My Genealogy Journey!

 

I started doing genealogy many years ago.  At first it was just some mysteries that intrigued me. Then I became hooked like many others. Today I do research almost daily.   However, I often focus on someone else’s mystery.  So, I don’t make as much progress on my own family as I would like.

 

My passion is for people’s stories, but I am also careful not to create too much of their story myself.  Putting together pieces of the puzzle logically and filling in the blanks without too many assumptions can be a challenge.  Sometimes it is a logic puzzle that needs to be solved, sometimes it requires studying history, sometimes you have to take a fresh look at everythings, and sometimes it requires challenging what everyone else believes.

 

Recent Blog Highlights

McGinley Stetler

Astonished!

I was astonished when I saw a newspaper article from the early 1800s about Rod’s 5th great grandmother, Ann (McGinley) Stetler, having breast cancer.  The surprise wasn’t that she had breast cancer, but that it was mentioned in the newspaper....
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Hanson Van Allen

Accidents, Deaths, and Other Challenges

Grinda Josephine (Hanson) Van Allen  had a life full of challenges, including becoming a step-mother to six, including teenagers, when she was only fifteen, losing her husband when she was 29, and almost losing her young daughter at the same...
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McCracken

Suddenly Getting Older

  What happened between 1905 and 1910 that caused Delarma Lawrence McCracken to suddenly report his age as several years older?   The Early Years Delarma Lawrence McCracken was born to Lemuel Lawrence McCracken, my great-great grandfather, and Sarah Dufer,...
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