70 Years: The Love Story of Dixie Sue Rath and Henry Lloyd Fuller, Jr.
Dad always said Mom was the love of his life. On their anniversary, I’m sharing their wedding photo and remembering 70 years well loved.
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The Family of Thompson L. Green and Ellen Belle Hoffman
Thompson L. Green taught school, carried the mail, and raised a family in the small community of Kentontown, Robertson County, Kentucky. His wife Ellen Belle Hoffman outlived him by more than thirty years, survived widowhood twice, and followed her children across the Ohio River into a new life. Together they left behind four children — three well documented, one nearly forgotten — and a family story that reaches forward into the next century.
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Why I Chase Dead People: A Genealogy Confession
My parents spent their Thursdays chasing ghosts in libraries and cemeteries. I thought they were crazy—until time passed, memories faded, and I inherited boxes of genealogy records with nowhere else to turn.
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Amaziah Fuller: A Farmer, a Father of Nine, and the Heart of a Family
Amaziah Fuller spent his entire life in northern Kentucky, farming the same land where he was born, raising nine children with his wife Letha, and leaving behind a family whose stories stretch from Civil War draft records to Newport diners to a little boy named Charley who was left one day and never claimed. This is their story.
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The Children of Andreas & Maria Gruhler Rath
Earlier this year, I shared the stories of Andreas Rath and Maria Gruhler—their lives in Germany and their journey to America. As I looked more closely at their children, a fuller picture began to emerge—one shaped by migration, loss, and resilience. This post brings together the lives of their eight children and the paths they followed in a new country.
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Maria Gruhler Rath (1814–1905): From Württemberg to Kentucky and Cincinnati
Maria Gruhler Rath was born in Württemberg, Germany in 1814 and immigrated to America in 1847 with her husband Andreas Rath and their young children. Their journey carried the family from a Lutheran village in the Swabian Alps to a farm in Pendleton County, Kentucky, and eventually to Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood.
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David Bohanan and Melissa J. “Lissy” Sapp
David Bohanan and Melissa J. “Lissy” Sapp lived in rural northern Kentucky in the late 1800s. Though records are sparse, census entries and kinship networks reveal the story of a young family shaped by early loss and strong community ties.
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George Riley Bratton: A Farmer, a Soldier, and a Father of Ten
George Riley Bratton’s seventy-five years bridged two centuries and multiple American eras. Born in 1875 Kentucky during Reconstruction, he served in the Spanish-American War, farmed in Robertson and Pendleton Counties for decades, raised ten children, survived the Great Depression, and died in a farm accident in 1949. Just two months before his death, six of his daughters gathered with their families at his Caddo farm for what would be their final reunion together.
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Lewis Franklin Toliver: A Farmer’s Life in a Time of Upheaval
Born in the Kentucky hills around 1830, Lewis Franklin Toliver built a life as a farmer, husband, and father of nine known children. Traced through census records, a marriage bond, and family tradition, his story reflects the challenges of rural life before and after the Civil War — and the gaps left behind when records fade.
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Nelson Asbury Bratton (1831–1923)
Nelson Asbury Bratton’s life story unfolds through census records, family milestones, profound losses, and moments of resilience. From his years of steady family life to the heartbreak of losing two wives and raising children through it all, his story reflects both the challenges and strength of 19th-century rural Kentucky.
