December 2011
24 posts
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Determination Wins In End
Originally published January 04, 2003 in the Daily Press
By VIRGINIA H. ROLLINGS Columnist
Some of you who attended genealogy courses I taught for years might remember that I would write “KROPFGANS” on the board and offer $100 for information about this German name.
Friends who now come to the Family History Center laugh when I mention the name. My mother was Matilda Kropfgans,...
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Nansemond Site Of Early Settlement
Originally published October 03, 1992 in the Daily Press
by Virginia Rollings, columnist
Colonial Nansemond County (joined with the city of Suffolk in 1974) was one of the earliest areas of English settlement. The Indians had established villages along the rivers, creeks, and branches, travel routes that also determined where colonists settled. Courthouse records of the ancient county were lost,...
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The History Of Huguenots In Virginia
Originally published July 23, 1989 in the Daily Press
By VIRGINIA ROLLINGS Columnist
“Turff and Twigg” is a wonderful book! Priscilla H. Cabell of Richmond published this 468-page history of the Huguenots in Virginia in 1988. The title pertains to land patents received by the French refugees in the settlements near Richmond. A large foldout map shows exactly where each patentee had...
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Pension Claims Tell Revolutionary War History
Originally published July 05, 1997 in the Daily Press
By VIRGINIA H. ROLLINGS Columnist
The history of the Revolutionary War is written in pension applications. Eligibility for pension or bounty land was proven by more than 80,000 veterans who submitted details of enlistment and service to government offices, with regiment, officers, battles and injuries. Providing far more than basics of names...
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Pension Claims Tell Revolutionary War History
Originally published July 05, 1997 in the Daily Press
By VIRGINIA H. ROLLINGS Columnist
The history of the Revolutionary War is written in pension applications. Eligibility for pension or bounty land was proven by more than 80,000 veterans who submitted details of enlistment and service to government offices, with regiment, officers, battles and injuries. Providing far more than basics of names...
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History Helps Us Appreciate Religious Liberty
Originally published July 05, 2003 in the Daily Press
By VIRGINIA H. ROLLINGS Columnist
“We the General Assembly of Virginia do enact that no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested or burthened in his body or goods, or shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or...
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Germans Served With George Washington
Originally published July 04, 1992 in the Daily Press By VIRGINIA ROLLINGS Columnist “It is a sacred duty which calls me from you and I feel I must submit to it. The endangered fatherland, to which we owe wealth and blood, needs our arms - calls on its sons to drive off the oppressors. You know how much we have suffered for years - that all our petitions for help have been in vain - and...
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Field, Road Take Todd Name
Originally published September 03, 1989 in the Daily Press By VIRGINIA ROLLINGS Columnist
One of the old family names which has been written into Peninsula geography is Todd. Todds Lane is the busy connector road between the Hilton-Jefferson Avenue area and Coliseum Mall and Queen Street in Hampton. Todd Center on Mercury Boulevard was build on land owned by Lee Jackson “Tuck” Todd...
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The Families Of The Topping Lane House
Originally published September 10, 1989 in the Daily Press By VIRGINIA H. ROLLINGS Columnist
Continuing my notes on families associated with the Todds Lane area:
John Saunders and his wife Sarah (nee Topping) lived a short distance from Fox’s Store in the old house on the curve of Topping Lane. Their daughter, Mary Victoria Saunders who married Andrew Todd, was born in this...
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Tracing Your Irish Ancestory
Originally published March 12, 1989 in the Daily Press By VIRGINIA ROLLINGS Guest Columnist
Aye! The top o’ the marnin to ya! And how are you keeping? Comes Friday and the wearing of the green. The bonney Shea laddies and lassies from Killarny in Kerry, the O’Brians from Dublin and Limerick, the Bergens from Kilkenny and Queens, will be dancing. All the family of Orr from Antrim and...
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Learn To Find Ancestors At Newport News, VA...
Originally ran in June 29, 2002 in the Daily Press
On July 13, Genealogy Seminar 2002, “Working Together to Find our Ancestors,” will be held at the Newport News Family History Center.
Registration at 9 a.m. will end at 9:25, and the morning session will begin at 9:30. The seminar will offer a range of instruction from beginner’s classes to the latest in high tech Internet...
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Research Forges Links To Family, Place, Home
Originally published May 11, 1996 in the Daily Press
Anne Bregman of Yorktown has been working on her family history for several years. “I was raised and army brat,” she says, “and I’ve lived all over the world but there is really no place that is `home.’ I think that’s why I am so interested in genealogy; the study forges connections which tie me to a home, a...
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Genealogical Resources Expanding: New Data Added...
Originally published January 11, 1992 in the Daily Press
Research centers and libraries are continually expanding their genealogical projects and inventories, responding to the acceleration of interest in genealogical research. The lifework of many individuals in the past has culminated in a mass of data now becoming accessible through technology.
The National Archives will add to its indexes...
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Curtain Lifts on Baltic Genealogy: Refugee...
Originally ran October 26, 1991 in the Daily Press
With the “Iron Curtain” opened, hope increases for obtaining genealogical records from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, the Baltic countries that continue to struggle for control of their own ancient governments and cultures. Lithuanians are believed to have inhabited coasts of the Baltic Sea since 3000 B.C.
Among 17th century...
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Special Collections Kept For The Family Historian
Originally published December 16, 1990 in the Daily Press
Special collections of genealogical interest are housed in libraries and historical centers in almost every locality. These are works of individuals or organizations, accumulations in specific family histories or compilations of papers relating to community events or geographic settlement. Numerous prized collections of manuscripts are...
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Collections Vital To Genealogists
Originally published October 29, 1989 in the Daily Press
Americans by the thousands are looking diligently in all the possible crannies trying to find where Granny was born and on what day. Family genealogy is one of the most pursued hobbies in the country.
Where to find valuable data often is a challenge because at different times records have been kept in different places.
“The Handy...
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Scottish Ancestry Tracked
Originally published March 26, 1989 in the Daily Press
When Mark Flockhart of Grafton started to search for his family history he had only the following information: Grandfather Mark Flockhart, born in Scotland in 1862, and Grandmother Mary Patterson Flockhart, born in Scotland in 1861. He had known his grandparents in Pennsylvania and enjoyed their Scottish brogue.
A search in the International...
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Families Are Forever
Originally ran in the Daily Press March 05, 1989
With the happy slogan that “Families are Forever,” the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints marked in 1988 the golden anniversary of its process of microfilming genealogical records. In 1938 the church began a microfilming program which has resulted in the church’s holdings of the largest collection of genealogical materials...
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