The Svanströms were soldiers, crofters and tailors in and around Gärdserum and Ukna in the county of Kalmar in Småland, Sweden. The earliest known ancestor of the family is Petter Jönsson Cavat, an infantry soldier who was taken prisoner by the Prussians at the Battle of Demmin and never returned to Sweden. He was probably…
Hindu Lore
In India swans appear both as the hamsa and as apsaras. Brahma’s consort Saraswati, goddess of wisdom, learning, and music, is also depicted riding on a swan (hamsa), as is Varuna, god of the sky and rain. The Hamsa In Hindu lore, the hamsa (a pair of divine birds) can be either swans or geese. The two…
Brigham’s Destroying Angel
Excerpts from William Hickman, Brigham’s Destroying Angel (1904). CHAPTER II. HICKMAN’S NARRATIVE BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE-FIRST DEED OF DARING-KILLING THE PANTHER-EDUCATION-MARRIAGE-JOINS THE MORMONS-ACQUAINTANCE WITH JOSEPH SMITH -THE TROUBLES AT NAUVOO-HICKMAN IN PRISON- INGENIOUS ESCAPE-FIRST ACT OF VIOLENCE UNDER THE RULE OF BRIGHAM YOUNG-KILLING THE COUNTERFEITER-SHOOTING THE INDIANS-FLIGHT OF HICKMAN-ADVENTURES ON THE PLAINS-ARRIVAL AT SALT LAKE. In the…
Lazarite Connection
A Conrad Hauri or Conrad Horn (Chuondradus dictus Hornus), a Knight of the Order of Saint Lazarus, lived at the order’s house at Gfenn in Dübendorf, now a suburb of Zürich. He was named in a charter dated 13 April 1272, when the order sold the church at Meiringen in the Bernese Oberland to Kloster…
Kenney
The Kenneys are a Scotch-Irish family. They came to America in the early 1700s, settled first in Pennsylvania, then moved south to Virginia before moving west. Capt. James and Margaret (Frame) Kenney were early settlers at Daniel Boone’s settlement in Boonesborough, Kentucky. The Kenney farm, Stonerside Farm in Bourbon County, is still an operating horse farm of…