Good Morning Baltimore

My dad was the king of storytelling, especially when it came to his old neighborhood and his family. Anything I know about his family and his ancestors' immigration from Ireland and Scotland to Baltimore is because of the stories that he's told. His stories have become my own.

Growing up, there was a portrait of a stern, gray-haired woman that hung on the wall in our living room. She had the kind of eyes that followed you around the room. Honestly, I think we were all. a wee bit scared of the person we called the old woman. These days, she leans against the wall in my mom's basement. The basement is scary enough for me, simply because I feel like if my dad was going to pay a visit from the beyond, it would be in the basement. Whenever I find myself down there, I prepare myself for a ghostly run-in. I haven't seen him yet, but that doesn't stop me from taking a breath when I see that old portrait leaning up against the cinderblock wall.

Fortunately, I've saved many of the emails my dad sent about his family history. He was into his own genealogy way before Ancestry.com arrived on the scene. Most of his research was conducted through family interviews and a collection of pictures passed down through the family. Today I came across some information about that scary old woman. I remembered the stories, but had never figured out her real relation to me.

That old woman is actually my second-great-grandmother, Bessie Kearney Fisher.  She was born in 1835 in the county of Kildare, Ireland. By the time she was 21 years old, she was married and living in Baltimore, MD. He didn't have much information about when she arrived, but his mother told him that when she sailed to the US, her vessel was becalmed in the middle of the ocean. For about two weeks, there was nothing to eat but oranges. By the time she finally made it to Baltimore, she knew one thing- she never wanted to see another orange.

I've let my own Ancestry subscription lapse recently. After finding my dad's old emails and family newsletters, I think it's time to pick that subscription back up so I can continue where he left off.