Oral Histories

Years ago when I recorded and transcribed my mother's (Carol Agard Nunn) oral history, I also asked her to do an oral history of our family restaurant, Taughannock Farms Inn. That history was recently shared with the new owners of the Inn and I am now seeing bits of Mom's history on their menus. That pleases me a lot! At the time I transcribed Taughannock Farms Inn, the Early Years, I contacted Carol Kammen who did the history articles for the Ithaca Journal and suggested that other local businesses record their history before it's lost. Carol ran with the idea and published an article about the importance of documenting the mom and pop businesses in Ithaca. I don't know if anyone followed up on that suggestion. In that vein, over the last two years I've worked with Monica Wilkinson Kelly of the Edith B. Ford Library in Ovid, New York, transcribing 39 oral histories of the craft beverage businesses between Cayuga and Seneca Lakes. Monica has posted these interviews on the New York Heritage website: https://nyheritage.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/search/collection/nyheritage!p16694coll112/searchterm/Viticulturists/field/subjec/mode/all/conn/and In that site, click on Collections, Oral Histories, and then Memory Project, Viticulturists. There will be a list of about 27 interviews with the transcript and video taken at the time of the interview. Each one is so different and so interesting. On the left of the screen you will see other sections. Click on those to get more of the wineries and breweries that were interviewed. And then, get to the Finger Lakes and visit these amazing, award-winning wineries.

Casper Joseph Nunn and Catherine Kurtz

I've been away from genealogy research for a while - writing mysteries does that. So, I was delighted to see all the new information on Family Search relating to my German great-grandparents, Casper Joseph Nunn and Catherine (Kurtz) Nunn. New information that I didn't have is that Casper Joseph (he went by Joseph) was listed as a farmer on the ship manifest. When he arrived in New York City on 7 August 1882 he found work as a harnessmaker. Other new information was more exact information as to where he originated in Germany - Heidenfeld, Rothlein, Schweinfurt, Bavaria, which is in Lower Franconia. I also learned that he is buried in St. Michael's Cemetery, plus his death cert number. My great-grandmother, Catherine Kurtz, born in Lauf, Baden, Germany, arrived in New York City 12 May 1881. With her was Dorthea Kurtz. I don't know if this is her sister or cousin. Further research has to be done to learn more about Catherine and Dorthea. I will attend the Manatee Genealogical Society's German SIG this Wednesday to get more hints on how to trace back these family members.

Deadly Secrets - My newest mystery

I’m excited and relieved that my fourth Caitlyn Jamison mystery is published. I began writing this book in March 2020 when the Novel Coronavirus copied/stole the plot for a suspense I’d been working on since December 2019. When I realized that no one would read what I’d developed, or would think I just copied the headlines, I put that book aside and started Caitlyn’s next adventure. It is this venture that has kept me from doing any in-depth genealogy research. I enjoy researching these books. I get to know a new geographic area, its trials and tribulations, and learn about new cultural norms. I wanted to do something different in this book. To that end I decided to have Caitlyn arriving in the Adirondacks. She is visiting the idyllic town of Pont-Aven, an artists’ enclave that welcomes all creative arts. A conference center is built to accommodate groups of all artistic endeavors. Caitlyn immediately falls in love with the town. But, on the day of her arrival, a young male librarian is attacked. And, against the warning of local law enforcement, Caitlyn decides to do her own investigation to find out who attacked the librarian. That young man is also an environmentalist and leading the protests against a commercial development planned for the town green that would ruin the town. Ethan is in Virginia working at his new position as the Law Enforcement Liaison Officer for the State of Virginia. That position is under the umbrella of the FBI. He learns about an item missing from the Library of Congress’s Packard Campus, and then has cases of cybercrime of valuable art and antiquities. Caitlyn’s investigation takes a turn when a murder is committed in the small town. She is challenged, but determined to solve these cases without Ethan’s help. This book has a lot going on between the plot lines and the characters—a great book discussion option.