The Pedigree Resource File contains many first-hand accounts and family stories passed down through generations, never before published. They are filled with humor, courage, hardship, tragedy and love. Only available on CD or DVD! Here are more samples.

"Isaac Wintermute, aged eighty, the postmaster at Millrift, Pike, Pennsylvania, had a peculiar experience with a large black snake in the postoffice.
He was busy sorting the mail when a large snake wiggled off the table. Isaac gave battle and the snake was soon entwined about his legs and then around his arms. Wintermute freed himself and the snake escaped into his grocery store adjoining the postoffice.
Wintermute followed and after a short conflict among barrels and boxes, he planted his boot heel firmly on the snake's head and killed the reptile. It measured nearly six feet long. "

"Milk Sick: poisoning resulting from the drinking of milk produced by a cow who had eaten a plant known as white snake root.
It usually began with a white coating of the tongue and then the tongue turned brown. The feet and hands grew colder and colder and the pulse was slower and slower...
It was not until a century later, in 1928, that Dr. James Couch isolated tremetol, an alcohol from snakeroot and injected it into test animals to successfully produce trembles. Thus, a major cause of death amongst early pioneers was not solved until long after the pioneer movement in the United States was over."

"When the Edgerly boys were youngsters, the family was far from rich. They had as much as most Maine farm families of the time but did not have luxuries. They invented their own games and some of them were rather “odd” to say the least. One thing they used to do in the summer was cut down those big thistles that grew profusely in the pastures and switch each others bare legs until one of them cried “Enough”.
The boys were always barefooted in summer. One day Fred and George, who were older than Josiah, saw a hedgehog in a tree. They told Josiah to climb up in the tree and kick it out. He was so tickled to be included in their adventure that he gladly went up the tree and kicked the hedgehog. That was when he found out why they had included him.
It was common practice for the men to use leaves for toilet paper. One time Si gathered a handful of poison ivy for this purpose and the results were disastrous.
Ellen was 12 years old when she died. She was a very smart girl. When she became ill, the doctors did not know what was wrong with her. Finally, her parents sent for help from Bangor. Two doctors came to Charleston on the electric cars which ran from Bangor to Charleston in those days. My grandfather met them with a horse and wagon.
When they had examined Ellen, they determined that she had appendicitis even though all of her pain was on the left side. They set up in the kitchen in the home in Atkinson as an operating room. Edgerly was born there. They operated on the child in that room late in the day. She recovered consciousness and had much less pain than she had been having. Sad to say this effort was in vain except for easing the pain to some extent. Ellen died the next morning. "

"Death 27 Sep 1969
Burial 12 May 1971
Burial doesn't directly follow death because body was studied at university laboratory. "

"Ben's grand-father, Jacob Davis was instrumental in the creation of Levi Strauss jeans. Jacob was an immigrant tailor from Latvia who lived in Virginia City, Nevada and invented the copper rivet for jeans to help keep the pockets on.
He wanted to patent the idea of the pocket rivet but at $75.00 the price was too high, so he contacted Levi Strauss on Battery St in San Francisco and offered him half the patent if he would cover half the cost. Levi Strauss, who was just selling canvas at the time took him up on the idea so Jacob Davis started the first Levi factory making jeans with copper rivets. "

"Bill Deichmann also raised the world's largest hog. He took over management of the family farm in 1926 and specialized in the raising of purebred Poland China hogs.
In 1928, he raised “DAZZLER”, which had the unchallenged distinction of being the world's largest hog. It was also the first hog to ride in an airplane. The hog weighed 1320 pounds and was taken by plane to the Iowa State Fair at Des Moines. 20,000 people passed his pen the first day.
“DAZZLER” was featured in RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT. More than 500,000 people passed by his pen at the Nebraska and Iowa Fairs. The hog was sold at the Omaha Market for five cents a pound and his purchaser specialized in freak animals for exhibition. “DAZZLER” died two months later. "

"Right into the present century the story of John Macnaghten of Benvarden in County Antrim was never allowed to be mentioned by those who bore his name, and over 150 years from the time of his death passed before his tempestuous career could be discussed openly with them."

"Cuff did not want Will to marry Gertrude, so he locked him in a pen. Will dug a hole and crawled out, took a ladder and stole Gertrude out of her parent's home that night. The only wedding present they received was a pig."