Captain Lewis Van Blarcom Sussex County Bench and Bar Memorial 1904

I was recently sent some documents from a cousin and descendent of Captain Lewis Van Blarcom (1835-1904). Enclosed was a memorial written by colleagues and friends of the Captain after his passing. Wonderful words echo the actions and compassion of a grea[...]

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James E Price writes Captain Lewis Van Blarcom in 1873

James E Price, brother-in-law to Captain Lewis VanBlarcom writes of happenings In Michigan in 1873 and inquires about helping to collect a debt. This letter holds special meaning to me because of one seemingly miniscule[...]

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Jacob Sutton Writes His Son in 1853

Jacob Sutton, a lifetime resident of Sussex County, New Jersey penned a letter to his son, Martin. At the time Martin was living and working in Pennsylvania.

Newton Propect

June the 25th 1853

Martin I take this opportunity to inform[...]

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Alanson Austin Haines Talks Book Marketing and the Battle of Opequan

Alanson Austin Haines, Chaplin of the 15th New Jersey Volunteers, drafted this letter to Captain Lewis Van Blarcom in 1883 regarding the reunion of the Battle o[...]

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I am fine and "dug in" here on IWO JIMA...

William 'Bill' Van Blarcom of New Jersey joined the Marines in 1943 to do his part in World War II. This letter is one of many from his nearly 3 years away from home, but may be one of the most historically important. Bill scratched off this letter 7 days[...]

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An Unbalanced Mind

The Van Blarcom family history is largely documented which had given me a really solid head start in my research. Despite that fact, many of the intricacies of specific family members have been lost or buried by time and their lives are generally boiled down to a birth date, a marriage date, birt[...]

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I Would Advise Nobody to Come to this Place

Jacob Van Riper Van Blarcom of New Jersey headed west on a hunt for treasure, as did many prospectors of the day. This letter explains a good deal of his journey with some interesting details that really outline the time and circumstances. Direct family[...]

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155 Years of Misspelling the Van Blarcom Name

All of my life, my last name has been violated time and time again. Name tags, yearbooks, documents, and pieces of mail have displayed egregious misspellings. When I was a child in the pre-caller ID days, and the phone would ring, it was always easy to tell if a telemarketer was on the other end [...]

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The Survival of Thought - Letters from the Past

Recently I was fortunate to find a letter posted on ebay which was one correspondence from James E Price of Michigan to my great grand aunt, Lucy Ann Van Blarcom, the first daughter of Wi[...]

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Stories From Our Ancestors - The New Jersey Fighting Fifteenth

One of the most rewarding aspects of my family research has been finding stories, photos, and artifacts that help me recreate what life may have been like way back when. I have been lucky in some cases that some family members carried a bit of prominence—nothing like the celebrity of today&[...]

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5 Lessons Learned as a New Family Researcher

1. Do not trust unsourced family trees
This was a lesson learned the hardest way possible. I was at least 6 months in to my family history journey when I was thankfully called out by another, more experienced researcher. When I began my research on Ancestry I didn't ta[...]

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