My Civil War Story & Paper Dolls Too

 

Union Woman

 

Good Morning Friends...Happy Thursday!

There's nothing really special about a Thursday, but it's as good as

any other day when it comes to finding your JOY...right! ;)

 

 

I have always been a HUGE history buff...I truly LOVE history, with

American history being top on my list. I also love genealogy, peering

through 100 year old records in search of a clue that will help you

connect the dots to your own family history.

 

 

For me the two go hand in hand...so as I dived into the Ancestry.com

pool, I was amazed to find the military records for my many times

great~grandfathers. My immediate family came from Illinois by way

of Virginia & we have been in this country since 1617. One of my

grandfathers fought in the 1st Colonial uprising, Bacon's Rebellion.

 

Confederate Woman

 

We fought in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Indian

Wars & of course with all that family history, we also fought in the

Civil War. In fact my family fought in the Civil War on both sides.

The idea that they all lived through these wars is a miracle to me &

had anything played out differently, I would probably

not be here...so crazy to think of!

 

 

As one might think, my Virginia 3x Great Grandfather fought for the

Confederacy, while my Illinois 3x Great grandfather fought for the Union

Army. Two men who had never met, who's lives were so completely

different, who would normally have absolutely nothing in common,

found common ground through the love of their children.

 

 

After the war, Virginia was a battlefield...it was in complete ruin. In the 1st

Census after the war which was in 1870, my Grandfather still lived in Virginia

with his wife & 5 children, one of them being my 2x Great~Grandfather who

was 8 years old. His household also included his mother~in~law & 2 young

women, 1 with a small son. {I love that census, it's my favorite! Can you

believe I actually have a favorite census? lol} I'm sure those women were

family or wives of close friends, who's husbands died in the war. It was

some time after this that he gathered up his family & took them west

to a place where he could start over, a place where he could buy

a few acres of land & begin again.

 

Abraham Lincoln

 

It was here in Illinois, the state of Abraham Lincoln's birth, my Brewer

clan would settle. Grandpa & Grandma would have 5 more children &

they would raise all 10 of them working the land as their father's,

father's had. And here, their 2nd son would fall in love with the

beautiful daughter of a Union soldier, they would marry

& our story would finally come full circle.

 

This is why I Love history so much.

 

For me, it's important to remember our collective past...

it's what creates the cloth from which we are all
woven from.

 

xoxo

vintagesusie



Paper Dolls from the UK!!!

You all KNOW how much I ADORE Paper Dolls, not just

my paper dolls, but ALL paper dolls! So it's been so fun

& exciting watching my fledgling little business take

wings & FLY!

Here's my Miss Jane Austen coming to you from exactly where

she should be, in the UK. Thank you Monika for sharing your

creations with me, for loving my dolls as much as I do & for

inspiring me to add to my repertoire. you've been a JOY!

Look how cute her Victorian Lady turned out, kickin up her

heels, enjoying her champagne & it's TRUE...'Well Behaved

Women Rarely Make History'! Behaving one's self is

highly overrated...at least I think so. ;)

Check out my Dolly's on Etsy by clicking

HERE

or they are also listed in my sidebar.

Thanks for stopping by to say hi friends!

XOXO

vintagesusie

Queen of Queens

Queen Alexandra of Denmark,

Queen Consort of King Edward VII,

Mother of King George V,

Sister to Princess Dagmar of Denmark, {Maria Feodorovna}

Aunt to Tsar Nicholas II,

the Last Tsar of Russia.

Queen Mary of Teck,

Queen Consort of George V,

Mother of King Edward, who abdicated the throne for Wallis Simpson

& to Albert who took his place & became King George VI,

Grandmother to our current Queen Elizabeth.

Queen Marie Antoinette of France,

Born Archduchess of Austria,

She ruled France with her husband,

King Louis the XVI,

who she was married to from 1770 until 1793

when they were both executed during the

French Revolution.

Soooooo, from all of the paper doll designs I've made lately,

I have decided I, vintagesusie, am the Queen of Queens!

It's a tough job, but someone has to do it!!! :)))

{if you'd like to see any of my dolls for sale,
they can be found in my etsy shop right
HERE}

XOXO

vintagesusie