Tag: Huguenin

  • What the Record Keeps: Following Eliza Huguenin Thomas Magill

    What the Record Keeps: Following Eliza Huguenin Thomas Magill

    The Names That Return In my previous post on “Cousin Rosa,” I introduced her as the daughter of Eliza Huguenin Thomas and John W. Magill. As I have noted in earlier writings, tracing female ancestors often requires the application of different guideposts than those typically employed for men. It is precisely this challenge that made… Read more

  • Unraveling Cousin Rosa: A Genealogical Puzzle

    Unraveling Cousin Rosa: A Genealogical Puzzle

    Tracing family history often feels like assembling a puzzle with missing pieces—and sometimes a few pieces seem to belong to an entirely different puzzle set. One of the most elusive figures in my ancestral search is Eliza Huguenin Thomas Magill, the eldest sister of my second great-grandfather, Edward Jonathan Thomas. Like her sister, Mary Jane… Read more

  • The Life and Shadows of Mary Jane Thomas Gaden: A Story Waiting to Be Told

    The Life and Shadows of Mary Jane Thomas Gaden: A Story Waiting to Be Told

    If I were a fiction writer, I’d already have a novel on my hands. This story has all the elements: a strong protagonist, mystery, wealth, betrayal, spiritualism, social reform, crime, and ruin. But it’s not fiction—it’s the real-life story of my 2nd great-aunt, Mary Jane Thomas Gaden. And I’m piecing it together, fragment by fragment,… Read more