It was a delight to welcome so many of you to today’s very special Stories250 Projectkin live program, featuring Lori Olson White and a story from her husband’s Hanby line in South Carolina. Thank you to so many of you out there in Substack land joining from the UK, Canada, New Zealand and across the US: Linda Teather, Diane Burley, Bill Moore, Lisa Rex, Jane Chapman, Lisa MaguireMitch Goldstone - ScanMyPhotos.com, Karen Laursen, Dr. Mary M. Marshall, Mightier Acorns, Dee Batiste, Ann G. Forcier, Erin Hoover and so many of you joining by app or by web, live or in comments, it’s lovely to have you.

Your generous ❤️ s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see. Thanks for all you do to be so kind, curious, and creative!

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Shifting Loyalties in a Complex Landscape

Lori’s story, not yet available on her publication, takes us into the Carolina backcountry, where battles over territory with native tribes are replaced with competing loyalist and continental authorities. To help us get caught up with the history in western South Carolina at the time, Lori shared this map from the state archives:

Our conversation covered the four phases of the story:

* The Arrests of 1775–77

* Loyalty in a Time of Vengeance: 1780–1781

* The Great Forgetting

* The Cost of Silence

These may ultimately be parts of the multi-part series Lori is famous for in her publication, The Lost & Found Story Box.

The Stories, a Map & Timeline

This series allows us to explore our stories of this remarkable historical period together. Each contributor adds their own context of time and place. Learn more:

We now have nearly 30 stories, though only enough time for three shared live like this. Several of our speakers and contributors have submitted a half-dozen or more stories. Explore the interactive timeline and map to find the stories and consider the connections:

* Timeline: Projectkin.org/stories250-timeline

* Map: Projectkin.org/stories250-map

If you have a story to contribute, I’d love to include you. The full details are at Projectkin.org/stories250-form. I’d also love to include you in an upcoming Live program.

Revolutionary War Resource Tips

As we approach the 250th celebration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a number of terrific resources have become available. Just published earlier today and referenced by Bill Moore during our conversation, was this piece from DearMYRTLE:

Also, you might be interested in the premier tonight at 5/8 pm PT/ET across local PBS television stations and on the PBS app of Ken Burns’ new series “The American Revolution.”

Please take a moment to listen to him talking about why he set out to tell this extraordinary story. His reference to having “smothered it in gallant, bloodless myth…” caught my attention. I hope that this Stories250 series provides all of us in this community of family historians with a way to participate in the exploration of this history within the context of our ancestors’ lives, from around the world.

December Stories250 Guest: MightierAcorns

Sitting quietly in our live audience today was a name many of you will recognize as a well-respected writer and genealogist in our communityMightier Acorns. Tad Callin has moved his writing work to WordPress and now has graciously agreed to be our first bridge beyond Substack by penning a post about three of his ancestors:

Tad will join us for the next Stories250-focused Substack Live program, which will be on Sunday, December 14.

Starting with Tad’s Stories250 program, I’ll be looking for more ways to create connections across blogging platforms, leveraging tools like Feedly and existing communities like GeneaBloggers. I’ll welcome suggestions and programming ideas. Feel free to message me with ideas.

Finally, free to share this post with your genealogy friends and family. While you’re there, invite them to join this thriving and generous long-form family history storytelling communities on Substack, WordPress, Blogger, and dozens of other blogging platforms.

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