We’re on the cusp of September, with a definite lack of monsoon rain here in Tucson, but high temperatures – about 105 every day. It’s great for lounging in the pool, but not for much of anything else!

The bright side of the weekend is Randy Seaver’s weekly Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge.

1)  Every historical person has major events, milestones and “turning points” in their life, from birth through death and even beyond.  These events, milestones and turning points can be the basis for family stories of the historical person.

2)  Please share one of those events in your own life, or the life of one of your ancestors. 

I was stumped for a minute, but then realized that several of my ancestors had, at the same time, experienced a huge life turning point.

These ancestors – John Adams & family, James Astle & family, Benjamin Burt & family, Philip Crouse, Jonathan Parker & family and Walter Stewart – were all on the losing side of the American Revolution and all made the decision to leave for Nova Scotia in the fall of 1783.

They were Tories, soon to be known as United Empire Loyalists and all but Phillip Crouse and Walter Stewart had families with them. All torn from the only homes they had ever known and who set off to live in raw wilderness.

Benjamin Burt was dead by 1785, but his wife and children along with all my other ancestral families prospered and have many descendants today.

Some still live in Canada, but quite a few of their children’s descendants eventually settled back in the United States.

At the start of the Revolutionary War, none of these men had thoughts of leaving the colonies – leaving other family members, friends and their way of life – to live in what became New Brunswick, Canada.

Each of them faced a choice that became a major turning point in their lives. A choice they never expected to have to make.

Remembering all the Loyalists whose beliefs were strong enough to give up all in this year of 2026 – America’s 250th.

Thank you, Randy, for an interesting topic this week.

We’re more than half way through August now and I really appreciate the 105 degree temperatures here in Tucson. That’s because I went to a Word Press conference in Phoenix for two days this week and it was 115 there!

It’s also the weekend so time for the newest Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge from Randy Seaver:

1) Do you have any records of your ancestors’ schooling, such as report cards, yearbooks, or photos?

While I have most of my own school report cards and photos, I have little in the way of ancestral school records aside from yearbook photos from earlier family members.

My Dad:

Dad graduated from Passaic High School, Passaic, New Jersey. Not only has this school been torn down, its replacement, built in the 1950s, is being torn down this year to be replaced by yet another building.

My Mom, Doris Priscilla Adams:

Mom graduated from Ridgewood High School, Ridgewood, New Jersey. This building is still in use.

My paternal grandfather, George Kucharik aka Sabo, recieved a school leaving certificate when he finished 8th grade.

School #2 later became the parish school for St. Michael’s Cathedral. The school is the building just behind the rectory. After St. Michael’s closed the school, the city of Passaic rented it back as School #2 for quite a few years, but it has been permanently closed now, although still standing.

My grandfather, Vernon Tarbox Adams:

Grandfather graduated from Calais Academy in Calais, Maine:

Calais Academy burned down and was replaced by a Calais High School building.

That’s it. My grandmother Hazel had to leave school after her mother died when she was 16. My grandmother Julia had no opportunity to attend school past 4th grade in Udol, Slovakia and I have no earlier school records for other ancestors.

Thank you to Randy and Lisa Gorrell for this fun idea. It’s just a coincidence that I chose a similar topic for my post tomorrow!

It’s Saturday so it’s time for a new Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge from Randy Seaver on Genea-Musings:

1) Have you found an unusual, chilling, amazing, or fascinating newspaper article about your ancestors? 

2)  If so, please share the article and what you learned about your ancestor(s) from the article.  Provide a source citation too!

My great grandfather, Charles Edwin Adams, died on 24 January 1922, quite suddenly in Calais, Washington, Maine.

His death notice (followed a couple of days later by a very flowery obituary) only touches on the unusual cause of Charles’s death.

In the family lore that came down to me, there was a strong warning to never trim one’s nose hairs! That always sounded a bit odd to me and my mother didn’t know the origin of this admonition.

However, my grandmother, Hazel (Coleman) Adams did know the backstory, which she shared with me when I asked.

Charles, or Charlie as he was called, decided about a day before his death to trim his nose hair. While doing so, he cut the skin around his nose and it quickly became infected.

A day later, he was dead.

What was the ‘blood poison’ that killed him? He died of a strep infection six years before the discovery of penicillin.

Charles had celebrated his 45th birthday just 13 days before he died.

These announcements were followed by a full obituary:

I inherited these articles from my grandfather’s cousin, Charles Chadwick, whose mother was Charles Adams’ younger sister. They were found among a stack of papers.

It is very likely that all were clipped from the Calais Advertiser newspaper. However, in spite of me continually begging the publisher to digitize this newspaper (I was told it was a project to be done on 2024), which began publishing in 1835, it has not happened so I can only assume their origins.

A source citation will have to wait!

Thank you, Randy and Lisa Gorrell, for another fun challenge.