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Writing and Research of Randal A. Burd, Jr.

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Category: History

History

Symbolism Run Amok: The Demise of the Bellamy Salute

By Randal A. Burd, Jr.April 23, 2021

With their right arms extended stiffly forward, angled upward with fingers straight, man, woman, and child reflexively spoke the familiar words in unison. While this scenario might easily be mistaken […]

Genealogy History

Genealogy Mystery #1: Fayette, Missouri, 1887

By Randal A. Burd, Jr.April 20, 2021

Genealogy Mystery #1: Fayette, Howard County, Missouri – 24 May 1887 I was browsing an antique store on July 29, 2015, in Waynesville, Missouri, and found this original photograph from […]

Genealogy History

Divining the Truth: The Ancient Mystical Practice of Dowsing

By Randal A. Burd, Jr.April 16, 2021

Having spent years discussing all things genealogy with fellow family history enthusiasts, the subject of dowsing for the location of graves has come up on several occasions. Not only are […]

History Teaching

Strange Traditions Involving Death in the Victorian Era

By Randal A. Burd, Jr.April 13, 2021

The following traditions involving death were once commonly observed in the United States and elsewhere in the English-speaking world. While you may find the occasional instance of one of these […]

History Teaching

Murder Castle: Henry Holmes’s Hotel of Horrors

By Randal A. Burd, Jr.April 9, 2021

Dr. Henry Holmes was a serial killer who built a hotel of horrors dubbed the “Murder Castle” in Chicago in the 1890s. It was 1893 in Chicago, Illinois, and celebration […]

Genealogy History Poetry

Civil War Medal of Honor Recipient Orion P. Howe

By Randal A. Burd, Jr.April 6, 2021

Inspiration at Vicksburg: Poetry Beyond the Forlorn Hope   In the December 31, 2018, edition of the Missouri Unionist you’ll find an article remembering the brave actions of Civil War […]

History Teaching

Jesse James: The Legend Who Would Not Die

By Randal A. Burd, Jr.March 30, 2021

For anyone who grew up in the Ozarks, the James brothers are not just historical figures, they are local legends. Jesse James and his brother Frank were members of Quantrill’s […]

Genealogy History

Ernest Smelcer (1903-1991), Pulaski County, Missouri

By Randal A. Burd, Jr.March 16, 2021

Ernest Smelcer was born in or near Crocker, Pulaski County, Missouri, on December 15, 1903, to James Benjamin Smelcer and Sarah Elizabeth (McMillian) Smelcer.  He was the youngest of nine children.  […]

History Teaching

Unlikely a Lincoln: The Improbable Progeny of Honest Abe

By Randal A. Burd, Jr.March 12, 2021

October 14, 1968, was a day like any other in Williamsburg, Virginia. It was a rough year nationally for the Civil Rights Movement as the country still reeled from the […]

History Teaching

A Long Journey into Night: Abraham Lincoln’s Corpse at Rest

By Randal A. Burd, Jr.March 5, 2021

Although Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, his final burial didn’t occur until 1901, and only after his coffin had been moved and opened several times. April of 1865 was […]

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