This isn’t so much a recipe or genealogy post, rather a “let’s get this 2022 party started” post. When Amy Johnson Crow launch her 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks writing challenge in 2014, I jumped at the chance to share my family research with, well, a small audience. That was about three months after I…
More than a million Germans arrived in the United States between 1845 and 1855 [1]US History, Irish and German Immigration, and many more came after that. They were fleeing political strife and economic hardship. Even so, many had enough money to travel to the Midwest in search of farmland. That’s exactly what my family did,…
I have always enjoyed participating in Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge. This year, I’m putting a food heritage spin on the 2020 themes and writing monthly instead of weekly. Week 3 of this year’s 52 Ancestors challenge is “Long Line”. This, like many of the weekly themes, can be interpreted in…
This post is inspired by the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge by Amy Johnson Crow. The 2019 Week 1 challenge is “firsts”. There are a lot of “firsts” in genealogy … the first moment you fall in love with family history … the first time you break through a brick wall … the first unsolved mystery you uncover … then solve! There is…
This post is inspired by the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge by Amy Johnson Crow. The week 10 challenge is “Strong Woman”. I grew up listening to my daddy tell stories about his French fur trapper ancestor – a great-great-grandfather named Joeseph Lemaitre. We went on wild adventures as he narrated the 19th-century fur-trade. I had images…
Every time I go somewhere and see a pressed penny souvenir machine, I dig for 2 quarters and a shiny penny. I’ve done this ever since I was a kid. It began as a child’s fascination … sometimes a challenge to crank the machine … and is now something I love adding to my collection….
This post is inspired by the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge by Amy Johnson Crow. The week 7 challenge is “Valentine”. When JD and I were married, my dad presented me with his grandmother’s wedding ring. It was my “something old” to wear on my wedding day but he meant for me to keep it thereafter….
This post is inspired by the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge by Amy Johnson Crow. The week 6 challenge is “favorite name”. One of my favorite things about genealogy is discovering names and naming patterns that have been used throughout my family’s history. The farther back I reach, the more unique and sometimes unusual the names…
This post is inspired by the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge by Amy Johnson Crow. The week 5 challenge is “In the Census”. When I was a kid, it was hard for me to think of my grandparents as anything other than grandparents. My grandpa was 55 years old when I was born, my grandma was…
This post is inspired by the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge by Amy Johnson Crow. The week 4 challenge is “Invite to Dinner”. Food has always been a central part of my life. From holidays to family celebrations to culinary travel adventures, food is part of my identity. When I was growing up, dinnertime was a…
This post is inspired by the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge by Amy Johnson Crow. The week 3 challenge is “Longevity”. As defined, longevity means long life or long existence. Today, looking for inspiration, I asked Noodle if she knew what longevity meant. She just turned 11 so I didn’t expect a “yes”. I didn’t get…
This post is inspired by the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge by Amy Johnson Crow. The week 2 challenge is “Favorite Photo”. My Time Machine The hallway in my house is like a time machine. One that takes you back 150 years through family photos, old cookbooks, and little trinkets that represent various lives well…
I’m at it again this year … 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, thanks to Amy Johnson Crow. The theme for week one is “Start”. Oh, so many ways to interpret that. But we all start somewhere … The Start of it All I was 11 years old when I fell in love with history –…
I recently discovered the 31 Days to Better Genealogy challenge from Amy Johnson Crow and decided I need some motivation to get moving with my research again. Over the next several weeks, I will be sharing my own progress with this challenge. It will take me longer than 31 days – but you will hear from me…
I recently discovered the 31 Days to Better Genealogy challenge from Amy Johnson Crow and decided I need some motivation to get moving with my research again. Over the next several weeks, I will be sharing my own progress with this challenge. It will take me longer than 31 days – but you will hear from me…
I recently discovered the 31 Days to Better Genealogy challenge from Amy Johnson Crow and decided I need some motivation to get moving with my research again. Over the next several weeks, I will be sharing my own progress with this challenge. It will take me longer than 31 days – but you will hear from me…
I’m very thankful that the RootsTech 2017 conference is live streaming – and over 100,000 people are watching! Also very thankful that I’ve had sometime this week to watch the great sessions that are being streamed. I’ve learned a lot and made some new friends along the way. During the general session on Wednesday morning, FamilySearch…
While I love my Ancestry account, I still find myself on the search for FREE genealogy tools that help me accomplish my research goals. Below are six of my favorites. I use most of these specifically for genealogy, but a few come in handy for my food history and heritage research, too. Bonus, right! [bctt…
My great grandfather, James Albert Rains, signed his WWI draft registration card on September 12, 1918. He was 41 years old. Between 1917 and 1918, 24 million American men did the same thing. The draft was a result of the Selective Service Act passed on May 18, 1917 authorizing the President to temporarily increase our military….
Illinois Senator Samuel Casey is my husband’s 1st cousin 5x removed … and he liked catfish. Senator Samuel Casey Samuel King Casey was born on June 27, 1817 in Smith County (now White County), Tennessee to Zadok Casey and Rachel King. Later that same year, the Casey family moved to what is now Jefferson County in…
Wikipedia used to be the one places teachers and professors would NEVER let student pull research from … for various reasons. I remember those days, not fondly. Now, however, Wikipedia is one of the best online resources we have. It has replaced the need from my 27+ volumes of Encyclopedia Britannica that I used to…
I’ve never found what I considered a “black sheep” ancestor among the branches of my family tree. There have been a few that I wondered about … you know, the ones who seem to disappear into thin air, or even appear from thin air. I’ve never actually proven that scoundrels existed in my family. I’m…
When I logged on to Ancestry.com this morning, I was met with a message about their updated website. Of course, I was given the choice of keeping with the familiar website or checking out the new one. I jumped at the new one … for one reason … lifestory. Out of curiosity, I clicked on…
When I was a junior in high school, my French teacher had us create a family tree. It was a fun assignment for someone like me … I was already a history nerd, but had never really thought about tracing my own family history to any great extent. My dad was ecstatic because he was…