My Thoughts

The next line I tackled  was the Mitchell family.  My great grandmother was Artha B Mitchell (1883 - 1977).  I can barely remember her.  I was ten years old when she died.  She was the daughter of Francis Marion Mitchell (1855 - 1904).  It is Francis's grandfather, Andrew Mitchell, Jr. (1760 - 1824) who served in the Revolutionary War.  It is truly a story worthy of legend.  Andrew was one of 3 sons born to Irish immigrants Andrew and Mary (McGowan) Mitchell. The young family came to the colonies in 1752.  They began their journey in a Scottish - Irish community in Eastern Pennsylvania before migrating to Orange County, North Carolina.  Besides the boys, Andrew and Mary had 2 daughters, Margaret and Nancy. At the time of the Revolution, my 5th great grandfather, Andrew, Jr was just starting his family.  He had married Mary Tate in 1781.  He was in service but took furlough to be with his ill wife.  This informa...

Lately, a few words occupy my mind.................culpability, liability, responsibility, capability, possibility......I think of these words as the "itys".  In no way are they small, however.  Most of the complaints I've had or heard from others in the last few months center on this list of ity words, and I can add integrity to the list before I get much further into my rant. What amounts to integrity for many people actually is deniability.  The coworker who can never get to work on time or who always has an excuse for poor work performance................deniability.  This person wants to deny the bad behavior and often uses a deflecting tool to try to shift the focus away from the lack of integrity.  It's a quite comical charade.............sorta like a tennis match.........poor behavior - excuse - counter measure - deflection.  I have learned over the last couple years that some people will NEVER have a sense of work ethics, never. What then happe...

With the 4th of July only a couple days away, I thought I'd spend some time visiting with the family and share some of our family heritage. As the United States turns 236 years old this week, thinking about those unique ancestors who risked so much to bring about the American independence takes me back to Virginia, North / South Carolina and Maryland and the original 13 colonies.  We all get so wrapped up in our lives that we forget to honor the past; or, as is often the case, families are unaware of the past.  Technology opens the coffins of complacency and sweeps away the dust of indifference.  I love learning about my ancestors.  They are some unique individuals who lived life in another time and place but who are still present in our genetics.  Think about it...........the same DNA that existed in a person 236 years ago is chronicled in my own DNA.  It is almost like a message left in a bottle...........all I have to do is open the bottle.  Our col...