Guilford County North Carolina Image by David Benbennick, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.  (Click to make bigger.) In my last post, I wrote about Elizabeth Harlan’s father, Stephen Harlan (1740-1830), and the family trek from Chester County Pennsylvania to the frontier regions of North Carolina, that story can be found HERE.   Elizabeth Harlan, the oldest daughter of Stephen Harlan and Mary Carter (1740-1824) was born in Chester County Pennsylvania in 1762. She was the oldest of at least nine children: Elizabeth (bn. 1762, dd. 27 Feb 1845, m. Eleaza ..read more

  A map of the most inhabited part of Virginia containing the whole province of Maryland with part of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and North Carolina. Drawn by Joshua Fry & Peter Jefferson in 1751, published by Thos. Jefferys, London, 1755.  Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons Click to Make Bigger Stephen Harlan is my sixth great-grandfather. He is the son of William Harlan (1702-1783) and Margaret Farlow (1703-1767) – I wrote about them HERE. This is another post where I’m locking my perfectionism in the closet and proceeding anyway, in defiance of pandemic brain exhaust ..read more

  A map of Pennsylvania exhibiting not only the improved parts of that Province, but also its extensive frontiers: Laid down from actual surveys and chiefly from the late map of W. Scull published in 1770; and humbly inscribed to the Honourable Thomas Penn and Richard Penn, Esquires, true and absolute proprietaries & Governors of the Province of Pennsylvania and the territories thereunto belonging. From the Library of Congress Click to Make Bigger   Earlier this year I listened to a podcast by Amy Johnson Snow titled “Is Perfectionism Ruining Your Genealogy?” and have ..read more

My eighth great-grandfather was the oldest son of George Harland and Elizabeth Duck, who I wrote about in January. He was born in the Parish of Donaghcloney, County Down, Ireland. He was only eight years old when his parents brought their family to the Pennsylvania colony in 1687. He had eight younger siblings, the first three of which were also born in Ireland and made the long journey to America with Ezekiel, his parents, and his uncle Michael. For a listing of his sisters and brothers, please see the post on his father, HERE. A word about the dating used in this post before I ..read more

Kennett Monthly Meeting, Pennsylvania, record of baptism of George Harlan Click to make bigger. George Harland, my 9th great grandfather, was the second son of James Harland, a yeoman* and a member of the Episcopal Church in Bishoprick, nigh Durham, England. James was born around 1625, and lived his entire life in that area of England. While he was likely married, I have no idea who his wife was as only James is listed in the baptism record of his three sons, Thomas, George, and Michael  -- I don’t know if there were any other children in the family. Thomas was born about 1649 (m (1). Katha ..read more

Calendar image from Pixabay.com Did you know that January 1 wasn’t always the first day of the year? Did you know that Europe and Great Britain and their colonies used different calendars for several centuries? Did you know that while the Quakers followed the English calendar tradition, they had their own way of expressing dates, since they did not approve of the commonly used names of the months and days in the calendar? Do you have any idea of how hard this can make the job of the family historian in figuring out whether the person they are researching is their ancestor? For ..read more

Hi!   As you may have noticed, I took an unplanned year-long break from blogging this year.  During my blogging absence, I dealt with some physical and mental health things, some stressful career (day job) stuff, and some stressful church board and committee stuff, and helped organize my parent’s 60thwedding anniversary party. Now, at the close of the year, I see that taking a year off blogging (however unintended) helped a lot. The 60th anniversary party weekend has been had and was a success. I’m in therapy for the mental health things and although it’s not remotely easy, it’s helpin ..read more