The Trouble With Birthdays

One of the more difficult aspects of family history research is reconciling conflicting information.  Sometimes, with a little extra poking around, clarity is achieved.  Other times not so much.  Take the Shane family as an example:  My grandfather was  the second of the eight children of Robert Shane and Bridget Hogan….. or was he?  Conflicting [...]

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The 1948 Flood

1948 was the year of the flood.  The Columbia River flooded that year completely wiping out the town of Vanport, Oregon.  It was never rebuilt. My Aunt Elsie Everest and her husband Ralph lived in Cathlamet Washington, right on the river but on the Washington side…. still they were affected as were friends and other [...]

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The Short Life of Little Mary Shehan

Bridget Hogan and Robert Sheen* were married September 3, 1858 and their first child, Mary was born about 1860.  This date is a deduction from the 1860 U.S. Census for South Fork Township, Delaware County Iowa indicating that Robert Shehan age 36, Bridget Shehan age 21 and Mary Shehan age 2/12 were enumerated as family [...]

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