INTERSECTION luke kurtis exhibition

INTERSECTION catalog (limited edition) by luke kurtis

Over the last year, one of my most significant projects was putting together my INTERSECTION photographic art exhibition. I haven’t posted about this side of my work at Jordan’s Journey, as this blog focuses on the genealogy side of things. Of course, the overall Jordan’s Journey project is a multimedia art project of which genealogical research is only one part. So I wanted to be sure to tell you about INTERSECTION. INTERSECTION is my follow-up to Jordan’s Journey. It’s not a sequel but a spiritual successor that takes the most specific art aspects and extracts them into a heritage-influenced art exhibition. The project’s focus is my debut museum exhibition, under my artist name luke kurtis, which opened on March 8th at Massillon Museum in Massillon, OH. I also published a book of photographs and writing that serves as the exhibition catalog.

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The Rambo Family Tree by Beverly Nelson Rambo

Looking at The Rambo Family Tree, Arkansas’ Damned Yankees, Cavaliers and Pioneers, and more at the Milstein Division, New York City.

Genealogists spend hours of research digging through old books and wrinkled papers. There are so many sources out there, from library books and courthouse records to the box of papers stuffed away in your aunt’s attic. Your range of research material can be as varied as the family tree is sprawling. Because of that, it helps to learn about resources fellow researchers have consulted, to hear their insights, and to learn why any particular source may (or may not) be useful to you. This post is the beginning of a series of sources I have consulted at some point during my research.

The Rambo family is unique in my tree in that, as far as I know, I am related to anyone with the surname Rambo. The Rambo family is rooted in Sweden where, at the time, there were no surnames. You were identified simply as the son or daughter of your father, i.e., Peter Gunnarson literally translates to Peter, son of Gunnar. When my ancestor Peter came to the New World, he adopted the name Rambo, and therefore, all descendants with that name can be traced back to Peter. You can read a general overview of the early Rambo generations in Jordan’s Journey… but if you want to explore them even deeper, be sure to take a look at The Rambo Family Tree by Beverly Nelson Rambo. Beverly’s tome is an extremely well-documented work on many far-reaching branches of Rambo descendants.

I first looked at Beverly’s book in the Milstein Division of the New York Public Library. It’s an intimidating text made all the more confusing to read because the Rambos used so many of the same names over… and over… and over. This is no fault of the text itself, of course, and ultimately the work is rewarding and an absolutely essential reference for anyone interested in the Rambo family. Just be prepared to tackle your share of headaches as you sort out the inter-generational who’s who.

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The Union in the South

Consulting Goodspeed’s History of Tennessee in the NYPL’s Milstein Division, September 2011

One of the exciting things about the research behind Jordan’s Journey was the opportunity to learn about topics I had never explored before. One such subject was the Civil War. Like most things we learn in history class growing up, the Civil War is glossed over and never examined as closely as it should be. Most of us have an oversimplified impression of the war as being about the North versus the South and slavery versus freedom. The reality, however, is that the story is much more complicated than that. In terms of Jordan’s Journey, I learned that not only were there military regiments from southern states who fought for the Union, but I realized that several people from different family lines in my tree fought for those regiments–including a 2nd great grandfather on Mom’s side and a 3rd great grandfather on Dad’s side. It was a surprise to uncover this, as the family had long forgotten it.

In my Anderson family, my 2nd great-grandfather Abraham Anderson fought for the Union in Tennessee’s 5th Mounted Infantry regiment. You can read more about Abraham in the book, but I want to share more about Tennessee’s involvement with the Union.

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The book cover unveiled…

Jordan’s Journey by Jordan M. Scoggins


Unveiled at last, here is the cover of Jordan’s Journey. The cover photo is a self-portrait taken in September 2011 on the Pope/Jordan family farm where I grew up in East Armuchee, Georgia. I shot the primary footage for the book trailer on the same day.

Be sure to follow this site and check back soon for ordering information!

Join me on Jordan’s Journey

Join me on Jordan's Journey
Take a trip into the past…

In the beginning, this blog will be made up of extras and outtakes from and expansion upon the Jordan’s Journey book. In most cases, this means the stories and images that just didn’t quite fit into the book’s narrative or space constraints. These extras are no less interesting and will always tie back to the book in some way. Over time I anticipate that my research will lead to new discoveries so this blog will be a place to share those things after the book is said and done (or printed and bound, as the case may be). Finally, the blog will serve as a place to publish corrections when mistakes pop up in the printed text, and they inevitably will with a work of this nature.

Contributions are welcome as are guest posts. Contact me with an idea, and we’ll figure it out!

In my next post, I’ll introduce the primary family names that are explored in Jordan’s Journey.