Journeys through the Past

  In March of 2018, the Paul family gathered in Philadelphia to celebrate the marriage of Alli, a 9th generation descendant of Georg and Barbara Paul, our first Paul's in America. While the festivities took place in suburbia, we also had some time to visit historic Philadelphia, including picturesque Elfreth's Alley.  Elfreth's Alley is a historic street in Philadelphia, dating back to 1703. The 32 quaint houses that line the street were built between 1703 and 1836, and have been restored or preserved in all their early-American charm. Elfreth's is a National Historic Landmark, and a visit is often on the agenda of any Old City tourist, along with the nearby Betsy Ross House and Christ Church burial ground.   We did not know that day that we were walking in the very footsteps of our ancestors. In late colonial Philadelphia, the area around Elfreth's was the heart of a thriving German-speaking community. Bounded by the dock yards on the Delaware to the east and 5th s...

J ohan Daniel Schlappich, my 6G-Grandfather Today I took a look at some of my grandmother Alma's matches on MyHeritage. I feel fortunate that she allowed me to swab her cheeks for a DNA test last year, as her matches are essentially two generations closer than my own would be to the same people. Alma was born a Lingle, and I've followed the Lingle line backwards, but I haven't spent as much time on her other lines, including her Schlappich/Schlabbig line,  3G-grandmother Elizabeth Schlabbig Seaman, born in Upper Bern Township, Berks County, in 1754.  A small match of  25.8 cM in a cluster with a known Seaman descendant caught my eye as I reviewed matches. This match had a medium size tree with 80 people on MyHeritage, and I immediately saw the name Schlappich, a variation of the same spelling, and a hard name to forget. This match clearly didn't match further down their tree, so the shared ancestor had to be further up- earlier in time. Here is where that two ge...

This past week, we celebrated the life of my Grandmother, Alma Lingle Paul, who lived an extraordinary 99 1/2 years. While there is sadness at saying good bye to one family member, funerals are also a time to reminisce and reconnect with far-flung relatives, and to share good memories of our loved ones in common. My dad's cousin, Sylvia Fisher, brought along some amazing family pictures to share. This one is a keeper. My Dad,  Gary Paul , along with his sister Tommie, his mother Alma, his Grandmother Mary Care Lingle, and his Great-grandmother Sadie Strohm Care. Sadie was born in 1871, just a few years after the end of the Civil War, so this one photo, represents 150 years of family history. Farewell, Nana, you will be missed.