Tag Archives: Theme: 52 Ancestors

Week 13 Prompt: In the Paper This week’s 52 Ancestors theme is “In the Paper.” I love newspapers and I blog about my finds often. Here are two related newspaper items about my dad, that I haven’t yet posted. I remember that trophy, but like other mementos, it’s been discarded. Fortunately, I still have these clippings!

Week 12 Prompt: 12 This week’s 52 Ancestors theme is the number 12. My brain went to the year 1912, and I was curious to see who in my family died in 1912.

Week 11 Prompt: Large Family This week’s 52 Ancestors theme is “Large Family.”Coming from lines where the recent generations were small families, a “large family” to me is anything over three children! But I digress. When I saw this prompt, I immediately thought of one of my collateral families that I work with quite frequently. Since this is Week 11 of the challenge, the fact that this family consisted of 11 children is fitting.

Week 10 Prompt: Bachelor Uncle This week’s 52 Ancestors theme is “Bachelor Uncle.” My great-granduncle Joseph Webster Garrison holds a special place in my heart. Even though I didn’t know him, it was because of him that I learned about my eligibility for the Daughters of the American Revolution, as he was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. I am fortunate to have an SAR membership card for him among my family papers. With that in hand, I was able to get a copy of his SAR […]

Week 9 Prompt: At the Courthouse This week’s 52 Ancestors theme is “At the Courthouse.” I have various court-related events among my family. But one in particular has always made me wonder…why? My second great-grandparents Timothy McMahon and Sarah Jane Ward were both living in Chicago, but decided to get married before a judge in Lake County, Indiana, instead of locally in a church. I believe Lake County may be something akin to a Gretna Green, although I haven’t looked into it in any depth, primarily because nothing in their […]

Week 8 Prompt: Family Photo This week’s 52 Ancestors theme is “family photo.” Here are some of my favorites. Me with My Parents

Week 7 Prompt: Love This week’s 52 Ancestors theme is “love.” I thought it would be interesting to see if anyone in my family married on Valentine’s Day, since that’s tomorrow. As it turns out, I do have relatives that married on that special day.

Week 6 Prompt: Surprise This week’s 52 Ancestors theme is “surprise.” While there have been many surprises in my research (I actually just wrote about one for this series), the biggest and most fascinating surprise was learning that I have Luxembourg roots. I always thought my dad was Irish and English, but as I dug just a few generations back, I learned that my great-grandmother was born to Luxembourg immigrants. Despite the language barrier (German, French, and Latin), and difficult-to-read German script and handwriting, I was also surprised to learn […]