British Navel Assessment Based on American Civil War Battle (Merrimac vs Monitor at Norfolk), 1862 As a child I clearly remember my history book briefly outlining the famous battle between two iron-clad steamers during the Civil War.  So when I saw this picture of the Confederate iron-plated steamer Merrimac (aka Virginia, Union) ramming the Union Sloop Cumberland I had to have it. After liberating the one page publication, The Illustrated London News, from its frame,…

U.S.S. ZEPPELIN Postcard, 1919 (SS Zeppelin, RMS Ormuz, SS Dresden) While flipping through some old postcards in Llano Texas, I ran into a fairly mundane picture of what appeared to be a military transport, the U.S.S. Zeppelin.  Pictures of military sailing ships are literally a dime a dozen and I started to pass it by when I noticed the post mark date, June 3, 1919.  Knowing that Germany formally surrendered in 1918, this set off…

The following letter was written by Jack Hill to his mother Bertha “Bert” Hill (my great grandmother) during his tour with the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Thanks to the letter and firsthand accounts by others, we really get a sense of the hardships of the Great Depression and life at the work camps. What follows is a transcript and scanned images of the letter along with information I was able to piece together. I was…

It is interesting what items get passed down from generation to generation. One would think that it would be the things of greatest financial value. I have come to realize that most often a person holds onto things of the greatest personal significance which is in no way related to monetary value. Case in point, this handmade rolling ping was one of the few possessions passed down by my grandmother Edna May Hill Abbott to…