Family Storiesby Karen A. Doherty
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Every story on the site, newest first.

2026

10 stories

2025

1 story

2024

1 story

2023

1 story

2022

9 stories

2021

20 stories

  • Blurred sepia portrait of an older, balding Frank Pavlosk in a dark suit and striped tie
    • Pawlowski/Paloske/Pavlosk
    • Germany
    • New Jersey

    Frank Pavlosk (1871–1957): From Marienwerder, Prussia to New Jersey

    Frank Pavlosk, my great grandfather, was born on October 1, 1871. He immigrated from Marienwerder, West Prussia, in 1887 or thereabouts when he was in his late teens. Marienwerder is…

    · 15 min read

  • Chris, Sharon, Karen and Lori smiling in a selfie by a bay with marsh grass; three wear hats or caps
    • Doherty
    • New York

    Sister Time and A Beautiful Walk

    My sister, Sharon M. Doherty Longworth, and my brother-in-law, Christopher Longworth, enjoyed a good visit with us last month. On Thursday afternoon, October 14, 2021 we had a beach walk…

    · 1 min read

  • Painting of a tall sailing ship tossed on stormy seas under a moonlit, cloudy sky
    • Andersen/Anderson
    • England
    • New Jersey
    • Norway

    Carl Anderson (1856–1930): Norwegian Immigrant to America in the 19th Century

    Reading over documents and written family stories, I have seen an evolution in the spelling of Carl Anderson’s name:  Karl Andersen (Norway), Carl Andersen (1901) and Carl Anderson (1930). I…

    · 11 min read

  • Four relatives relaxing outdoors at a small table: a boy, a woman in a bucket hat, a man in a patterned sweater, a teen
    • Andersen/Anderson
    • New Jersey
    • Norway

    The Hurv Farm of Froland: Generations on a Norwegian Farm

    The Hurv farm was in Froland, a municipality about 10 miles north of Grimstad.  It borders Grimstad and Arendal in Aust Agder county.  In 1968, family members still lived on…

    · 6 min read

  • High-contrast black-and-white close-up of Ed Murphy, an older man with a white beard, gazing upward
    • Doherty

    Ed “Skull” Murphy of the Stonewall Inn: From Gay Blackmailer to Activist

    Ed Murphy is not a relation, but he's an interesting story in my life.  Ed was an integral figure in the "Chickens and the Bulls" homosexual blackmail scandal in the…

    · 1 min read

  • Flat granite grave marker for Eugene Nason Doherty, 1922-1989, on freshly turned earth
    • Andersen/Anderson
    • Doherty
    • New Jersey

    Mom and Dad’s Burial

      Three years ago this week, on June 14, 2018, we buried Mom and Dad in Rosedale Cemetery in Linden, New Jersey.  Both my parents had originally been cremated, but…

    · 2 min read

  • Brothers Frank and Eugene Doherty as young soldiers in fatigues, standing side by side in front of a tent
    • Doherty
    • New Jersey

    Frank Burton Doherty, Jr. (1920–1972)

      Frank “Doc” Doherty was my father’s older brother.  He was born on July 19, 1920 in Hammond, Indiana.  I’m guessing the “Doc” nickname comes from the pronunciation of “Doherty”…

    · 2 min read

  • Young Edna Nason in a dark hat with a dotted veil and a dark coat, sepia portrait
    • Doherty
    • Nason
    • Indiana
    • New Jersey

    Edna Nason Doherty (1899–1961)

      Edna Nason was born in Hammond, Indiana on April 24, 1898. Her father, Fred R. Nason, was born on July 27, 1861 in Girard, Pennsylvania. Her mother was Florence…

    · 4 min read

  • Sisters Anna, left, and Mary Paloske in white blouses standing close in a backyard hung with laundry, sepia photo
    • Pawlowski/Paloske/Pavlosk
    • New Jersey

    Mary Paloske (1898–1947)

    Mary Paloske died or was interred on April 9, 1947.  She was 43 (or 49) years old.  Easter that year was celebrated on April 6.  It was her last holiday.  I…

    · 3 min read

  • Close-up hand-tinted portrait of Frank Burton Doherty as a young man in a dark suit, white collar and patterned tie
    • Doherty
    • Rossman
    • Michigan
    • New Jersey

    Frank Burton Doherty (1886–1945)

      Frank Burton Doherty was born on March 5, 1886 in South Boardman, Kalkaska County, Michigan.  He was the son of Albert Burton Doherty and Rosetta May Rossman.  He was…

    · 3 min read

  • Color snapshot of Karen as a small child in a red coat, held close by Aunt Ruth on an autumn woodland path
    • Andersen/Anderson
    • New Jersey

    Ruth Ann Anderson Barry (1928–2007)

    Ruth Anderson was born on March 13, 1928.  She was the fourth child of Clarence Anderson and Anna Pavlosk.  Aunt Ruth, (“Annie Ruth” my toddler version) was my godmother, and…

    · 4 min read

  • Sepia school portrait of a smiling young girl in a white blouse with a checked pinafore
    • Andersen/Anderson
    • New Jersey

    Grace Monica Anderson Townsend (1935–1999)

    Grace Anderson was born on November 23, 1935.  She was the younger twin.  Her older sister was Gertrude Emily Anderson.  Gertrude died on April 15, 1936 of Sudden Infant Death…

    · 3 min read

  • Black-and-white snapshot of a young Clara Anderson in a light coat and skirt, smiling on a lawn before a white house
    • Andersen/Anderson
    • New Jersey

    Clara Marion Anderson Abbott

    My aunt, Clara Abbott, turned 88 a few days ago.  She was born on February 25, 1933, during the depth of the Great Depression.  She was a teenager and young…

    · 3 min read

  • Typed family-tree page for Doherty descendants, with a handwritten note about Fife Lake, Mich., at top
    • Doherty
    • Rossman
    • Van Buren
    • Ireland
    • Michigan

    Alexander Andre Doherty (1817–1898): From County Derry, Ireland to Lapeer County, Michigan

      Alexander Andre Doherty came to America from Londonderry, Ireland in 1830.  He was born on February 18, 1812. He married Mary Elizabeth Van Buren.  Their children included Joseph Alex…

    · 5 min read

  • Gravestone reading PAVLOSK, with Anna, mother, 1871 to 1912, and Frank, father, 1871 to 1957, in a cemetery
    • Pawlowski/Paloske/Pavlosk
    • Germany
    • New Jersey

    Anna M. Pavlosk (1871–1912)

    The Elizabeth Daily Journal published a story about Anna Pavlosk's sudden death on page 8 of the February 9, 1912 edition. The headline read: "Heart Attack Fatal in Downtown Woman.”…

    · 5 min read

  • Colorized vintage postcard of First Street, Elizabeth, N.J., with a trolley car and storefronts
    • Pawlowski/Paloske/Pavlosk
    • Germany
    • New Jersey

    John F. Paloske (1902–1948)

      John Francis Paloske was born on February 6, 1902 in Elizabeth, New Jersey.  He was the first son and second child of Frank Pavlosk and Annie Pitoff Pavlosk.  John…

    · 3 min read

  • Faded pencil sketch of a bearded man on cracked paper
    • Curtis
    • Nason

    Fred Nason, Florence Curtis, and the Anniversary of the 1907 Monarch Slide, Salida, Colorado

    On this day 114 years ago, Fred Nason and Florence Curtis were killed in the Monarch Slide near Garfield, Colorado.  All their children, including my grandmother, Edna Nason, survived the…

    · 1 min read

  • Black-and-white photo of Clarence Anderson standing by a Christmas-decorated mantel and mirror, in a deer sweater
    • Andersen/Anderson
    • New Jersey
    • Norway

    Clarence Anderson (1894–1953)

    Clarence Anderson was a complex and wounded person.  He was capable of great charm, and savage emotional and physical violence.  He told my mother, “Always remember we are descended from…

    · 5 min read

  • Framed sepia studio portrait of a father, a mother and four young children
    • Curtis
    • Godfrey
    • Nason
    • Indiana
    • Pennsylvania

    Fred R. Nason (1861–1907): A Life of Migration from Pennsylvania to Indiana and Colorado

    Fred Nason was born on January 27, 1861 in Girard, Pennsylvania. His father was David Nason, who was born in Otego, New York.  David Nason married Eunice Godfrey of Girard,…

    · 4 min read

  • Helen Anderson Doherty with short blond hair and a purple vest, leaning on a balcony railing
    • Andersen/Anderson
    • New Jersey

    Mom’s Anniversary

    January 8, 2021 is the 10th anniversary of my mother’s death. Helen Louise Anderson Doherty was born at home in Elizabeth, New Jersey on September 10, 1923.  She spent most…

    · 2 min read

2020

9 stories

  • Hand-colored illustration of a medieval knight in chain mail on a blue-draped horse, sword raised
    • Nason
    • England

    Nason Family Origins: Normandy, Holland, Venice, or Ancient Ulster?

    The Nason Family first appeared on record in the 1500s in the county of Warwickshire in the West Midlands of England. Many Nason families were found in the Stratford-Upon-Avon and…

    · 3 min read

  • Turkey and other feathers standing in a glass inkwell beside a framed black-and-white photo of a baby
    • Doherty

    Finding Feathers: The Spiritual Side of Family History Research

    30 years ago I found feathers in my path whenever I walked in the woods near our house in Pennsylvania. I used the feathers to complete two masks.  Once the…

    · 2 min read

  • Eugene Doherty as a young man in military uniform, standing on paving stones with others behind him
    • Doherty

    The WWII Chinese Wife in Peiping

    My mother told me that Dad, Eugene Nason Doherty, married a woman when he lived in China.  Her father sold her to him, and he married her in a “Chinese…

    · 3 min read

  • Antique locket photo of Fred and Florence Nason, shown as a bearded man and a woman in a lace collar
    • Nason
    • Indiana

    The Nason Family and the Salida, Colorado Monarch Slide Disaster of 1907

    My father, Eugene Nason Doherty, was a wonderful storyteller. But not all of his stories were the same.  Family stories could be rich and encompassing. They could also be grim…

    · 12 min read

  • Old hand-colored map cartouche reading Pascatway River in New England, flanked by two Native American figures
    • Nason
    • Maine

    Did Baker Nason Murder His Brother Jonathan? The Piscataqua River Mystery of 1692

    Baker and Jonathan Nason were the sons of Richard Nason and Sarah Baker of Pipe Stave Landing in what is now South Berwick, Maine. Baker Nason was born around 1642.…

    · 4 min read

  • Close-up of a lock of brown hair resting on white paper
    • Pawlowski/Paloske/Pavlosk
    • New Jersey

    Grandmother’s Hair

    This lock of hair is from my grandmother, Anna Pavloske Anderson.  She died in 1937 and is buried in Rosehill Cemetery in Linden, New Jersey.  At that time, wakes were…

    · 2 min read

  • Cabinet card of Buffalo Bill in a wide hat and fringed jacket, signed W. F. Cody Buffalo Bill
    • Andersen/Anderson
    • New Jersey
    • Norway

    Carl Andersen and Buffalo Bill Cody: A Norwegian Immigrant’s Hero

    I know of very few personal belongings of my great-grandfather, Karl Andersen.  He was born in Grimstad, Norway in the 1850s, a second or third son of the family.  Karl…

    · 2 min read

  • Japanese-style knife with a short blade and a round wooden handle with brass collar, lying on linen
    • Doherty

    Dad’s China Knife

    My father brought this knife home from China. He was a U.S. Marine stationed in China in 1944 and 1945. The Marine base was near Peiping (Beijing). Dad hired a…

    · 2 min read

  • Faded pencil sketch of a bearded man with a high forehead, on cracked paper
    • Curtis
    • Nason
    • Germany

    Sketch of An Unknown Man

    I don’t know who this man is, where or when the drawing was made, or why my mother kept it for many years. My sister found the sketch when she…

    · 2 min read

2019

1 story

  • Black-and-white photo of a smiling woman in a white dress standing beside an ornate chair and mantel
    • Doherty
    • Nason

    Gramsey’s Rocking Chair

    The chair is a Lincoln Rocker. It was made from mahogany wood in the 1860s. President Lincoln has a similar rocking chair in his office. That is where the name…

    · 2 min read