The SS-5 form was more valuable to me than the SSDI (Social Security Death Index) in my quest to prove my great-grandfather’s date of birth. Why? Because it had been completed by the subject of my search. Not to mention the oodles of additional information the form added to my understanding of Alfred’s life. Remember…
“Help us find the ending to every family story.” This is the sentiment behind Find A Grave Community Days, an event in which genealogists and taphophiles everywhere are encouraged to “Help preserve your local cemetery.” I hope you’ll join the cause! It’s an amazing way to pay it forward for any help you’ve received researching…
For decades, I thought I was 50% Swedish and 50% German. Never mind that my maternal grandfather was somehow English. I’m not sure how we overlooked that bit of information, but I continued to believe I was half one ethnicity and half another long after I should have known better. I started my genealogical exploration…
An entire month to celebrate genealogy? Sign me up! Even Congress understands the importance of family history: On June 27, 2003 a resolution introduced by Senator Orrin Hatch was agreed to in the Senate without amendment and with a preamble by unanimous consent. (consideration: CR S8846-8847; text as passed Senate: CR S8846-8847). We should all…
Along the same lines as my proposed TV show Name That Ancestor, I have a book idea. It’s a take off of the children’s book Are You My Mother? In this time machine fantasy series, we could go back to the date a picture in our collection was taken and ask each of the subjects,…
The tongue-in-cheek sign by these cabinet card photographs stopped me in my tracks. I’m sure the antique shop owner thought it would be an attention-grabber. It certainly worked for me. Most of the cards were blank on the back. But this card had been a gift, signed by the sender: I couldn’t leave this lovely…
Something had clearly been erased and a new word written in it’s place. I assumed “farmer” was the erased word. That’s the occupation I most often associated with my 2nd great-grandfather William Penrod CLARKE. And optician? Why would the census taker have written that? William was the second of 11 children born to shoemaker Morgan…
Every person bitten by the genealogy bug knows the danger/value of exploring collateral lines. The Clarke branch of my family tree is a maze of interesting twists and turns. I often learn more about my Clarke direct line ancestors by focusing less on them and more on the people with whom they have connections. I’ve…
Gustave Mangels‘ sister Louise was a woman ahead of her time. She worked for the Federal Reserve Bank in the early 20th century when women didn’t hold such positions. But all her life she suffered from a mental illness that would eventually overtake her. Rosa Louise Mangels died in a sanitarium on this day 47…
My great-grandfather Gustave Robert MANGELS died on this day 44 years ago. Although I was 13 or 14 at the time, I had never met him. And as I was drafting this post, I started wondering how much my dad had known of his grandfather. Gustave and my great-grandmother Esther Ingeborg CLARIN divorced when my…
where2look4ancestors 