A little about me

As with most of us, our desire to stay connected to our roots becomes more strongly felt as we stroll along life’s path.  It is certainly the case with my husband, Tutt and I.  We both share a love for history and, through the years, have become very involved in researching our respective families. 

Tutt has long held a fascination with the Civil War and with his Confederate ancestors, of whom he has many.  My own background is strictly one of Yankee origin.  We have often joked that we routinely re-fight the war of the rebellion, as I like to call it.  He, of course, chooses to think of it as the fight for the protection of states rights.  In order to strengthen my position in these verbal skirmishes, I began to research my ancestors’ role in that great internal struggle.

As a native of Pike County, Ohio, I was distressed to learn that there really were not any regimental histories about those units in which my ancestors served.  Those counties from the south-central portion of the state (Pike, Scioto, Ross, Adams, Jackson, and Gallia) seemed to have been overlooked. 

What better pastime for a retired teacher, than to throw herself into a project for which she held not only a strong interest, but also a passion?  This was the motivation for my undertaking my book on the Ninety-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry. It was a modest effort, and I chose to concentrate on a chronological account of their activities and engagements and also on a biographical roster of the men of Company C, the company in which my great great grandfather served. That first effort was published in late 2005 and was awarded the 2007 Oliver Hazard Perry Award for Ohio Related Military History presented by the Ohio Genealogical Society. I was encouraged and moved on to my next project.

Researching the Thirty-third Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry proved to be both very rewarding and challenging.  In the course of promoting the first book, I had met many other Civil War enthusiasts who were both knowledgeable and very helpful in their efforts to assist me in contacting others who might be able to offer photos, letters, diaries and personal information about their ancestors who had served in this unit.  The challenging part had to do with control and organization of the immense amount of data I was accumulating.  The computer is a wonderful machine, and has proved to be an enormous asset, despite my limited expertise with the technology.