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Genealogy Challenge: Ancestor Scavenger Hunt
Posted on August 1, 2021 Leave a Comment
If you have been following me for any amount of time you will note my posts tend to be “all over the map.” Here’s one that I dreamed up and haven’t even done myself so this post will be my own process. This is not a contest and one should not overthink this. Items You […]
The Places You Go, the People You Meet
Posted on July 20, 2021 Leave a Comment
This post is prompted by the death of a fellow genealogist who died in June of 2020, of a non-Covid 19 related illness. I just recently found out that he had died. My last email to him was in August of 2020 to which I had no reply. I was not surprised at no response, […]
A Trip Down Memory Lane: One way to access the stories of our past
Posted on July 18, 2021 Leave a Comment
Sometimes its a random thing that brings out old memories. Never underestimate what you can learn from a simply property search. A childhood best friend made a post about the price of the home she grew up in. I decided to follow suit and look up the house I grew up in. The house that […]
Enslaved People in our Family Records: What We Can Do
Posted on July 6, 2021 1 Comment
This is a difficult topic and one I tend to delve into in search of my African ancestors and then pull up empty and run in another direction. But, I keep coming back again and again. For most of my life I had no idea I had any African kin. Here’s how the story goes…back […]
The Case of the Missing Birth Certificate
Posted on June 23, 2021 2 Comments
Records are funny things. There are many caveats we must keep in mind when requesting and searching for birth certificates. My grandmother Carrie requested her birth certificate some time after she married my grandfather. Well that did not go well. She ended up having to provide sworn affidavits by people who were knowledgeable about her […]
Confessions of a Rabbit Hole Genealogist: In Defense of Inspired Genealogy
Posted on June 19, 2021 3 Comments
This post has been brewing for at least a decade. It won’t be long that I will be celebrating a half century of pursuing genealogy. I have learned much over these many decades but still I feel guilt every time I read an article about how to do genealogy “properly.” What finally brought this to […]
REFORMED GENEALOGISTS: Turning Trees into Stories
Posted on June 18, 2021 8 Comments
This sprang out of a 2015 Facebook post. Then I created a webpage in 2020 but for those who haven’t seen it, here goes. A REFORMED GENEALOGIST is one who has moved from filling in their Family Tree—-to making the tree bloom through the telling of its family stories. A Reformed genealogist pledges to make […]
Serendipity in Scaling Brick Walls
Posted on March 31, 2021 2 Comments
Perhaps you are thinking that it is hard work that brings down brick walls. Or perhaps time at the game, diligence, persistence or any number of worthy attributes. I have to say in my experience two things have helped the most—and they are a bit of a surprise to me—and maybe to you as well. […]
Nice Y Haplogroup Map of Eurasia for all our Groups
Posted on September 25, 2015 Leave a Comment
Just a recap of our Y groups within our project which are all R1b (M269 except group E and F which are I2. See below. This is a very nice map via Wikipedia: “Haplogroups europe” by Selbst Wrstellt Robertius / Robert Gabel -Licensed under Public Domain via Commons. Group A: R1b M269 Likely R-L21* Group […]
Two branches of a family reunited after decades apart
Posted on September 20, 2015 2 Comments
Kelly suggested I relate the story of how I and my cousins found each other through this project. So here goes. Pictured at right is John Wheaton, who was born in Cape May County, NJ, in 1818 and died in Warren, RI, in 1897. He is our common great-grandfather, so we are second cousins. To […]
Wheaton Wood 