Greene County, Pennsylvania Archives Project
Romance genealogy-style, as we share the tales of courtship from a handful of Greene County, Pennsylvania family histories.
The genealogy of a house. Built by Civil War veteran, Cyrus Pyle, in the early 1870s, this is the story of a Waynesburg house and how it matters to family and local history.
Two letters tucked into the pages of a family Bible, reveal how a family pulled together to bring home a fallen soldier.
On Memorial Day 1920, most WWI families were still waiting to bring their sons home for burial. Highlighting the circumstances of Greene County, Pennsylvania’s fallen soldiers, this is a brief explanation of the reasons for the long delay between temporary battlefield graves and final resting places.
The flu epidemic of 1918 impacted Greene County, Pennsylvania families in ways that are hauntingly familiar today as the world fights a similar battle in 2020.
The decade-by-decade details that have been cataloged by United States Census takers since 1790, culminate in one of the most research-rich and personally insightful record sets regarding the everyday existence of our ancestors and communities. Available for public perusal for years 1790 to 1940 (excepting the damaged 1890 entries), census records indicate: where and with whom our relatives lived; when and where they were born; how they earned a living; the languages spoken at home; the values of their real and personal property; and, all of this for each of their neighbors too. As incredible as this information is, the thing that is really exceptional about the Census, is that it goes a step further – a step taken when the Census taker walked through our ancestors’ doors and into their homes.
Behind every good ghost story is the real story. Local and family history reveal the truths hidden in a haunting tale. Whether or not the separation of fact from folklore make the Martin family mausoleum less spooky, however, is up to each visitor to decide.
In the fall of 1894, a 20-year-old transfer student arrived on the Waynesburg College campus bringing with him a passion for a new pastime. He raised the $5.25 to buy a football and then began to recruit his classmates. The real challenge came when it was time to convince Alfred Brashear Miller, much respected President of Waynesburg College, to permit an official team to form.
Jesse Lazear may not be in your family tree, but he may be in your family album! Local celebrities have a way of stumping genealogists who are trying to make sense of their ancestor’s archives. Often unidentified, or worse misidentified, these folks who your great-greats enjoyed and admired were proudly added to the family photo collection. Learn from the example of Jesse Lazear to spot these popular locals hiding among the relatives in your family photos.
We hope you have visited our site (www.GreeneConnections.com) and found your ancestor looking back at you, or seen what your house or street looked like a century ago, or read a handwritten letter your relative sent home from France during World War I. The possibility of such discoveries increases daily as the project continues to grow!