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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

The boys pose on a sunny morning: Paul and Phil.

D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

What a nice surprise: flowers all over my Camellia sinensis (tea plant). It's the same plant from which tea is made but I grow it for the flowers, and it seems to be mirroring the growing season of Camellia japonica, which likes to bloom in autumn.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

A beautiful marriage portrait of my nephew Matthew Soto's great-grandparents: Mercedes Villalpando (born 1891 in Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico) and her husband Rev. Emeterio Soto (born 1887 in El Fuerte, Sinaloa, Mexico). The couple were married in Santa Cruz, Arizona and had fourteen children.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

One of my close Petersen cousins claimed to be a descendant of this charming couple...but she wasn't and we aren't. Her tree sent me off on a tangent. A little research proved that we're entirely unrelated to this bride and groom. DNA can define the real relationship where family trees can stumble.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Some plants are still performing enthusiastically. This hot-pink impatiens is showing a nice display in the west patio garden.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Norwood Jatho, my grandmother's cousin, was born in New Orleans in 1919, the son of Norwood Jatho Senior and Adelaide Gadpaille. This photo was taken about 1924 at an unknown studio in town. He looks a little dubious about the photo session. Sailor suits were ubiquitous in those days.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Forgot I had this photo! This is the Frank Gaul/Grace Kolberg wedding from Stevensville, Michigan, September 27, 1912. Love the symmetry, especially the flower girls with the crossed legs. The Gaul family is related to our Kramp/Trabant family from Bütow, Pomerania. sakionline.net/family-folio...

I realized that I'd forgotten to include this photo in the "100 Years of Weddings" webpage that I put together last month, so it's added now. This is the Frank Gaul/Grace Kolberg wedding from Stevensville, Michigan, September 27, 1912. Love the symmetry, especially the flower girls with the crossed legs. The Gaul family is related to our Kramp/Trabant family from Bütow, Pomerania. https://sakionline.net/family-folio/weddings.html

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

We had a beautiful storm this evening, over half and inch of rain and lots of wind, but this lady cardinal, who weathered it well, stopped by for a well-earned dinner.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Two death certificates existed for my great-uncle Peter H. Petersen, who died in 1916 in the Blue Island district of Chicago. The state death certificate is at left, at right is the county-filed document. Same info, slightly different details (state document has a hand-stamped index number).

Bureaucracy is an amazing thing. I didn't know that two death certificates existed for my great-uncle Peter H. Petersen, who died in 1916 in the Blue Island district of Chicago. The state death certificate is at left, at right is the county-filed document. Same info, slightly different details (state document has a hand-stamped index number).

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

The garden is still delivering colors and textures: impatiens, coleus, begonias.

Pieris, coleus, impatiens, begonias, fountain.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Agnes Majoros was the younger sister of Annie Majoros (married in 1900 in Chicago to Louis Petersen, my great-uncle). Agnes and Louis' younger brother George formed an attachment and married in 1917.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

1898-1900: Edith Tiedemann, Elizabeth Klinck, Alice Tiedemann. Edith and Alice were sisters, Elizabeth was their future in-law. They were in costume for some event. Edith called this photo the Bonnet Brigade. Edith's brother eventually married one of our Jatho clan from Charleston, South Carolina.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Woodworker/carpenter Adam Jatho, born in Kassel in 1838, and emigrated with his parents to Victoria County, Texas in 1842. Are we related to Adam? Records don't verify this but he had a photo of our New Orleans ancestor, Norwood Jatho, in his collection, so it appears he thought we were related.

A beautiful portrait of woodworker/carpenter Adam Jatho, born in Kassel in 1838, and emigrated with his parents to Victoria County, Texas in 1842. Adam married Sophie Hensoldt in 1865 and they had ten children. Are we related to Adam? Records don't verify this but he had a photo of our New Orleans ancestor, Norwood Jatho, in his collection, so it appears he thought we were related.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Technically a miniature, 'Grace Seward' is a single rose with pink-gold stamens. I grow this rose in a container and bring it into the garage for winter protection.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Phil's look of surprise when I persisted in texting someone instead of getting up to feed him his snack.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Half photograph, half painting! This is Marguerite Nielsen (1894-1978), born in New Jersey to Danish immigrant parents. She married George Henry Sibberns, son of August Sibberns and Eliuzabeth Dressel. Elizabeth was one of our voluminous Dressel relatives. So Marguerite is a relative by marriage.

Half photograph, half painting! Hand-tinting was very popular in early photography and well into the 20th century. This is Marguerite Nielsen (1894-1978), born in New Jersey to Danish immigrant parents. She married George Henry Sibberns (1893-1950), a Charleston-born son of August Sibberns and Eliuzabeth Dressel. Elizabeth was one of our voluminous Dressel relatives. So Marguerite is a relative by marriage.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

A carolina wren arrived for breakfast just after I refilled the bird feeders.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

My cousin is a geophysicist using GPR (ground penetrating radar) to map and survey landscapes prior to construction. But he became intrigued by our ancestor Maggie's story, and was determined to find her gravesite which had been lost for over 100 years. He found her! www.linkedin.com/pulse/findin...

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Ready for review: one hundred years of weddings, a collection of our relatives and their photographic portraits. Added: a sidebar navigation to make it easy to see what you want. More photos to come! sakionline.net/family-folio...

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Yes, the lady on the left is really wearing yellow shoes to a Michigan wedding in 1973. Interesting arrangement of relatives: my cousin Ted Maynard and his wife Diane Fellmer are on the right while his mother Dorothy Glawe Maynard is right in the middle. Dorothy was part of our Gohr clan in Chicago.

Yes, the lady on the left is really wearing yellow shoes to a Michigan wedding in 1973. The colors on the whole are unexpected. Interesting arrangement of relatives: my cousin Ted Maynard and his wife Diane Fellmer are on the right while his mother Dorothy Glawe Maynard is right in the middle. Dorothy was part of our Gohr clan in Chicago.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

This advertisement by Arlington Grocery & Market ran in the Lawrence County [Indiana] News on Thursday, October 19, 1933. It seems remarkably apropos.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Brother cats, Phil and Paul, ready for bedtime.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Started reading Emily Wilson about the challenges of translating ancient Greek and Roman literature and she mentioned the "now disgraced papyrologist Dirk Obbink" who was fired from Oxford and accused of selling museum-owned papyrus fragments. So there's a book about that too and I had to order it.

It's called the Book Cascade. I started reading Emily Wilson's book about the challenges of translating ancient Greek and Roman literature and she mentioned the "now disgraced papyrologist Dirk Obbink" who's been fired from Oxford and accused of selling museum-owned papyrus fragments. So there's a book about that too and I had to order it. Academia can be full of intrigue.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

No photos yet in 1830 so Catharina Jürgens[datter]'s death record is the best snapshot we have of her. My 4x-great-grandmother, daughter of Jürgen and Catharina Nissen, was 58 years old and lived in Jündewandt, Tønder, Denmark. Her husband Lorenz Jürgensen and four daughters survived her.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

An early breakfast for this house finch, then a moment of repose.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Cousin Carl Julius Jatho Junior on a "Honeymoon Express" although no marriage record can be found for him until 1948. Another couple posed in the same photo booth in 1961 on their honeymoon, which was located at an amusement park called Playland in Rye, Westchester, New York. An interesting puzzle!

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

My late uncle Walter Miller Ronchetti had great-grandparents married in Liverpool in 1813, and his grandfather Joseph was born on 1 October 1823 in Dublin, Ireland. But the name was spelled Rancheti (Liverpool marriage) and Ranketty (Dublin baptism). Creative spelling can interfere with research.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

A charming couple: Walter Miller and his bride, my paternal aunt, Marie MacLaughlan, July 5, 1941. It was a small wedding at the Drexel Park Presbyterian Church in Chicago with just his brother and sister-in-law as attendants, but the bridal pair look happy.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

A 1912 marriage certificate for my uncle's parents, William Taylor Ronchitte, a "plater's helper" in Glasgow (a ship-building occupation) and Agnes McMillan McLeod Walker. Their son Walter Miller dropped Ronchitte and as Walter Miller married my paternal aunt Marie MacLaughlan in 1941 in Chicago.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

This newspaper article from the Milwaukee News, June 4, 1935, confirms what I'd suspected about Evelyn Petersen's and sister Myrtle Petersen's wedding a few weeks later. It was a double ceremony. And no, they're not twins.

Evelyn Petersen and Horton Leverenz, June 15, 1935, Milwaukee.

Myrtle Petersen and Harvey Doerr, June 15, 1935, Milwaukee.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

So far I have about 35 family wedding photos from 1874-1928 (more coming) with genealogical and historical background of the subjects. This is a favorite: cousin Louisa Wilhelmina "Lizzie" Gohr and Fred John Erickson, Kimball, Minnesota in 1915. They look so relaxed! sakionline.net/family-folio...

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Thanks to my cousin Albert, who inspired me to research this surname, I found George Fondersmith (1813-1876) from Paradise Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. George, with his Americanized name, descends from our Vonderschmidt ancestors from Spachbrücken. This photo is from about 1855-1858.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

It's amazing that we have no wedding photos of our Charleston, SC families. There must have been a portrait of newlyweds William G. Jatho and Jennie Müller at their 1887 marriage but none have been found. At least we have the Charleston News & Courier story from June 2, 1887 to fill in some details.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

It's always International Cat Day at our house.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

We have so many wedding photos in our photo gallery collection. I decided to explore them on a new webpage, reviewing eras, identities, fashions, and customs. It's a work in progress, currently covering 1874-1895, but venturing into the 20th century starting tomorrow: sakionline.net/family-folio...

We have so many wedding photos in our photo gallery collection so I decided to explore them on a new webpage, reviewing eras, identities, fashions, and customs. It's a work in progress, currently covering 1874-1895, but venturing into the 20th century starting tomorrow: https://sakionline.net/family-folio/weddings.html

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Coleus welcomes a bit of sunlight in the south patio garden.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Floribunda 'Tawny Tiger' has opened fully. It's listed as a semi-double rose but it looks like a single to me. You can see some faint stripes on some of the petals.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

My Milwaukee Petersen cousins had quite a presence on camera. This is Myrtle Petersen, twin sister of Marge, my dad's first cousin, in a glamor shot from about 1934.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

A colorful and curious house finch came by for breakfast.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

First bud for 'Tawny Tiger,' a floribunda rose I planted just this year.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

So far she's unidentified but what a stunning portrait from about 1927-1930. This bride is related to the Petersen/Lehrmann family of Milwaukee somehow. The bridal bouquets are amazing and the silver embossed decoration on the cardboard frame is a beautiful touch.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

My cousins brought us some lovely conversations and photos this past weekend but also this stunning Phalaenopsis (moth orchid). Looks lovely on the screened-in porch.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

She looks so happy! Marge (Margaret) Petersen, just nineteen years old, married Arthur Lehrmann on August 2, 1930 in Milwaukee. Marge was a daughter of Peter Heinrich Petersen and Martha Krohn, granddaughter of Catherine Petersen Mikkelsen, all cousins and ancestors of ours.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

A Petersen cousin shared some new photos from his archive, and this one from about 1930 in Milwaukee is stunning. My father's twin cousins, Marge and Myrtle Petersen, are at left, dressed identically with wreaths and bouquets, clearly bridesmaids. There are even flower girls and a a ring bearer.

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D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes @dmacdumes.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

We don't have many four-generations photos but this one comes from our Petersen clan in Milwaukee. Great-grandmother Augusta Brotzmann Krohn (left), Martha Krohn Petersen Allen (daughter, right), Germaine Petersen Zube (granddaughter, standing), and Germaine's daughter Lorraine Myrtle Zube.

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