Read to the bottom for How to Use this Blog . I have been exploring genealogy since I was little, listening to all the stories told by Aunts Connie and Helena, Cousins Ann and Howie and Maurietta, Uncles Leonard and Arthur. There were m ore dead people in the stories than live ones, and they were lots more fun. This was way before it was anyone's hobby, when I was the only one who was interested. Sneaking into the Archives underage and running around graveyards. I was lost to the present, either reading books about Pilgrims or building stories in my head. Always asking, asking, asking. "How is he related to us? Who is their mother? What was her name, and her name, and her name? " While Aunt Anna said, "I don't want to find out anyone was arrested for stealing sheep."
I wrote this history of her family for my mother-in-law in 2020. Eva May Sorenson was her mother, and Maud Van Wart was her grandmother. Van Wart – Schaffner Family History On April 25, 1861, an eager and enthusiastic Edwin Forrest Van Wart, only 20, either very patriotic or very bored with his cap cutting job, answered President Lincoln’s call to arms to suppress the rebellion. New York was required to send 17 regiments of men who appeared to be over 18 and under 45 and in physical strength and vigor. To circumvent this problem, Edwin claimed to be 21, and his father, William Van Wart, claimed to be 40 instead of 44 when he signed up to join his son on muster day, May 9, at Fort Schuyler, for 2 years. As a police officer, William must have thought he was in perfect shape to be a soldier. Colonel Abram Duryee had been asked to raise the regiment. He must have given stirring rousing speeches because he raised the regiment in less than a week. Ed...