Tag: tappingroots.com (page 1 of 2)

March 18, 2026 / 0 Comments

A Lovely View, A New Chapter

After nearly ten years of writing and sharing stories here on TappingRoots, I have made the decision not to renew the blog this year.

This space has meant more to me than I can fully put into words. What began as a place to explore family history and follow the threads of the past from Henry McMorran to the Harsen family, grew into something much richer thanks to all of you. Your support, encouragement, and shared interest in these stories have meant everything along the way.

While I am closing this chapter, I am not stepping away from the work. I will continue sharing my research, writing, and new stories on my Facebook author page:

Brenda L. Williams – A Lovely View

I hope will you will come and join me there as I continue this journey.

Thank you for being part of TappingRoots over the years. It has truly been a lovely view.

With gratitude,

Brenda

June 2, 2024 / 1 Comment

Pioneers of St. Clair County, Michigan, Available June 10

Explore the history of St. Clair County in my new book, available through Arcadia Publishing and other online retailers (Amazon, BAM , Barnes & Noble, etc).

The rich history of St. Clair County has been shaped by the colorful people of its past. From the Kerley Lot to the City Flats Hotel, the corner of Military and Water Street in Port Huron is forever etched with the spirit of diverse and passionate citizens like Daniel B. Harrington and James W. Sanborn. The bankruptcy of John Johnston & Co. shaped the fortunes of a local family. Local lumbermen influenced the lumber industry not just in the county but across Michigan. The Radical Republicans contributed to the rise and fall of Congressman Omar D. Conger, and the controversial John P. Sanborn played an outsized role in local politics. Author Brenda L. Williams leads a historical journey into the captivating lives of early local luminaries.

December 10, 2023 / 2 Comments

A LOVELY VIEW – Part three: Andries GRAVERAET AND the Captain Kidd connection

Pirates in New York

British Ships Sailing, courtesy of *Morphart Creation/Shutterstock.com*

In Part Two we learned about Gerrit Graveraet’s great grandfather, Isaac Graveraet. Continuing with this family, we will now explore a few of Isaac’s family ties and how they may have impacted and shaped the lives of his two sons, Andries and Hendrick Graveraet. In the late 17th century the Graveraet family surname was spelled Grevenraedt. For simplicity I have chosen to use the spelling of Graveraet unless the surname is used within a quote. I would also like to note that Andries is at times referred to as Andrew. [1]

January 23, 2023 / 18 Comments

Cinderella’s Castle on Military Street

1719 Military Street, Port Huron, MI – Photograph Balthazar Korab[1]

When I was a little girl growing up my grandmother used to take me and my sister with her on her weekly shopping trip to downtown Port Huron. As we made the drive down Military Street, we would admire the beautiful houses. My favorite home was located at 1719 Military Street. My sister and I called it “Cinderella’s Castle.” I would always ask my grandmother to slow down as we approached so I could get a good look at it. Excitement and joy would pulse through my veins as we passed. My imagination filled with fairy tale like images of a beautiful girl living within the walls of that place. Little did I know such a girl had lived there in the early 1900s. Her name was Mary Harrington Thomson Thaw.

October 3, 2022 / 0 Comments

A Lovely View – Part Two: Isaac Grevenraedt and the Castello Plan

Before the fur traders of Albany made their way west to Detroit, before the convergence of the Harsen and Graveraet families on Harsens Island, there was Isaac Grevenraedt. As the patriarch of the Graveraet family in North America, Isaac’s story begins in New Amsterdam in the mid-1600s. His name appears on the famed Castello Plan, a map that recorded the homes of Dutch settlers along the tip of present day Manhattan Island. From civic leadership to private trade, Isaac carved out a prominent life amid the shifting powers of the Dutch and English empires, leaving a legacy that would eventually stretch to the Great Lakes frontier.

To understand the journey of Gerrit Graveraet, we must begin with the life of his great-grandfather, a Dutch trader and civic leader whose legacy shaped the generations that followed.

January 20, 2022 / 14 Comments

A Lovely View – Part One: From Albany to Detroit

Journey from Albany, New York

British Colonies in North America after Quebec Act 1763 [3]

After the British capture of Quebec from the French during the French and Indian War at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham on September 13^th, 1759, it would take almost another four years for the French to cede all their territory in North America to the British under the Treaty of Paris on February 10, 1763. [1] By Great Britain’s Royal Proclamation of 1763, the French Territory of Canada, known as New France, would be renamed the Province of Quebec. This new province included the Great Lakes Region and the settlement at Detroit. [2]

August 13, 2021 / 0 Comments

Listen and Learn

Drawn out and away

What I mean to say

Entangled in your web.

I cannot find a way

Impediments filter true feeling

Across a sky so gray.

Mockingbirds

Listen and learn

Perhaps a lesson lingers here.

Sound is merely a sound

Until it collects and comes together

To make music only we can hear.

“Harmony is key,” she said.

That’s where the truth is at.

August 9, 2021 / 0 Comments

Tension

Thoughtless dribble

Filter out the noise

Calamity toils and turns

Spinning wheels

A reverent hum

The making of political war.

Endless notifiers

Drowning lives

Seek to clarify positions left and right

Swirled into a brazen tornado

A never ending fight.

Choose me…..

Choose you…..

Such yucky goo.

Surely there must be light in the end.

August 4, 2021 / 0 Comments

He and Me and the miles inbetween

My dearest heart

Spoke to me

Painful words

The untruth of it all filling his head.

No words could I speak

The silence killing us both or maybe me

I want you so…..now

I wanted you then

I scream and scream inside my head.

But he can’t feel it.

I feel that he can’t.

I keep the silence between us.

What words could take all that away?

For a brief moment

He comes into view

I catch the voice of the person I once knew.

I hear all that he is…..

My heart misses…..

Oh, how I miss……

His kiss

His hands

His feet

The smile in his voice

His presence

The spring in his step

His cuddles

The rainwater that falls from his face at night

His smell

His beautiful legs

His style

His grace

His music

His words only for me

His presence

His laugh

His writing

His excitement

His cheer

I miss loving him and he loving me

Oh, to walk free.

To love him

Truly, love him

His hand in mine

Surrendering.

July 19, 2021 / 0 Comments

Heading into Town

If I could rearrange the scene

And paint the background gray

Then spin around three dozen times

It might make sense today.

But as it is

It’s drawn and tattered

A small rip at the seam

I swear I almost bumped my head

Against the ceiling beam.

For dreams are laid on golden paths

At least that’s what they say

No matter

I’ll just take my time

And see where my dreams lay.

Tag: tappingroots.com (page 1 of 2)

A Lovely View, A New Chapter

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Pioneers of St. Clair County, Michigan, Available June 10

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A LOVELY VIEW – Part three: Andries GRAVERAET AND the Captain Kidd connection

Pirates in New York

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Cinderella’s Castle on Military Street

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A Lovely View – Part Two: Isaac Grevenraedt and the Castello Plan

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A Lovely View – Part One: From Albany to Detroit

Journey from Albany, New York

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Listen and Learn

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Tension

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He and Me and the miles inbetween

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Heading into Town

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Pirates in New York

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Journey from Albany, New York

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