Week 50’s topic is “You Wouldn't Believe It”. I’ve mentioned before how much I enjoy reading newspaper archives, especially from smaller town papers. Genealogists can use them to help us establish timelines for research. It also helps to establish locations and specific addresses where our ancestors lived. The more interesting part of these articles is…
This Ancestor Stayed Home
The topic for week #48 is “This Ancestor Stayed Home”. This topic makes me smile. I have a friend who tends to always text me when I’m driving. She gets my “driving with focus on” message. Her response is “Of course you are driving!”. I’ve always been one to be busy, and pre-pandemic, you would…
Prosperity
Hello! I hope everyone had an enjoyable Labor Day weekend, and a good first week of September. This week, our topic is “Prosperity”. Thinking about this word, I think of two ancestors who came to North America. The first is Thomas Barber, whom I wrote about last week. He came from Bedfordshire, England, as a…
Tradesman
I hope everyone had a nice Labor Day Weekend. It was very hot here – still is. I had a yard sale with some friends of mine. The yard sale was a success, I’m happy to say. We had so much fun, we are going to do a smaller one in October. This week, our…
Birthdays
The Adirondacks did not disappoint, even with the rain we had one day. I was up near Fourth Lake, just outside Old Forge proper. It was a nice couple of days spent with family members I do not get to see as often as I would like. It was peaceful, and restful-just the break I…
At the Cemetery
The topic for week 22 of the #52Ancestor Challenge is At the Cemetery. This is timely as Memorial Day is only a couple days away. I was brought up by grandparents who took me around to all the cemeteries during the Memorial Day Weekend. I’ve long loved to walk through them. My mother is buried…
Brick Walls
This week, our #52 ancestor challenge topic is about Brick Walls, those ancestors of ours that we just can’t seem to find out about. I have written about one of my brick walls before, my great-grandfather Tompkins. The Tompkins family is not the only branch of mine with brick walls. I am taking an Advanced…
DNA
Welcome to week 17! DNA is our topic this week. It has figured prominently in the news over the last few years. Multiple stories have been written about its use as a tool for cracking cold cases as well as identification of John and Jane “Doe’s. Much has been discussed about the ethics of DNA…
Should be a Movie!
Week 16 – I was thinking today that this year (and this month) are flying by! While it’s been relatively mild in my part of New York State, it’s also nice to see trees and flowers starting to bud. Warmer weather is starting to creep into the cold and summer will be here soon. This…
Solitude
The topic for this week is “Solitude”. My grandfather’s brother, my great-uncle Ollie. Ollie was six years younger than him. Most of what I know has come from a few stories from my grandma, and what I’ve found from records research. Ollie was born in Elba, New York, the fourth child of Freeman and Minnie…