Anne Frances Robbins, who later changed her name to Nancy Davis, married fellow actor Ronald Reagan, and enjoyed a Hollywood life that later became a political one. She went from First Lady of...
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Rosalynn Smith Carter: America’s First Ladies, #39
Rosalynn Smith Carter was our thirty-ninth First Lady, wife of former President Jimmy Carter. Growing up in poverty as the daughter of a farmer and a dressmaker, she entered the political sphere when...
The History of the Bodie Island Lighthouse
The Bodie Island lighthouse is an important historical landmark in the Outer Banks region of North Carolina. It is actually the third lighthouse to sit on that island, and has recently undergone...
The 1820 US Federal Census — A Closer Look
The 1820 US federal census is the last one to not use pre-printed forms. Because enumerators often drew their own columns, it can sometimes be challenging to interpret the results of this census...
The Intriguing Bodie Ghost Town
Do you know about Bodie? It is one of the best-preserved examples of the original Old West in the United States. Here’s what you need to know about Bodie.
Samuel Chase: Signers of the Declaration of Independence
Samuel Chase was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Yet, it was not signing that important document that made him famous to history. It was his later career as a US Supreme Court justice...
Charles Carroll: The Signers of the Declaration of Independence
Charles Carroll of Carrollton is one of the lesser known signers of the Declaration of Independence. He is best remembered for adding "of Carrollton" after his name on the Declaration, but was well...
Land Records: Substitutes for the 1890 US Federal Census
The US federal census is gone, meaning it is not available for modern genealogists to use. Its loss in a fire in the 1930s was a huge loss to genealogy. Yet, there are ways around the twenty year gap...
A Look at the 1850 US Federal Census
The 1850 US federal census was a historic one in a few important ways. The most important and obvious is that it is the first one to record the names of everyone in a household, not just the head of...
Erdman Penner: Walt Disney Inspirations
Erdman Penner was a screenwriter, songwriter, and associate producer for the Walt Disney Company. Born in Canada to a Mennonite father and a Roman Catholic mom, he was an only child with a penchant...