Relics: Genealogy, family stories, history & other curiosities.

  In honor of Veteran's Day this episode of What's Your Story is devoted to researching the Veteran's in our families.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUFAb4WWHas

  Lois Powell and I have completed another episode of our What's Your Story podcast.  This month's topic is Genealogy Websites and Resources that researchers can utilize for free.  Let us know if you have a favorite resource that you like to use.   Listen to our podcast here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyBKp79zoKA

  On August 21, 1862 my three times great grandfather, Jacob Rose enlisted in the US Army to fight in the Civil War. He was 42 years old.  He was accompanied by his two oldest sons, James and John. Left at home was his wife Emeline, three months pregnant with my two times grandfather and ten other children.  I have learned some about Jacob's service and I am waiting for his pension file from the National Archive.  I am hoping the file will lead me to clues about Emeline.  More on her someday.  

  It's no secret that I am a huge fan of utilizing the FAN club to make connections between families in my research. Pun intended. The FAN Club, a term coined by genealogist Elizabeth Shown Mills, is researching  the friends, associates and neighbors of your research subject. Our ancestors often married the girl or boy next door or witnessed their marriages and christenings.  Here is one example from my family research.  Are Sarah Williams Scannell and Bathsheba (AKA Martha) Williams Cassidy sisters?  The FAN Club helps us discover many important clues that can reveal relationships and solve research riddles.  Leaving the port of Londonderry, Northern Ireland on the Caledonia, John (b. 1784) and Margaret Williams (b. 1789) arrived in New York on 15 June 1839.  Accompanying them are their six children:  James         born 1815           age 24 on arrival                cabinet maker Bessy          born 1817           age 23                                 dressmaker Rose           b

 Finding Females in your family tree can be a challenge! In this episode of our podcast, Lois and I share some ideas to help you find those ladies!   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlNL9cq_KKA

 Lois Powell and I are back with a new podcast episode, all about one of my favorite record sets, the census!   The census records are a valuable tool for genealogists. Give our podcast a listen here!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8PcS3HUPYs

  I have been focusing some of my time lately on my paternal grandmother's maternal family.  Mainly the Bell and Brown families of Haverstraw and Garnerville, NY.   Mary, or in some documents, Barbara Brown was born about 1833 or 1834.  She married William Brown. They had nine children over the course of 16 years, at least seven surviving to adulthood.  I know so little about Mary/ Barbara. Her first name seems to interchange in each record I find. Her maiden name, while I have several clues, it remains a mystery for now. I was able to find a small death notice for William, who died in 1883, but until recently I had no death information for Mary.  According to the 1870 Census, William and two of his oldest sons work at the Calico Factory, a major part of the economy of the Garnerville area in the 1800's in a building that still stands today.   Two doors down from the Browns, live the Bells. In 1888, Henry Bell marries a daughter of William and Mary. Henry and Mary Ann become ev

  Happy New Year!   I have never been happier to start a new year and leave an old one in the dust. I am hoping, as I am sure we all are, that the pandemic becomes controllable or better yet, non existent and we can go back to our lives and of course our genealogy!   I have a few personal goals for 2021 but I have far more genealogy goals. Here are a few of mine.   Education-  I  was surprised and happy about how much education I was able to experience in 2020. I would like to keep that going.  While my enthusiasm for the webinar is waning, for now it is the most convenient way to learn. I am working on being more selective- signing up for those I am really interested in and looking for them in different places. I joined APG this year and their catalog of programs is certainly helping me level up.   Helping me to level up this year, I have signed up for a study group!  I am excited to participate, as I have not been in a study group since college and I certainly have not experienced an

 I have often longed for long stretches of time at home for genealogy and this year I certainly got it. Unfortunately, like most Americans, I was often distracted and struggling to focus. It took me some time, but I did develop a rhythm with working from home, staying safe and working on my research.   February 22, 2020 was the last time I attended an in person genealogy program. I think about it now and I feel so naive, so unaware of what was to come.  It was the the Pinellas Genealogy Society Seminar featuring Dr. Tom Jones at the near by Largo Library. I was able to attend with two friends and it was an inspirational and exciting day. Less than two weeks later, the next PGS event was cancelled and we were figuring out how to work and research from home.   Making lemonade out of the lemons of 2020 has been a recurring theme of my work life this year and it applies to genealogy research too. It is amazing to me how quickly societies and organizations were able to turn around and off