Nitty Gritty Dirt Man

Adventures in Ancestry: The Acadian Connection

/ Kevin / 6 Comments

On a mid-summer day in 1755, Jean-Baptiste Guillot, my 7th great-grandfather, looked around him, at the land he farmed and the home he built. He was a proud and content Acadian, living in Ile Saint-Jean, a small Canadian maritime community.

This was the only life he had ever known, since he had been born in Cobequid on nearby Acadia, a French colony first settled in the early 1600s by people eager to escape the religious wars of Europe and the hardships of feudal life and the poverty they brought. Jean-Baptiste still had a difficult time calling it Nova Scotia, the name the English gave to it when they gained control in 1713, as part of the Treaty of Utrecht.

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Bloomin’ Update 65: An Orchid’s Life

/ Kevin / 4 Comments

Just as summer was flowing into autumn — which in south Florida means summer heat becomes autumn heat — I couldn’t believe what I saw on one of my orchids. It was a large bud, swollen and green with a collection of tiny ruffles at the tip. The timing of this blossom may have been a coincidence, but I jumped on it as one of the hints that fall was actually happening in my part of the world. Continue reading →

Adventures in Ancestry: A Revolutionary Tale

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Only 15 miles separated Weymouth, MA, from Boston, but very often it felt as if the small village was a world away. Where Boston was a large and bustling seaport, the jewel of the Massachusetts colony, Weymouth, officially founded in 1622, remained rural and agricultural. Residents held fast to the traditions of New England, including town meetings and strong community ties.

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Adventures In Ancestry: The Mystery of Crocifissa, Parte Seconda

/ Kevin / 2 Comments

After solving the mystery of how my great-grandparents, Giuseppe and Crocifissa, had met and married in Independence, LA, I was energized to learn more. I already had proof of Giuseppe’s arrival in the United States, but I knew nothing of Crocifissa’s arrival.

So much of her life remained a mystery – and I wondered how far back in time could I travel without ever leaving my house?

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Adventures in Ancestry: The Mystery of Crocifissa, Parte Uno

/ Kevin / 7 Comments

Part of what I truly enjoy about genealogy is the detective work, finding clues and fitting the puzzle pieces together to create a more complete picture of my ancestors. Such was the case as I worked on my great-grandfather Giuseppe’s history. As the picture of his life came into focus, there was one, very large, missing detail:

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Mowing for Sanity: The Lawn & Short of It

/ Kevin / 12 Comments

During stressful times – and I certainly think these days can be considered stressful times – I think of my friend, Sue. Not that she’s a stressful person – far from it, as a matter of fact — but I always remember how she coped with stressful days when she taught second grade in the classroom next to Joe. That’s when I first met her.

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Adventures in Ancestry: My Sicilian Rabbit Hole

/ Kevin / 5 Comments

Picture it: Sicily. 1887. In the small village of Bisacquino (pictured above, courtesy of the Southern Italy Genealogical Center), a son is born to Salvatore and Maria. They name him Giuseppe and this is the start of my great-grandfather’s story, as well as my own, as I research his life and his connection to me.

That connection, by the way, seems to have stretched through time. After we returned from Sicily in April and I started playing with ChatGPT (other than some of the photos in this piece, this post is all me), I asked the program to draw me as a Sicilian peasant.

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Fireside Chat with Franklin: Lifestyles of the Rich & Infamous

/ Kevin / 2 Comments

Not a day goes by – unless we’re given a narrative-changing distraction – that we don’t hear something about Jeffrey Epstein and his connection to Trump. While I don’t want to get into any sort of courtroom scenario to prove the guilt or innocence of any of those involved… and nor do I want to get lost in the weeds about what a President can and cannot legally release… a familiar theme seems to be woven throughout the controversy:

Money talks. Money rules the world. The rich always come out ahead. What can you do? That’s the way it’s always been.

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Adventures In Ancestry: Growing Up Loud

/ Kevin / 11 Comments

When I was very young, I never gave my surname, Loud, a second thought. That’s probably because I had never met or heard of any other Louds, other than the Louds in my small immediate family and in my small extended family. It was a small Loud world, after all.

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Fireside Chat with ChatGPT: Pride & Prejudice & A Poem

/ Kevin / 4 Comments

I’d like to thank everyone for their encouraging comments and support, here and on my personal FB page, about expanding what I post. Many of you stressed the importance of being true to myself, the need for community during these troubling days, and an appreciation that my words could very well have been their own.

That last item truly means a lot to me, because it’s a reminder that we are not in this alone. So, we will be strong and carry on… and let this post be the first stepping stone on a new garden path.

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