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Genealogy Books & Blog

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Genealogy Books

 Family History Biographies and genealogical compilations for preserving your heritage and passing along to friends, family and future generations. Knowledge of our background can help with our goals, our current relationships, our health, our religion and spirituality, and many other areas, providing details and stories from our ancestors of years gone by.

Click Here To See Marc Thompson’s Bio Page On The “Association of Professional Genealogists” Website

American Pioneer Chronicles

American Pioneer Chronicles Vol 1: Colonial & European Families 1600-1900; The Genealogy (Paperback | Hardcover)

American Pioneer Chronicles Vol 2: Colonial & European Families 1600-1900; The Biographies (Paperback | Hardcover)

American Pioneer Chronicles Vol 3: Colonial & European Families 1600-1900; The Photos (Paperback | Hardcover: Coming Soon)

American Pioneer Chronicles Vol 4: Colonial & European Families 1600-1900; The Cemetery & DNA (Paperback | Hardcover: Coming Soon)

American Pioneer Chronicles Vol 5: Colonial & European Families 1600-1900; The Documents (Paperback | Hardcover: Coming Soon)

American Pioneer Chronicles: How The Prominent And Not-So Prominent Folks From Europe To Colonies Continue To Shape Us Today (Paperback)

Published Client Genealogies

Armstrong Family History

Ford-Fitzgerald Family History

Glickstein & Haber Family History

Mazo & Curry Family History

Romano & Connor Family History

Wittle & Acri Family History

Read a recent blog post

The Converts

By Generation Eight, all APB ancestors were either Methodist or Lutheran, except for the Batdorf and Welkers, a Reformed family. In Generation Nine, there were 15 Lutherans, 6 Lutheran/Reformed, 4 Presbyterian, 3 Reformed, 2 Methodist, and 1 Catholic families. Of the...

Peter Batdorf & Elizabeth Welker

In a sense, Peter Batdorf and his wife, Elizabeth Welker, were war babies. She was born on November 23 in 1812, four months after America declared war on Great Britain beginning the War of 1812. He was born January 20, 1814, eleven months before the treaty was signed...

Notable Ancestors in WIki

Many notable folks are part of the Chronies ancestry. The past with even links to three fascinating maybe even considered monstrous folks. Lucas Raus was born in 1723 in Marienburg, now Feldioara, Romania, south of Transylvanian Castle belonging to Dracula. Peter...

Judith Perigal Werner

The remote village of Brodbecks was the birthplace of Judith Perigal and her future husband George Werner. Both families had left the war-torn, religiously oppressed Baden region, migrating through Philadelphia to York county to pursue opportunity. The frontier had...

Daniel Updegrove & Sarah A. Culp

Life was hard in the anthracite coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania following the Panic of 1837. Layoffs, wage cuts, and persistently high unemployment afflicted the nation, dooming President van Buren’s re-election campaign. John Updegrove, a laborer from Berks...

Early Settlers & Migration

With the 400th Anniversary of our first ancestor’s arrival in the New World, it becomes important to recognize how and where these early families settled. The arrival and settlement are broken into five 50-year time periods, starting with 1600 and ending in the 1800s....

Elizabeth Kistler Hertzog

Elizabeth Kistler’s ancestors survived through the most harrowing struggles Europe had to offer. Her parents and grandparents, although living near the town of Freiburg, which means “town of freedom,” was anything but. There was Catholic domination from the Empire,...

Elizabeth Blymire Reiman

The Dutchy of Wurttemberg was the center of numerous struggles in the early eighteenth century for Anna Elizabeth Bleymeier and her family. The area was under the oppression of the Holy Roman Empire while fending off constant French attacks and being the battleground...

Andrew G. Hensel  & A. Catherine Workman

Andrew Guise Hensel was born on February 18, 1831, at home in New Bloomfield, Perry County, Pennsylvania, eleven years after the fledgling County was formed. There were sparsely 15,000 county inhabitants at the time. However, New Bloomfield is in the central...

Sarah Burr Cable

American Pioneer Chronicles: Colonial Women: the heart, sweat, soul—the foundation of our Nation Persecuted families tended to marry young and Sarah Burr may have set her cap on John Cable while still aboard the Arbella, flagship of the Winthrop Fleet. She was only a...

400th Anniversary

The 400th Anniversary of the first immigrants arriving in the Colonies is quickly approaching. In 1624, Guillaume Vigne, his wife Adrienne Cuvellier, and their children—including the direct-line daughter Marie—endured a dangerous, months-long, food-depleted and...

Michael Goodman & M. Magdalena Brown

On a hot summer day, near the steaming banks of the Susquehanna River, Michael Gutman Sr. and his wife, Catherine Brown, welcomed a son. The Goodman and the Brown families, originally Gutman and Braun, were of Germanic backgrounds. Son Michael Goodman, born on June...

Where Are We From?

One result of genealogical studies is to answer the question “where are we from?” Which may a pointless, obtuse or, at best, indeterminate and subjective. To cloud the issue, it also depends on if one is referring to their regional or their ethnic homeland. A few...

Sarah Binfeld Phipps

American Pioneer Chronicles: Colonial Women: the heart, sweat, soul—the foundation of our Nation Please support our research and view our books for purchase at https://arcifc.com/genealogy/books-and-blog An exodus is a decisive act to leave one place for another. But...

Alexander Thompson & Isabelle S. Penman

A chill October wind mixed salt air with ash from the smokestacks of Edinburgh and carried it up to the farmlands south of the city as the Thompson family gathered to wait for a seventh child to join the clan. Robert Thompson, born June 1771 in Edgehead, and Janet...

Children of the Rhine

For the millions of Americans linked to ancestors in the Chronnies, although there is connection to at least eleven European countries and five African, the heritage is greatly from along the shores of the Rhine River in Central Europe [See the Introduction that...

Helen Andersdotter Andersson

For the Lutheran Andersson family, embarking on the insufferable four-month voyage from Sweden to the Delaware River area was no light undertaking. Ships of the 1650’s were cramped, filthy breeding grounds for disease and death; families often lost members and arrived...

Masons & Browns

ALFRED & HANNAH MASON Alfred Mason was born in 1825 in Georgia, the son of Moses Mason. He married Hannah in 1846 in his hometown. They had twelve children in 23 years. He died in 1880 in Washington, Georgia, at the age of 55. GEORGE & MAY BROWN When George...

Helen Ericksdotter Grelsson

Trailblazing Helen, one of the first European women to embark on a journey to the New World, was enterprising from birth to death. To escape the depression and persecution of 17th Century Värmland, she, her husband Jan Grelsson, and their three children would board a...

James M. Anderson & Lucetta Gaugler

James Anderson and Lucetta Gaugler were born eight months apart in the village of Port Trevorton, Pennsylvania, which lies on the west bank of the Susquehanna. In the year of their births, 1854, Chapman lay in Union County, but the part of this county in which they...

Hannah Jansen Woertman

American Pioneer Chronicles: Colonial Women: the heart, sweat, soul—the foundation of our Nation Why would a twice-widowed 17th century Dutch mother immigrate to the New World? Hannah, widow of Brit turned Netherlander Jan William Woertman, would answer that question;...

Joseph P. Layman & Rebecca J. Overlander

Just before the outbreak of the American Civil War, on January 8, 1859, Joseph Pierce Layman was born to Michael Layman and Elmira Elizabeth Raymond in Airville, York County, Pennsylvania. He was the seventh of nine siblings: Jacob, Sarah, Uriah, Mary, Elmira,...

Catherine Van Kleffe Searing

Marriage is for better or worse but, for Catherine Van Kleffe, marrying Anglican Simon Searing in Hertfordshire, England would redefine challenge and adventure. Catherine was a remarkably tough lady, leaving the comforts of an established community with substantial...

Lena Brown & Eva Frazier

Lena and Eva are the only two of this generation born after emancipation. Lena was born in the dead of winter 1872 in Red Oak, South Carolina. Lena’s parents had been enslaved by the local Glover landowners. As members of the First Baptist Church, Lena would know Joe...

Margaret Wirth Zuppinger

Not every pioneer woman made it to the New World colonies. Some had to prepare their children to go, knowing they would never see them again. Such was the unenviable fate of steadfast Swiss mother, Margaret Wirth Zuppinger. Born in 1666 and raised less than twenty...

Howard A.C. Hensel & Clara M. Updegrove

In the summer of 1858, Andrew Guise Hensel and Catherine Workman Hensel welcomed their fourth son and named him Howard Andrew Carson Hensel, using an atypical four names. Howard’s name celebrated his father and grandfather, both of who were named Andrew. The Carson...

Mary Curry & Lucy Alston

Hardeeville, Georgia was a challenge for anyone, but much more so for a newborn baby girl who parents were enslaved. Mary arrived into this unforgiving world about 1820. Although we do not know her family’s owners, we know life was horrid and cruel. Mary would muddle...

Rainey Brown

American Pioneer Chronicles: Southern Women: the heart, sweat, soul—the foundation of our Nation Rainey was born about 1800 in Africa, forcibly brought to Georgia and sold to William Hardwick, a local farmer sometime before 1830. She met George Brown and had several...

Magdalena Neuffer Gruber

American Pioneer Chronicles: Colonial Women: the heart, sweat, soul—the foundation of our Nation Blessed by starting life in a prosperous Palatinate family of learned folks, Magdalena Neuffer was better educated than most her neighbors. Her father and uncle were both...

Margaret Pietjes Opdengraeff

American Pioneer Chronicles: Colonial Women, The Heartbeat and Backbone of our Nation Please support our research and view our books for purchase at https://arcifc.com/genealogy/books-and-blog Pioneer women have many skills, but they are all, first and foremost,...

Dena Washington & Hester Robinson

Southern African-American Women, The Sweat and Soul of our Nation Thirty years before the Civil War, enslaved young Dena was fighting for survival in Florence Grant, South Carolina with her family. While still controlled by her owners, she would start a family with...

Robert B. Thompson & Lydia A. Goodman

Named for his grandfather, Robert Bruce Thompson was delivered into this earthly world on September 24, 1847. The family gathered expectantly at their home on York Farm in Pottsville, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. The happy expectant parents, Alexander Thompson and...

Lea Villeman Cossart

American Pioneer Chronicles: Colonial Women, The Heartbeat and Backbone of our Nation Surviving a three-month voyage through the rough seas of the North Atlantic on a tiny ship full of cold, sick people headed to an unknown future was not for the weak. Leiden-native...

Mama Chasteen & Vircus Tomlin

American Pioneer Chronicles: Southern Women, The Sweat and Soul of our Nation A brave, enslaved woman, first name unknown, called here Mrs. Chasteen, would persevere through enslavement in Jefferson County, Georgia. Born just after 1800, she worked day and night in...

Isabel Gairdin Moffat

American Pioneer Chronicles: Colonial Women, The Heartbeat and Backbone of our Nation Among the roughly 7000 people living in Old Edinburgh, Scotland were hundreds of poor, uneducated people crammed in the dark, dank and disease-ridden tenements. Isabel Gairdin...

Frederick Curry & Elizabeth Brown

American Pioneer Chronicles Please support our research and view our books for purchase at https://arcifc.com/genealogy/books-and-blog/ Frederick Curry was born on George Washington’s birthday—February 22—in 1907. It was an unusually cold winter day in Savannah,...

Brita Mansdotter Justis

American Pioneer Chronicles: Colonial Women, The Heartbeat and Backbone of our Nation Please support our research and view our books for purchase at https://arcifc.com/genealogy/books-and-blog Over the 90-year lifespan of Brita Mansdotter Justis, she witnessed the...

Sarah Heidrichs Schumacher (Shoemaker)

American Pioneer Chronicles: Colonial Women, The Heart & Backbone of Our Nation Please support our research and view our books for purchase at https://arcifc.com/genealogy/books-and-blog/ Tenacious and role-bending Sarah Heidrichs was born in the Palatine village...

Percy C. Forsythe & Nina Washington

American Pioneer Chronicles: Please support our research and view our books for purchase at https://arcifc.com/genealogy/books-and-blog Until wealthy foreigners recognized the joy of escaping the snow and ice of winter to sit on the beach of a tropical island, most...

Margaret Grunagel Emmerich

Please support our research and view our books for purchase athttps://arcifc.com/genealogy/books-and-blog/ American Pioneer Chronicles: Colonial Women, The Heart & Backbone of Our Nation Rare was the widow brave enough to leave home and relatives behind and strike...

Notable Ancestors

Please support our research and view our books for purchase at https://arcifc.com/genealogy/books-and-blog Some of our more forward-thinking ancestors from Generation eight on back. Quite honestly, the list should list all the wives of these folks, as they were and...

Elizabeth Seitz Walborn

American Pioneer Chronicles: Colonial Women, The Heartbeat and Backbone of our Nation Please support our research and view our books for purchase at https://arcifc.com/genealogy/books-and-blog/ Elizabeth Seitz Walborn Lutheran Elizabeth Seitz, having struggled through...

Barbara Peters

The Heart & Backbone of Our Nation Palatine Barbara Peters married Daniel Gutman at age seventeen and gave birth to two sons in quick succession. Her hometown of Ludwigshafen was a tumultuous place, with wars, famine, and religious persecution for Lutherans,...

Genealogy Information

There are literally millions of living people who can trace their ancestry to the pioneers in this book. It surprises many to recognize how many descendants a couple just eight generations ago have, and surprises ever more to understand the genetic isopoint and , the...

Eleanor Justice Culin

American Pioneer Chronicles: Eleanor Justice Culin Intrepid Eleanor Justice Culin was in many ways more similar to modern women than to her contemporaries in the eighteenth century. With a surname like Justice, Eleanor may have been predestined to be an independent...

Peter Thompson & Anne M. Shatteen

February of 1860 was cold in Jefferson County, Georgia, especially in the slave quarters where fires were used only on the coldest nights. It was not a particularly good place or time to be born, but here he was anyway, Peter Thompson—first and only child of his...

Notable Ancestors

Some of our more forward-thinking ancestors from Generation eight on back. Quite honestly, the list should list all the wives of these folks, as they were and still are the backbone and driving force of all men. Look for our publication “American Pioneer Chronicles:...

Edward Mason & Ranie Brown

Edward “Ned” Mason was born enslaved on a plantation in Washington County, Georgia, in the year 1847. He was the first child of the young couple Alfred and Hannah Mason, who had both been born into enslaved themselves, probably on the same plantation where Edward was...

Family Recipes

FAMILY RECIPES Here are some of the favorite Homemade recipes passed own from our ancestors. Remember the wondrous smells, flavors and tastes! See bottom of list for those with recipe. Generation Five: Gussie Hensel Recipes Chocolate Chip Cookies Shoofly Pie...

William Morris Anderson and Emma Louisa Keefer

William Morris Anderson and Emma Louisa Keefer married in 1902 and were husband and wife for more than sixty years. They spent their entire lives within 50 miles of their birthplaces, and upon their deaths came to rest together in a local cemetery. It made perfect...

William & Lottie Duncan

William Duncan, the eldest son of Frederick and Catherine Duncan, was born after New Years of 1876 in Sunbury, Pennsylvania. He was baptized that same year at the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church and bore the name of his German grandfather, Wilhelm, anglicized as...

James E. Batdorf & Beulah I. Wert

Having been born in Loyalton, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, in 1885, James Edward Batdorf had little control over his fate. In an area where nearly all employment was tied directly or indirectly to the world’s largest deposits of anthracite coal, he became a coal...

Some Port Trevorton/Sunbury Narratives

In 1868, William and Elizabeth lived a couple miles west of Port Trevorton, Snyder; sadly the this is year she passes away. Their home was very rural, as they were outside even the small town, surrounded by very little but nature. To the north of their property was...

Ollie Mazo (RIP brother)

My Brother-in-law Ollie Mazo passed earlier this year. He was laid to rest in Philly. My mother wrote a small remembrance: "My mind was on Oliver tonight as I prepared my dinner and fed Sky and Foxy. Oliver looked at me one night at Marc’s table and said to me, “you...

Ancestor’s Words

May each and every feather in its wings serve to write a Declaration of Independence for as many nations. Henry Bucher (Newspaper comment) Scattered o’er various fields by heaven, Through various pathways lead, What happiness in peace to meet, Around a common head!...

Abel Thompson & Gussie Hensel

Abel Robert Thompson came into this world on the eve of another cold Pennsylvania winter. He was born after Thanksgiving, November 28, 1880, to proud parents, Robert Bruce Thompson and Lydia Ann Goodman both Pennsylvania natives living in Sheridan at the time....

Notable Ancestors and Collaterals

Cousins, here are some of our more notable relatives. Ancestors are in regular font. Collaterals are in italics. See our bio book coming out August 2020 with updated list. Each two surname heading is which line those folks belong to. Thompson Russell John Thomson of...

Partial List of Ancestry Databases

Here is a partial list of unindexed (browsable, image-only) PA databases on ancestry.com. (Since ancestry.com continues to thwart our best search attempts and will not release a complete list). This is pulled from the first 100 databases listed under PA in...

Charlotte “Lottie” and William Duncan

William and Lottie Duncan were a caring couple of late nineteenth century, whose family persevered through adversity. The couple were wed and lived in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, having two sons together, Irvin and Harris. When Harris passed in infancy, Irvin became the...

Charlotte “Lottie” and William Duncan

by Sophia Thompson (age 12 at the time) William and Lottie Duncan were a caring couple of late nineteenth century, whose family persevered through adversity. The couple were wed and lived in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, having two sons together, Irvin and Harris. When...

Robert J. W. Forsyth & Cressie Jo Curry

Wednesday, the fifteenth of September 1926—the day Robert Joseph Washington Forsyth was born as the second child of Percy Campbell Forsythe and Nina Washington—dawned hot and muggy in the city of Savannah, Georgia. Even though the first day of fall was only nine days...

Mack & Sarah Mason

MACK MASON & SARAH A. THOMPSON The morning of September 25, 1880 came into Washington County, Georgia, cool and clear, with wide blue skies and light breezes. “Shirt-sleeve weather,” the locals called it. It was so like all the other late September days in that...

Harper B. Thompson & Myrtle A. Batdorf

Born and raised on his family’s rural Pennsylvania ancestral lands, Harper Thompson embraced the legacy of his great-grandfather, Alexander, a Scottish immigrant, and resided all his life in the counties of Schuylkill and Dauphin. Abel and Gussie Thompson welcomed...

Gerald G. Thompson

GERALD G. THOMPSON Jerry was born in September 15, 1935 in his Batdorf grandparents’ home, the son of Harper Thompson and Myrtle Batdorf. Initially he lived at Myrtle’s parents’ house, 542 North Street, Lykens but shortly thereafter moved to Tower City. During the...

Melvalean Curry Thompson

Mel wrote a snippet about her upbringing in 2004: I am Melvalean, named after my uncle Melvin from Hinesville, Georgia. As a child my mother called me Mel for a nickname, saying my name is too long to say every time, but it was she that named me! I was born in...

TFH Excerpt: Charlotte “Lottie” and William Duncan

William Duncan and Charlotte were a caring, married couple, who married in the late nineteenth century. The couple married and lived in Sunbury, Pennsylvania. They did also have one son together, Irvin and another son, Harris, born in 1905 who died in infancy. William...

Ancestral Narratives

The upcoming blogs with focus on narratives of our ancestors. Each month we’ll visit a long, lost couple and bring them back to life. Detailing the challenges and successes of their daily lives. This is a detailed introduction to the info used to write the narratives....

Our Genealogy Preface

We are organizing our genealogies in three basic fashions--data, bios and images. This volume continues our research back in time, based strictly on our genealogical (data) history researched over the past forty years. We previously published Generation 5 (4 volumes),...

Genealogy and Health: Generation 8, Part 2 Genealogies Available

We have just completed the daunting task of publishing all 64 Generation 8 genealogies. The first ½ are completed, please visit https://arcifc.com/genealogy/books-and-blog/ for a complete list. Did you know discovering your roots can greatly assist in your present day...

Genealogy and Health: Generation 8 Genealogies Available

Did you know discovering your roots can greatly assist in your present day health? Many conditions are hereditary and/or psychosomatic. Knowing and understanding your genealogy can help you diagnose, treat and even avoid these conditions in ourselves and our children....

Genealogy and Health: Hereditary Genetic Disorders

Did you know discovering your roots can greatly assist in your present day health? Many conditions are hereditary and/or psychosomatic. Knowing and understanding your genealogy can help you diagnose, treat and even avoid these conditions in ourselves and our children. Additionally, knowing your regional heritage and lifestyles is a great help in consuming the proper […]

Genealogy and Health: Genetic Counseling

Did you know discovering your roots can greatly assist in your present day health? Many conditions are hereditary and/or psychosomatic. Knowing and understanding your genealogy can help you diagnose, treat and even avoid these conditions in ourselves and our children. Additionally, knowing your regional heritage and lifestyles is a great help in consuming the proper […]

Genealogy and Health: Predicting the Odds

Did you know discovering your roots can greatly assist in your present day health? Many conditions are hereditary and/or psychosomatic. Knowing and understanding your genealogy can help you diagnose, treat and even avoid these conditions in ourselves and our children. Additionally, knowing your regional heritage and lifestyles is a great help in consuming the proper […]

Genealogy and Health: Recessive Genes

Did you know discovering your roots can greatly assist in your present day health? Many conditions are hereditary and/or psychosomatic. Knowing and understanding your genealogy can help you diagnose, treat and even avoid these conditions in ourselves and our children. Additionally, knowing your regional heritage and lifestyles is a great help in consuming the proper […]

Genealogy and Health: Ethnic Factors

Did you know discovering your roots can greatly assist in your present day health? Many conditions are hereditary and/or psychosomatic. Knowing and understanding your genealogy can help you diagnose, treat and even avoid these conditions in ourselves and our children. Additionally, knowing your regional heritage and lifestyles is a great help in consuming the proper […]

Genealogy and Health: What to Do with Hereditary Information

Genealogy and Health: What to Do with Hereditary Information Did you know discovering your roots can greatly assist in your present day health? Many conditions are hereditary and/or psychosomatic. Knowing and understanding your genealogy can help you diagnose, treat and even avoid these conditions in ourselves and our children. Additionally, knowing your regional heritage and […]

Genealogy and Health: What to Do with Hereditary Information

Did you know discovering your roots can greatly assist in your present day health? Many conditions are hereditary and/or psychosomatic. Knowing and understanding your genealogy can help you diagnose, treat and even avoid these conditions in ourselves and our children. Additionally, knowing your regional heritage and lifestyles is a great help in consuming the proper […]

Genealogy and Health: Exercising Your Brain through Genes

Did you know discovering your roots can greatly assist in your present-day health? Many conditions are hereditary and/or psychosomatic. Knowing and understanding your genealogy can help you diagnose, treat and even avoid these conditions in ourselves and our children. Additionally, knowing your regional heritage and lifestyles is a great help in consuming the proper foods […]

Genealogy and Health: Predisposition

Did you know discovering your roots can greatly assist in your present day health? Many conditions are hereditary and/or psychosomatic. Knowing and understanding your genealogy can help you diagnose, treat and even avoid these conditions in ourselves and our children. Additionally, knowing your regional heritage and lifestyles is a great help in consuming the proper […]

Genealogy and Health: Ancestral foods

Did you know discovering your roots can greatly assist in your present day health? Many conditions are hereditary and/or psychosomatic. Knowing and understanding your genealogy can help you diagnose, treat and even avoid these conditions in ourselves and our children. Additionally, knowing your regional heritage and lifestyles is a great help in consuming the proper […]

Genealogy and Health: Genetic Medical History

Did you know discovering your roots can greatly assist in your present day health? Many conditions are hereditary, genetic and/or psychosomatic. Knowing and understanding your genealogy can help you diagnose, treat and even avoid these conditions in ourselves and our children. Additionally, knowing your regional heritage and lifestyles is a great help in consuming the […]

Genealogy and Health: Most Common Joint Injuries

Did you know discovering your roots can greatly assist in your present day health? Many conditions are hereditary, genetic and psychosomatic. Knowing and understanding your genealogy can help you diagnose, treat and even avoid these conditions in ourselves and our children. Additionally, knowing your regional heritage and lifestyles is a great help in consuming the […]

Genealogy and Health: Top Health Risk Factors

Did you know discovering your roots can greatly assist in your present day health? Many conditions are hereditary and/or psychosomatic. Knowing and understanding your genealogy can help you diagnose, treat and even avoid these conditions in ourselves and our children. Additionally, knowing your regional heritage and lifestyles is a great help in consuming the proper […]

Sibiu Family History

We recently discovered our Romanian roots! We have a Lucus Raus born circa 1730 Hermanndstadt, now Sibiu, Romania, who immigrated to York County, PA. His descendants our the Michael Layman family. Remember to purchase our books, all proceed go to extending and appending our genealogy. http://www.marqthompson.com/fitness-books/genealogy-books/

Pompey Park, Delray Beach, FL

Pompey park is located at 1101 Northwest 2nd Street, Delray Beach, FL and is named for Charles Spencer Pompey. He was a coach and social studies teacher & principal at the formerly all-black Carver High School in Delray Beach . Pompey was also a local Civil rights activist, author, and founded the Palm Beach County […]

Swinton Avenue, Delray Beach, FL

Swinton Avenue in Delray Beach, FL was named for David Swinton, who served as chief clerk for Stacy and Walpole, booksellers and stationers of Kingston and acting as special correspondent to the Toronto Daily Mail, of the Government of Canada. He was one of the incorporators and for, a number of years, vice-president (acting president) […]

The Delray Wreck

The Delray Wreck, Delray Beach, FL Many of us have endured a hurricane in our time here in South Florida and one such Hurricane in 1903 has given us an historic site. There is an old shipwreck known as the Delray Wreck that rests at the bottom of the ocean about 150 yards offshore. The […]

Butts Road, Boca Raton, FL

Butts Road in Boca Raton, Florida is named for August H Butts. He was married to Natalie Swanson and was a prominent landowner. He established Butts Farms, which became one of Boca Raton’s main employers during the Great Depression and one of Florida’s largest truck farms. Successfully cultivated many of them as bean fields, helping […]

Addison Mizner, Palm Beach, FL

Spending any time in South Florida, you more than likely have heard the name Addison or Mizner. Where did these names originate? Mizner Park located at Plaza real, East Boca Raton  and Addison Reserve at 7201 Addison Reserve Boulevard, Delray Beach. Both are named for Addison Mizner, famous for his designs of ornate pseudo-Spanish hotels and […]

Noteworthy Places in Delray Beach, FL and their Namesakes

by Marc D. Thompson In previous blogs, we highlighted South Palm Beach County places and their namesakes. Here are a few more of note: MERRITT PARK, Delray Beach named for Leroy ‘Buddy’ W Merritt—Delray Beach city council member and mayoral candidate MILLER PARK, Delray Beach named for Robert P Miller—Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce officer, […]

Barwick Place, Delray Beach,FL

Barwick Park, located 735 Barwick Road, Delray Beach, is named for Luther Leonard Barwick. He was a commercial real-estate broker, a leader in the Delray’s financial growth and served on the School Board and the City Council. Barwick was born Georgia and moved to Florida about 1913. Here is a brief timeline of his life: […]

Old School Square, Delray Beach, FL

by Marc D. Thompson Old School Square Cultural Arts Center and National Historic Site is a nationally recognized historic preservation project and a testament to the role of the arts in downtown revitalization. The restored school buildings now house the Cornell Museum of Art and American Culture, Crest Theatre, Vintage Gymnasium and restored classrooms, where […]

Catherine Strong Park, Delray Beach, FL

Marc D. Thompson Catherine Strong Park is located at 1500 SW 6th Street, Delray Beach and was named for Catherine Elizabeth Link Strong. As mayor and commissioner, Strong was a minority voice in helping the black community receive fair treatment. A wing at Bethesda Hospital was named for Strong, who served on their founding board, […]

Sakai & Morikami of Delray Beach, FL

“Yamato,” a Japanese agricultural colony south of Delray, was established by Jo Sakai in 1904. He named the area after an ancient name revered in Japan. Sakai was born about 1873 in Japan and immigrated in 1896 to Seattle. By 1910, he was living in Delray, with his wife Sada and a daughter, nine month old Chicako. […]

North Ocean Blvd, Delray Beach, FL

by Marc D. Thompson Our history relies heavily on our foliage and wildlife. Among those is the amazing stretch of pine trees on North A1A. In 1992 North Ocean Boulevard (State Road A1A) in the Town of Gulf Stream was designated as a State Historic Scenic Highway to preserve the last remaining Australian pine canopy […]

Linton Blvd, Delray Beach, FL

Linton Boulevard, located in Delray Beach is named for William Seelye Linton. Below are some highlights of William’s life: 1856 born in Clair, MI 1878 married Ida M Lowry and engaged in the lumber business with his father in Saginaw, MI; also was connected with other business enterprises. 1884-1885 was a member of the East […]

Who’s Your (Grand)Daddy?

His name was Abel Robert Thompson and he had passed 17 years before my father was born. He was my great-grandfather and my parents knew little of him and when I asked them for a photograph, they did not have one. So at fifteen I began a search that would continue for decades. As I […]

Woolbright Road, Boynton Beach, FL

Woolbright  Road, Boynton Beach Thomas Edward Woolbright Sr. He was born 1875in Illinois, he married Lovesta Ione Meredith, and he died 1953. He was an Illinois coal miner who brought his wife and three sons to Boynton in 1912 to grow pineapples. Woolbright’s wife, Ione taught at Boynton Elementary, which opened in 1913. The family […]

Morikami Park, Delray Beach, FL

Morikami Park is located at 4000 Morikami Park Road, Delray Beach and was named for George Sukeji Morikami. He was a Japanese immigrant to the United States who farmed in Palm Beach County for more than 65 years. When he joined the Yamato Colony, he was unmarried, and did not plan to stay long. Although […]

Lake Ida, Delray Beach, FL

Lake Ida, located in Delray Beach, Florida has two major parks, one located at 1455 Lake Ida Road and one at 950 N.W. 9th Street, Delray Beach, Florida. Lake Ida was named for Ida M Lowry Linton. She was as a Civic Leader, having organized the Saginaw Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. She was […]

Historical Societies of Delray Beach and Area

Snowbirds, Locals, Bostonians, New Yawkers, Bahamians. Call folks what you may, but we all ended up at the same place. Warm weather,variety, surf, relaxation, outdoor activities, sunshine, opportunity. Arriving for different reasons, we still all ended up in the same place. Our wonderful Palm Beach County has a deep history and many places to go […]

William Linton, Delray Beach, FL

The rhythmic street names of Linton and Swinton of Delray Beach, FL engage many folks to question the background of each thoroughfare. Both streets are named for men who passed briefly through Delray Beach. William Seelye Linton was born in 1856 in St. Clair, Michigan, the son of Aaron and Sarah Linton. Aaron was a […]

Worthing Park, Delray Beach, FL

WORTHING PARK, 150 E. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach Robert Donald Worthing was born in 1894 Vermont, and died in 1977. He was the son of Waldo and Anna Worthing In 1990, when Robert was four, they family lived at 23 Pearl St, Montpelier, with his parents Waldo, Anna and sister Elva. Waldo, also a Vermontian, […]

East Coast Railway Station, Delray Beach, FL

Imagine our town in 1896. Nary a car, infrequent ships making their way to South Florida. Native Americans, Europeans and Islanders all struggling to get by and get along. Obviously the lack of electricity could lead any of us to understand the difficulty living here in the 19th century, most notably would be the stifling […]

Delray Beach’s Cason Jr and Sr

Being born on Christmas Day could definitely have affected the Cason family. John Robert Cason was born December 25, 1853 in North Carolina the son of Andrew Cason and Harriett Timmons. Tracking the family through the census records, we can put together a great deal about their life and lifestyle. Andrew Cason, a farmer in […]

Delray Beach’s Historic Churches

Our churches and synagogues have played a vital role in our ability to settle and our sense of community we hold so dear here in Delray Beach. Note some of the most historic of religious facilities in our town. • Greater Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church: The first church organized in Delray Beach, was established […]

Orange Grove, Delray Beach, FL

The Orange Grove was one of several areas built by Treasury Department between Cape Canaveral and Cape Florida for rescue and sustenance of shipwrecked. It was named for the wild sour orange grove nearby. The first keeper of the house, H.D. Pierce, arrived with family May 1876.  Stephen N. Andrews was last keeper, who cared […]

Delray Beach, Florida 1910

Although Delray was not officially our town’s name until 1911, the US Federal census taken in April of 1910 listed Delray as a municipality for the first time. This census is an invaluable tool for understanding our town as it began to grow, representing a nearly complete and detailed snapshot f life in Delray. The […]

Boynton Beach, Florida

Boynton Beach, Florida is name for Nathan Smith Boynton. Boynton invented the Boynton fire escape, the Boynton hook and ladder firetruck and the Boynton system of rope trussing for fire ladders. He also founded the Order of the Maccabees. Under his leadership the order’s membership grew from a handful to almost half a million. Boynton’s […]

Firsts Of Delray Beach, Florida

As history goes, our City of Delray Beach has grown up very quickly. The settlements, businesses and population grew faster than most other towns. As we continue through our baby boomers years, we can look back at some of our historic firsts and interesting facts. We have had many first and great accomplishments. Here are […]

Orange Grove, Delray Beach, Florida

One of several areas built by Treasury Department between Cape Canaveral and Cape Florida for rescue and sustenance of shipwrecked. Named for wild sour orange grove nearby, H.D. Pierce, first keeper, arrived with family May 1876. Here August 15, 1876, was born the first white girl between Jupiter and Miami — (Mrs.) Lillie Pierce Voss. […]

Zion Linton Beach

The history of Delray is colorful. Especially with the realization that our home wasn’t always called Delray Beach. Back in the days sans A/C, automobiles and running water some hardy folk were calling this area home sweet home. Orange Grove Haulover. Prior to 1845, when Florida became a state, Africans, Seminole Native Americans and Black […]

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