Sharing stories about my journey to discover my family history through genealogy and historical research.
Welcome!
I started this blog because I was frustrated with having to “reinvent the wheel” —- mothers and fathers are attached to trees in ancestry.com with no sources. The familysearch.org One-World Tree is riddled with folks attaching whole generations of people with no sources. Even my family lines within Wiki-Tree are filled with errors and sources that say, “Personal knowledge of Joe-Shmoe”.
And most of the time, once I put in the work and pay for the records, the random mothers and fathers listed end up being correct. So, listen, I’m not pretending that I’m up-ending long-held beliefs about family lines or anything. However, I am providing direct evidence of family relationships or strong circumstantial cases along with DNA correlation to confirm family lines. And yeah, sometimes I break down a brick wall and discover a new grandfather or grandmother and those are fun too. And I provide the documentary evidence for all to read and review.
Please browse around a bit. My posts tend to be quite Florida- and Georgia-heavy because, well, all the branches of my family have been in Florida since the early 1900s and most of them came from Georgia before that. But there are a few things sprinkled in there from Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina as well.
If I run across a really fun resource, I like to share that here as well. My case studies are presented informally and every detail presented is sourced by documentary evidence that I provide directly to you, the reader.
Please follow along to read stories of discovery and heartbreak, to learn tips and tricks, organization and research strategies, and (if you are a cousin) to learn more about the details of our shared family lines.
Recent Posts
Join me in my adventure in family discovery!
Mary M Howard Stephens: Documentary Evidence that her parents were James Seth and Harriet C Howard
A man named Wilson Elihu Stephens is one of my 3rd great-grandfathers. He married Mary M Howard on March 25, 1869, in Manatee County, Florida.
George Hanson “Hans” Montgomery, Part 3
Discovery of a Wedding Trousseau
A few weeks ago, I told you about my adventures confirming that John Hays was both my 5th and 6th great-grandfather. One of the documents I uncovered during that process led me to a sweet discovery. As noted in the blog post referenced above, Elizabeth Jane Hays was the daughter of Gilbert “Bird” Hays.
My Two-for-One Grandpa: A Tale of Pedigree Collapse
Years ago, I was communicating with someone that I had contacted through ancestry.com. She was helping a cousin of mine build out her family tree. She noted, “My family tree is more like a family bush.” I absolutely adored this statement and I have adopted it ever since then. I, too, have a family bush.
The Lost Female Ancestor: A Case of the Double “s”
I am currently working on a project to determine my 4th great-grandfather’s parentage. His name was Aaron Weeks and he was born in South Carolina around 1825 and died in Lafayette County, Florida around 1878. Circumstantial evidence leads me to believe that his father was a man named Thomas Weeks.
George Hanson “Hans” Montgomery; Part 2
I’ve told you the story of how I got my first leads on determining who the parents of my third great-grandfather, George Montgomery, were. You can read about it here . After I attached Robert Montgomery (b. abt 1807) to my family tree within Ancestry.com and waited for ThruLines to do its calculations.
Why Does There Always Have to be “Smith” in the Family?
How I used contextual clues and cluster research to determine the identity of an unknown man with the last name of “Smith” in bag of old photographs. One of my maternal great-grandmothers was born a Smith. Ugh. Dorothy Elton Smith married Harold Daniel Garner and she was the daughter of Amos Leonard and Artie Lenore Smith.
Identifying a Neighbor on a Census Helped Me to Break Through My Brick Wall
When dreaming and planning to start this blog, one of the genealogy adventures I most wanted to share with everybody was the journey to find my third great grandfather, George Montgomery. I have composed this story in a thousand different ways in my mind, but I have realized that this story is made up of many different adventures and is too big for one condensed post. Just when I think that I've learned everything that there is to know about George Montgomery, I stumble across another incredible find!
An Unusual Name Leads to the Discovery of Kissin’ Cousins
One of the first family lines that I was able to research and work my way through was my paternal grandfather's mother's line. My great-grandmother was named Irene Lucile Stephens (b. 1909 d. 1996). I have memories of visiting her at her house when I was little.
When ThruLines tells you one thing, but the records tell you another
Right around the time that I first started doing genealogy, Ancestry introduced ThruLines . I can not reiterate enough that I have never attempted genealogy without DNA and I have never confirmed DNA findings without paper genealogy.