Category Archives: Family history

Family history, Snover

Eloping to . . . Ohio? Lies on a marriage license

Fulton County Courthouse, Wauseon, Ohio
Fulton County Courthouse, Wauseon, Ohio

Young lovers running off to get married is not a new thing, or in any way a Detroit thing, but I was amused as well as intrigued  to learn that Jeffrey’s paternal uncle – Papa’s older brother George – had chosen Ohio to run away to in 1943.

Jeffrey’s father would sometimes tell me stories about his childhood in depression-era Detroit, Michigan; one was about his older brother running off with the lodger to get married, something their mother was furious about. What he didn’t tell me (or know?) is that the pair ran across the state line and lied about their ages do do it! Continue reading Eloping to . . . Ohio? Lies on a marriage license →

Family history, Poulson, Theatre

Two John Poulsons, one expensive haircut; family tradition?

Young John David William Poulson

Growing up, I thought Poulson was an unusual name – not many around us in Bromley. It was often misspelled (so you learn “P as in Peter, o-u-l-s-o-n”) or mispronounced – we said it POLE-SUN not POOL-SUN. Poulson is not only fairly common, depending on the location, but some of the people who shared the last name – and in the case of my father, grandfather and his cousin, first and last name – got themselves into trouble with the law and generated all sorts of unsavory press coverage! Continue reading Two John Poulsons, one expensive haircut; family tradition? →

Family history, Overview, Poulson

Family stories: Tales of a wastrel, immigrants, personation, mottying and so much more!

In 2007 I spent some time with Ancestry and the census records for family on both sides of the pond. There were all sorts of interesting bits and pieces I was able to unearth about Sznarwakowski, Tibstra, Poulson, Jenkins, Forster, Williams, Shepherd and other parts of our family trees. Given the time limits on release of some data – such as census records, which are held for 100 years in the UK and 72 in the US – I soon ran out of available online information and moved on. Continue reading Family stories: Tales of a wastrel, immigrants, personation, mottying and so much more! →