All posts in October 2022

From 1855 to 1890, before Ellis Island opened, about 8 million immigrants were processed through Castle Garden. My book, “When He Was Gone,” includes the story of the Garraux family’s journey to America and their arrival at Castle Garden. It was originally a fort built to defend NY against the British in the War of…

During the research for “When He Was Gone,” I stumbled across lots of interesting factoids, some a bit macabre. I learned that death was so much a part of life in the 1800s, wakes and funerals were typically held in the parlor of the home. Very old homes often have two front doors, one door…

Experts say that in the 1800s as many as one third of children failed to reach the age of five. That makes it even more amazing that Elizabeth and Frederick Garraux had ELEVEN children, all of whom lived to adulthood. Several of them lived out their lives in Greenville, three of them in the family…

Back in 2007, I had given notice at the ABC affiliate in Miami, and agreed to a start date three weeks later at the NBC affiliate in Greenville, giving us just two weekends to try to find a house. The weekend trips looking for housing were pretty much disastrous, filled with frustration as we looked…