Roots & Rabbit Holes

Week 13’s theme for the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Light a Candle.” My mother-in-law very kindly remembered my grandfather...

Sometimes when I’m building my tree, I’ll come across a well-documented line that goes back pretty far. In my excitement, I add the...

Back in 1909, my great-grandfather, Stanley Turner, was knocked out, robbed, garroted, and left for dead. Week 11’s theme of the 52...

The topic for week 10 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is Translation, and there is a mountain of pictures, documents, and...

Week 9 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is Gone Too Soon. My favorite census is the 1900 United States Census because of two...

The topic for Week 8 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is I Can Identify. My third great-grandfather, Charles Henry Turner, was...

The theme for Week 7 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is Outcast. My husband, who is ethnically a Jew, said I should write...

It’s week 6 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge, and this week’s topic is Social Media. People often have a love-hate relationship...

Oops is the theme for Week 5 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge, and I have a story for you! It’s about two young pranksters who...

Week 4 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge is Education. My grandmother, Constance Meloche, grew up in Montreal where she was the...

Well, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) I really wanna know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) Tell me, who are you? ...

Week 2 for 2023’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge is Favorite Photo, which is always a fun theme, though it’s hard to narrow it down...

Welcome to a brand-new year of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge! This week’s topic is a fun one: I’d Like to Meet. The trouble,...

I can’t believe it’s the final week of 2022’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge, and I actually followed through with it! Because I...

Week 51 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge is Perseverance, a topic that makes me think about some of my first ancestors to settle...

Week 50 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge is Traditions. One of my favorite family memories and traditions is “Pony Boy” with...

Week 49 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge is New Horizons. When I think about my immigrant ancestors, I imagine their perilous...

Overlooking an ancestor here or there is a common occurrence in genealogy, especially when it’s a collateral ancestor and not someone in...

Grampy Phil relished sharing the tale of his Uncle Joe Laviolette, who was a bootlegger. Uncle Joe was my great-grandfather William’s...

For week 46 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge, we’re exploring the topic of Tombstones. Tombstones, headstones, gravestones –...