Tag Archives: Theme: 52 Ancestors

Week 43 Prompt: Transportation This week’s 52 Ancestors theme is”Transportation.” As I mentioned in my post two weeks ago, I have been focused on researching social history to put my ancestors in context based on time and place. In that post I shared several general references for learning about the times in which our ancestors lived. Last week, I spent a great deal of time working on understanding a particular immigrant family’s voyage from Germany to the US. I came across some great references related to the voyage and transportation […]

Week 42 Prompt: Adventure This week’s 52 Ancestors theme is”Adventure.” I remembered that back in 2013, I put together a short timeline presentation of my genealogical journey from 2007 to 2013. I thought I’d take a moment to make some quick changes to that (to make it current) and post it here as my “adventure” thus far. My Genealogy Journey Thus Far

Week 41 Prompt: Context This week’s 52 Ancestors theme is”Context.” This is one thing I have been focusing on lately—putting my ancestors in context based on the history of the time and place. I thought I’d share a few reference books I’ve come across. Some I have read, some I’ve read only partially, and the others are on my to-read list. Many of these were recommended by other genealogists. I’ve only included those that are mostly general in nature and tried to group them by time period.

Week 40 Prompt: Harvest This week’s 52 Ancestors theme is”Harvest.” It’s that time of year, where the leaves begin to change color, the weather cools, and the fields are harvested. While I do have a good deal of farming families that experienced a fall harvest, I decided to talk about a different kind of harvest—that is data harvesting.

Week 39 Prompt: Map It Out This week’s 52 Ancestors theme is”Map It Out.” I love maps. Many years ago when I was working on my Michigan families, I decided to create a Google Map to pinpoint various locations, such as land owned, residences, and cemeteries. This particular map focuses on my Oakland County, Michigan, families (although I have family all over Michigan). I outlined the townships in green, and used blue to represent my Webster line, and red to represent my Parks line. It’s been awhile since I’ve worked […]

Week 38 Prompt: Cousins This week’s 52 Ancestors theme is”Cousins.” Growing up, there were a few family members that I referred to as aunts and uncles. I never really gave it much thought—until I started doing genealogy, that is. Turns out, some of these aunts and uncles are technically cousins (and some aren’t related at all!). For example, my “Aunt” Shirley. Technically, she is my mom’s first cousin, making Shirley my first cousin once removed. And my “Uncle” Bob, well he’s my dad’s first cousin, making him my first cousin […]

Week 37 Prompt: Mistake This week’s 52 Ancestors theme is”Mistake.” This post isn’t focused on a particular individual or family. Instead, it’s related to genealogy in general, and how a mistake I made early on cost me valuable time and energy. Back when I started doing genealogy (over ten years ago), I really didn’t know what I was doing. I had a research background, but genealogy research was certainly different. I knew I needed to keep track of what I was finding, and I downloaded a copy of Personal Ancestral […]

Week 36 Prompt: School Days This week’s 52 Ancestors theme is”School Days.” Last week, many of my genealogy friends were busy posting their yearbook photos on Facebook because Ancestry was offering their yearbook collection for free (likely a back-to-school promo). So with this week’s prompt being school days, I figured I’d look for family members in the yearbooks available in the Ancestry collection (gratefully, mine are not there!). I’ve found all of my dad’s and mom’s high school photos, three of my uncle’s high school photos, and one of my […]