My mother’s parents were Emerson C. Neifert (1899-1990) and Mary Irene Weaver (1898-1967). They lived in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, in the Elwood Apartments, a building built in the early 1900s by my grandmother’s father Edward Elwood Weaver (1870-1929), who was a builder, contractor, and lumber dealer. Edward died when he...

A Tribute to My Veterans
Each year on November 11, we pause to remember those who served in our military. Here is the roll of the veterans in my affinity. In my generation (Vietnam and post-Vietnam): My husband Jere Gene Mackin, United States Navy My brothers-in-law Patrick Charles Mackin, United States Navy, and Richard...

A New Irish Family!
Of my husband’s eight great-grandparents, we know the origins of six and a half: two were descended from nineteenth-century Irish immigrants, three were descended from nineteenth-century German immigrants, one’s mother was the child of Scottish immigrants (father unknown), one was adopted, and one had early American ancestry, probably originating...

Organizing is Never Done
Organizing is never “done.” Certainly we cyclically become more and less messy. Our messiness likely follows a sine-wave-like pattern, increasing as we get busy, decreasing as we complete work and clean up. Sometimes we get very, very messy before we clean up (that is, the cycle gets very, very...

It’s Been Awhile!
It’s been awhile since I posted, so I thought I’d give everyone a quick update on what I’ve been up to. April In April I attended the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America‘s regional conference in Philadelphia. (The job description for my volunteer job as Registrar of...
