Finding My Roots (Part III)
This past April (2018). I took myself on a little vacation. Perhaps a vacation is not the best word, for the primary purpose of my trip was to visit my father’s grave, something I...
Finding My Roots (Part II)
Now (if you’ve read the first entry in this series) you know a bit about my mother’s family and the difficulty in finding out more about my maternal Greek ancestry. Invasion, massacre and civil...
Do Not Fall into this Common Genealogy Trap…
This article might start off sounding a little smug. It is not meant to. My intention is to help you to find your correct ancestors, or at least start on the right path, and...
The Original 13
Growing up, from time to time, I would stay with my aunt and her family in Germantown, Pennsylvania. I won’t mention how many years ago that was, but I will tell you those visits...
Real strategies for overcoming that brick wall
Both novice and experienced family historians have likely encountered a common obstacle while researching their histories: hitting a brick wall. You may discover that family records were destroyed, lost or simply unavailable; information...
Jewish genealogy and the search for roots near and far
Previously, I discussed the challenges encountered by African-Americans searching for ancestors who pre-date the Civil War and strategies for accessing both basic and more detailed information about this time period. Similarly, genealogical research for...
Family History in New England
How Family Trees Grew in America Early genealogy in America was an extension of the European quest for verification of aristocracy, heraldry, and legitimacy. Tracing one’s genealogical roots in colonial America was seen as...
Pedigree Collapse
My family tree has married cousins. If you trace your family back far enough it is normal and even required to have marriages of cousins in your family tree. This is known as Pedigree...
The Purposes of the Family Tree
The ancient Irish were among the earliest civilizations to value genealogy. John O’Donovan, Irish language scholar, wrote in 1849, in his book, Miscellany of the Celtic Society: “Those of the lowest rank among a...
Pedigree Charts for Education and Sharing
A pedigree chart is a simple enough thing but they are also very personal and I don’t just mean they are personal because of who is shown on your pedigree chart. The number of...
