Quite often, I find myself thinking things like, “If not for this one thing having happened, I likely wouldn’t be where I am today.” I wonder, for instance, if my father hadn’t gotten into an accident that kept him from shipping off for Vietnam, how my life might have turned out differently. Or I start […]
Tag Archives: War of 1812
Finding my family’s version of “Little House in the Big Woods”
Daniel Avery, the War of 1812, and the Illinois land bounty that brought my family west
OK, as long as we’re talking about David Avery’s service during the Revolutionary War military under Colonel William Prescott, I should probably mention that he wasn’t the only one of my ancestors to fight against the British. His son, Daniel Avery, fought them again in the War of 1812, and, ultimately, that’s what brought this […]
The Untold History of Ypsilanti: Our Native American Past
As I mentioned a few days ago, two articles were recently brought to my attention (one from 1901, and the other from 1914) about the discovery of what appeared to be Native American remains on the property in downtown Ypsilanti we today call Water Street. Well, I followed up with the fellow who sent these […]
Working way too hard on a post about Fort Pulaski that no one will care about
As I mentioned a few days ago, in my “9 Lessons Learned in Savannah” post, I spent some time earlier this month exploring the barrier islands off the coast of Georgia… chasing dolphins, swatting mosquitos, and soaking up gin and history. In that post, as I recall, I noted that I visited Fort Pulaski – […]