter, with his wife and family in the 1860 US census living in Coal Twp., Northumberland Co., Pennsylvania. I […]

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52 Ancestors: Before Her Time – A Woman of the 21st Century

Posted on April 6, 2018 in 52 Ancestors, 52Ancestors

For this week’s theme, I just had to highlight one of my favorite aunts and the only maiden aunt I could find, Dorothy [Dot] A. Furlani, who was born on 15 October 1913 in Connersville, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of Candido (Condy) Furlani and Anna Bianchi. One of three children, she had an older brother, William, my […]

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52 Ancestors: So Many Homesteads

Posted on April 5, 2018 in 52 Ancestors, 52Ancestors

Thinking about this week’s theme, ‘The Old Homestead’, I realized that I have not found many of the old homesteads of my ancestors, and for the ones that I’ve found, I have very little information. Not enough to really focus on one homestead for this post. I decided, instead, to highlight each of the homesteads I have identified. The first […]

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52 Ancestors: Out of Misfortune, Rises Hope

Posted on March 22, 2018 in 52 Ancestors, 52Ancestors

Misfortune is a tricky theme for me. The first thing I did was to look up synonyms for the word misfortune. Google’s dictionary provides the following synonyms: problem, difficulty, setback, trouble, adversity, a stroke of bad luck, a reversal (of fortune), misadventure, mishap, blow, failure, accident, disaster, catastrophe; sorrow, misery, woe, trial, tribulation, tragedy. As I was going through my […]

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52 Ancestors: Lucky or Unlucky in Love?

Posted on March 17, 2018 in 52 Ancestors, 52Ancestors

Was my ancestor lucky or unlucky in love? I am speaking about my maternal great-grand uncle, William Theodore Meisberger. He was born, the son of Theobald C. Meisberger and Mary Catherine Strausser, on 12 November 1869 in Brady, Coal Township, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. In 1908, William was a prominent Northumberland county politician and a member of the Coal Township school […]

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52 Ancestors: My Great-Grandmother, Maria Bunt Bianchi (1865 – 1944) – A Real Survivor

Posted on March 6, 2018 in 52 Ancestors, 52Ancestors

  The suggested theme for this week is “strong woman.” What a great theme to kick off “Women’s History Month” throughout March 2018. What makes a woman strong? Is it her physical strength, her perseverance, her intelligence, her sense of humor, or her will? As soon as I saw the theme, the name of my great-grandmother jumped to mind. Even […]

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52 Ancestors: The Lonely Will

Posted on March 2, 2018 in 52 Ancestors, 52Ancestors

I am calling this will the lonely will since it the “only” will that I have been able to find in my entire family, prior to those of my parents. This is the will of Theobald Meisberger (1837 – 1900), my 2nd great-grandfather. His daughter, Mary Eve [Eva] Ann Gunther nee Meisberger (1861 – 1941), is my great-grandmother, and Eva’s […]

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52 Ancestors: A Cherished Painting

Posted on February 22, 2018 in 52 Ancestors, 52Ancestors

  I featured my father, William Condy Furlani, for the 52 Ancestors theme Valentine. When I looked at the few items that I had from my family, I decided to spotlight this painting for the 52 Ancestors’ theme of Heirloom. Again, I feature my father since he is the artist. I don’t remember when he painted this. I think I […]

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52 Ancestors: A Memorable Happy Valentine’s Day!

Posted on February 16, 2018 in 52 Ancestors, 52Ancestors

                I originally found this card in the box of photos that I inherited from my parents after the death of my father in 1989. It is a card that my father, William Condy Furlani, sent to my mother, Marguerite “Mickey” Noble Furlani for Valentine’s Day, the 14th of February 1944. The card […]

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