A fellow descendant of the Boal family, a woman named Dee, sent me a note the other day. We have been corresponding back and forth since. In the 19th century her family was living near mine in Washington County, Iowa, unbeknownst to any of us, until now. Hi, I saw where you posted the grave of William [...]
Archive for the ‘BOAL’ Category
Since I have ancestors buried in Boalsburg, this caught my attention. At [a] cemetery . . . in central Pennsylvania, Boalsburg Cemetery, she and her students have undertaken a wide range of projections, including comparing weathering rates of different types of stones (nearly all are granite or marble), and gleaning information about the history of [...]
As a Boal descendant, I like to keep track of the goings-on. Tonight is the Boalsburg Columbus Ball at the Boal Mansion Museum. Obviously the event is timed to coincide with Columbus Day. The ball will celebrate “Boalsburg’s unique connection in the Columbus Chapel with the great explorer.” Besides contra-dancing, whatever that is, to live [...]
Another blog I just found thanks to one of my Google Alerts (searching for the keyword Boalsburg) is written by a doctor from Philadelphia. He’s written a series of posts on central Pennsylvania, including one devoted solely to Boalsburg, a town named for the Boal family from Northern Ireland, of which I am a descendant. They were [...]
Playing Around with Wolfram|Alpha
Posted: August 5, 2011 in BOAL, Databases, FROMKE, HAY, HILL, Iowa, LENTZ, Search Engines, South Dakota, VAN NOTETags: search engines, surnames
When I first heard of Wolfram|Alpha, in a news story, the search engine tool sounded pretty cool. And it is. For some reason I don’t recall, I found myself at the site and decided to experiment with various keywords to see what results were returned. There may have been a link to something in one [...]
I discovered this map at a site dedicated to Irish genealogy. The Irish ancestors I know about, the Boals and Shannons, came from County Derry in Northern Ireland, and earlier from possibly County Donegal. It’s nice to have this map, as most of the 1890 census originals were destroyed in a fire. ajh
Photos of William Boal’s grave have been posted at the Find A Grave site. These were posted by a volunteer with the Solon History Group. He was buried in the Oakland Cemetery in Solon, Iowa, which is about midway between Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. William Boal is my four-great grandfather (as in great-great-great-great or 4G). He [...]
The First Memorial Day
Posted: May 29, 2011 in American Civil War, BOAL, Pennsylvania, United StatesThe newspaper in Council Bluffs, Iowa — The Daily Nonpareil — has a little-known factoid on the history of Memorial Day. It began in a town in the heart of Pennsylvania, a place where some my Irish and Ulster Scot ancestors settled. In fact, it was named after them. The first known “Memorial Day” observance [...]
Baron Carrickfergus, a royal title recently given to Prince William, is causing some consternation among some Irish folk. The British decision to revive the title and clearly make sure that nationalists who live in the town are under His Royal Highness is a curious one. Is it “a deliberate effort to state categorically that a [...]
The Boal Family & Ireland
Posted: February 21, 2011 in BOAL, Northern Ireland, SHANNON, WELCHTags: Ulster
For years I had been searching for material on my great-great-great-great grandfather, John S. Boal. He was a veteran of the American Civil War and died a young man at the age of 40 or 42. (There’s some confusion as to when he was born, 1836 or 1838.) I don’t know in what unit he served [...]
