While trying to prove my great-grandfather had indeed been born, I realized I didn’t have all of the documents identified as sources or alternative sources on Ancestry for Alfred MUELLER’s date of birth. One of those documents listed Alfred’s exact date of birth, the very thing I was trying to prove. According to Ancestry, the…
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…
That first day of having you on the planet was an amazing day for all of us. You hold a special place in our family tree; the eldest child of the eldest child (your mom) of the eldest child (me) of the eldest child (my dad). And you certainly hold a special place in all our…
Today is our nation’s Constitution Day and Citizenship Day. It is a day set aside to recognize the adoption of the United States Constitution and those who have become U.S. citizens. I’m proud of the members of my family who made a dangerous trip across an ocean to start a new life in America. Among them, my…
As much as we’d like to think the 19th century was a kinder gentler time, the truth is that everyday life was filled with close calls. People frequently dashed out of the way of fast-moving horses, streetcars and trains. And, as is reported in the article below, they weren’t always successful. Something to keep in…
Several unrelated couples in my family tree eloped from Chicago to St Joseph Michigan. One day I asked my great-uncle (his mother was 1/2 of one of those couples) why? Uncle Fran said it was a lovely beach resort community and that people would not only elope to St Joseph, but honeymoon there as well.…
I’m familiar with ditto marks in documents: But in a cemetery? I have to admit, this was a first for me..
I booted up my computer to draft a blog post about my Schmitt ancestors for this Surname Saturday. While things were warming up, I checked email. And found this: 54 is a large number of new hints, which in itself is interesting. More interesting however, are the hints that stem from new collections. What really…
I’m addicted to I really enjoy watching genealogy-related shows like Who Do You Think You Are?, Finding Your Roots, Genealogy Road Show, and History Detectives. I have an idea for another show Ancestry dot com could host. I’d call it Name That Ancestor. Here’s how the show would work: Ancestry dot com would choose a…
where2look4ancestors 