Memory Tree Genealogy Journal

Portrait of Edward Musser Luden,: McAtee, William.  The Members of the Legislature of Pennsylvania and Heads of Departments: Session of 1895 .  Harrisburg, PA: J.H. McFarland Company, Mount Pleasant Printery.  1895.  11 February 2015 https://archive.org/details/portraitsbiograp00mcat Portrait of Frederick Musser Yeager: Yeager, James Martin (1857-).  A Brief History of the Yeager, Buffington, Creighton, Jacobs, Lemon, Hoffman, and Woodside Families and Their Collateral Kindred of Pennsylvania .  Lewistown, PA.  11 February 2015 https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofye00yeag Yesterday, I started the slow, winding description of one of the l argest mysteries in my family tree .   It’s one of those continuing stories over which I have continued to mull over, setting it down for a month or two only to pick it back up again to ascertain whether or not I missed a detail here, a document there. A...

 There is a huge, genealogical elephant in my living room.   Every so often, he nudges me with his trunk, he asks for fresh water, and bats his long eyelashes at me in hopes that I will scratch behind his giant elephant ears. My theory about family history research is that nothing is as cut and dry as it seems at first.   Dig a little deeper – search a few newspaper archives – and you’ll either make your particular research question a) more complicated, or b) exceptionally clear in a way you never expected. By the time I actually his “POST” on this article, I will most likely have re-written it several times.   This elephant is giant.   HUGE.   Effecting the way an entire branch of my family will view its identity – even its surnames.   I’m putting on kid gloves.   But most importantly – I want to outline for my extended family and my future family exactly how I arrived at my present hypothesis.   I feel deeply convicted that ...

(Photo source - "A Brief History of the Yeager...Family") In honor of President's Day weekend, I thought I would honor a relative that I just recently discovered.  In fact, it was just a few months ago that my entire family was made aware of our connection to Frederick Musser Yeager - half (or full?  more on that in another post...) brother of my maternal 2nd great-grandfather, Edward Musser Luden.  It wasn't until I stumbled upon his mother's probate record that I realized she had been married previously AND had two children of whom we were unaware.  How glad I am that I found Mr. Yeager!  A fascinating figure indeed. Frederick Musser Yeager (1840-1920) was born in the city of  Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania - the son of Amos Bright Yeager and Sarah Ann Musser. A member of the Ringgold Light Artillery - and the First Defenders - Frederick answered Abraham Lincoln's call for federal troops in April 1861.  From various articles and descri...