I am auditioning titles for my new book on Martin Trentham. This is one of my favorites. In what will surely become an unfinished project laced with self-inflicted bouts of lunacy, I’ve decided that I simply can’t take it any more. I’ve developed an obsession (thus the lunacy) of trying to set people straight on the topic of Martin Trentham –… More →

Alas, misfortune found its way to me as I tried to find a familial tie to Fortescue Turbeville who died under mysterious circumstances in South Carolina circa 1710. He may be related but he is not my ancestor. There are two genealogical research principles I learned early on and I ignored both of them. Don’t skip generations and try to… More →

Having picked the low-hanging fruit from my family tree, I am now faced with doing the kind of genealogical research that could easily and understandably take someone 30 years. Armed with enough Diet Dr. Pepper to choke a horse, I decided to buckle down this weekend and tackle one of the tougher items on my Trantham “to do” list. The first item is… More →

Lydia Turbeville, my 4th great grandmother who tried unsuccessfully to defraud the Army pension office in 1877, may have come by her penchant for dishonesty honestly. Fortescue Turbeville, who died mysteriously in 1710, was most likely Lydia’s direct ancestor – at least this is what I am now trying to prove or disprove. Fortescue fortified his place in history when, as… More →