Ole Lauritz Jespersen
Denmark was Ole’s home and Danish was his language until he came to New York City in 1889 at age 21. He remained single the rest of his life but…
Read MoreSamuel Love
War with Spain in 1898 was officially declared in April, an armistice was announced in August, and a peace treaty was signed in December. The role Samuel Love and other…
Read MoreTruman Swain
Truman was one of nine children whose father was a captain in the 8th Maryland Infantry during the Civil War. He grew up in Prince George’s County, Maryland and had…
Read MoreWilliam James Rainey Ritchie
William was the only son of Irish natives William and Mary Bayle Ritchie and grew up in Bristol, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. His father worked at D. Landreth Seed Company, which…
Read MoreMurray Cheston Boyer
Murray was the first of five children of Titus and Maria Boyer of Camden, New Jersey. His father was a store clerk and then a shipping clerk. Murray would follow…
Read MoreJohn “Jack” Berger
The name on his application for a marriage license was John Berger, Jr. but he was always called Jack by his friends and family, including his three sisters. John Sr.…
Read MoreJames Alexander Craig
Jim was the tenth of a dozen children parented by Alexander and Martha Craig of Ireland. The youngest was born in 1885, the same year Alexander died. The question to…
Read MoreJohn Brasko
Assimilation is not easy for some immigrants, but others adapt quickly to a new culture and language, especially young people like John Brasko, who arrived in Philadelphia when he was…
Read MoreEdward W. Curry
From 1895 to 1898 Cuban revolutionaries were engaged in a violent conflict to free themselves from Spanish rule. The instability of Cuba, both politically and economically, was of major concern to…
Read MoreAugust Peter Teytand
The son of Danish parents, August Peter Teytand was born in St. Croix in the Virgin Islands on April 5, 1878, when it was a colony of Denmark. He came…
Read More