Uncle Jack in World War I: Was He an Aviator?

While I look into the reference to granduncle "Jack" Bonn serving in a special detachment that went to Italy, let's address the big question before us. Was Orville P. Bonn (1896-1985) a pilot in World War I? I believe the answer is no. …

Uncle Jack in World War 1: Uniform and Medals

In the last post, I began an exploration of my granduncle Jack Bonn’s service in the U.S. Army Air Service during World War I.  Orville Philip Bonn (1896-1985) was known to the Army as Orville or Orville P. Bonn.  We always knew him…

Uncle Jack in World War I: Part 1

Unfortunate news.  I finally received a substantive response from the National Military Records Center (NMRC) in St. Louis, Missouri about the personnel file for granduncle Jack Bonn (1896-1985).  Tragically, his file was one of those lost…

Who Was Wesley Blalock’s Father?

Civil War veteran Wesley Blalock (1825-1895) was one of my father's great-grandfathers.  (View him in the bottom right portion of my dad's tree above.)  Wesley lived in Little Egypt before the war and in Clermont County, Ohio afterward. …
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X Chromosome Redux: Sogndal v. Hafslo

Following up on my X-Chromosome post from a couple months ago,((See it here. )) I found two new DNA matches on my X Chromosome that allow me to assign even deeper Norwegian ancestry to some segments. As background, the image above shows…
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Jones-Corken Double Cousins

What is a double cousin? It's when first cousins share all four grandparents, not just one set of grandparents.  This happens when two siblings marry two siblings from another family.  Imagine a young lady marrying a guy and then introducing…
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Probate Discovery: Mrs. Mabel Vermilyea (1885-1938)

This is my 100th post since the Jonnes Genealogy Blog began four years ago! For the second summer in a row, I took advantage of living in Minnesota to conduct genealogy research locally. In 2021, Lucia and I drove to Grand Rapids, Minnesota,…

Photo Discovery: 3GG Nancy Wood (1810-1886)

Acquiring images of ancestors is an integral aspect of genealogy research.  Seeing a face speaks volumes about the personalities of our progenitors. A Lukemire cousin recently forwarded an image of our mutual third great-grandmother (3GG)…

Wesley Blalock in the Civil War

Second great-grandfather (2GG) Wesley Blalock (1825-1895) joined the 31st Illinois Infantry Regiment, Company K, on 10 August 1861 in Centralia, Marion, Illinois.((Wesley named one of his daughters after the town in which he enlisted.))  The…
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My Civil War Ancestors

In recent posts, I've been in an analysis rather than research mode.  First came a summary of ten years of discoveries and breakthroughs.  (Read here.)  Then I posted a series of three articles about the occupations of my ancestors.  (Read…