This website author is originally from the state of Michigan. Michigan became a state in January 1837. My parents and their grandparents grew up in the western portions of the state in Paw Paw (around Kalamazoo) and St. Joseph/Benton Harbor on the southern shores of Lake Michigan. These areas in western Michigan are in the snow-belt areas of Lake Michigan, meaning two to four inches an hour during snowstorms were common.
Below is a city map that was created in 1860 of Paw Paw, Michigan. My grandmother moved from Ireland to Kalamazoo and then to Paw Paw around 1900. Before she passed away, she lived in two houses around town, one in the green sector, and the other a street not on the map just north of the cemetery.
On a side-note, my mother was a teacher that taught some of my cousins prior to being married into the family. When was she teaching at the local school, she would take students to this cemetery and clean up the gravestones. Some of the student fathers would help upright the headstones that had fallen into the ground. Portions of this cemetery have civil war soldier graves within it. Did the author know that when I visited my grandmother? – Nope!
The historical paperweight and the tin-type picture on my desk for a decade and it might mean I have someone related to me that served within the 16th U.S Infantry. There is some information on him that he served within the Michigan Cavalry, however, not at Gettysburg it seems. There’s another name, David, that has huge results on the outcome of a major historical event that happened within the Civil War. Both are being researched and will be added in the near future. Have I known about either one of these soldiers when growing up in high school or college? – Nope!
When I was up in Canada, I visited a few places that had history to the War of 1812. That time period is the Civil War to Americans. That was when I first really dove into the historical of the Civil War and the paranormal. Since then, it’s blossomed slowly from notebooks, books, lectures, exploring the battlefield, and watching paranormal investigations on television, online, and now in person.
I’d like to thank my parents for bringing me to Gettysburg for the 150th anniversary and my aunt and uncle to the 150th anniversary of President Lincoln’s death celebration outside Ford’s Theater. I’d like to thank my lovely wife, Holly, for being on my side, exploring the battlefield, hearing the stories I find, and grateful for the way you support my dreams while pursuing your own. Your balance of selflessness and independence inspires me daily. Thank you to my friend Alan for helping me through Meteorology, life, and helping me create this page. I’d like to thank my friend Allan for introducing me to the paranormal side that is the correct way to do so, and explore things out of this world, literally.