Roots & Rabbit Holes

“Fire! Fire! Get out, quick!” November 29, 1929 was a bitterly cold and icy night in Westbrook, but five-year old Phil, his parents, and...

Week 37 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Tombstone.”   Childhood mortality was much higher in the past, but just because it...

The topic for week 36 of 2024’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “We Don’t Talk About It.”   When we covered the Civil War in...

Week 35 of 2024’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “All Mixed Up.” Alex’s great-grandfather, Leyba, was hauled in by the police...

Week 34 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Member of the Club.”  Two of my great-grandmother’s sisters were members of a club...

Week 33 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Favorite Discovery.”  This is one of my favorite discoveries from this year.   At...

Week 32 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is "Free Space." I've been busy transcribing letters and postcards. This is one...

Week 30 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Boats.” My grandfather Fred had a strange sense of humor. Fishing with his boys was...

Week 28 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Trains.”  Having already written about all of my known railroading ancestors, Alex...

Week 27 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Planes.” In 1993 when Alex was 18, he and his parents emigrated from Russia. ...

Week 26 of 2024’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Family Gathering.” “Soup Day” was my favorite day of the week.  The family...

The prompt for Week 25 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Storyteller.”  While I don’t have an ancestor who was a storyteller,...

My great-grandmother Blanche’s sister, Rose, was a strong believer in love and marriage…so much so that she married four times!  “Love...

“Step” is the theme for Week 16 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. In 1874 when my great-great grandfather Eugene Jenness Ladd...

Today, April 8, 2024, we’re expecting a total solar eclipse.  Back in 1932 when Grampy Phil was eight years old, there was also a total...

The “Bridge Street bums” – those who attended Bridge Street School in Westbrook– went on occasional field trips to the movies, the beach,...

Week 14 of 2024's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is "Favorite Recipe." My mom, Linda, came across this recipe for ginger cookies...

I recently found some church records on Ancestry for my Wolf family that offered up some unknown details about my immigrant ancestors,...

There are pros and cons to AI, but in general, I’m excited about its potential applications in genealogy.  From MyHeritage’s use of...

Week 11 of 2024’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Achievement.” While no one can say for sure that the time Sol Shaw shot his...