Top Five Surprises
Over 40 years of researching my family history, the top five most significant surprises has been learning… Continue reading Top Five Surprises
Category: Family
My Maternal Grandfather
Aside from being a national holiday, the Fourth of July is extra special for my family. It’s the shared birthday of my maternal grandfather, James Monroe Dobbs, Jr., and his father, James Monroe, Sr. Here is an excerpt from Gathering More Leaves, Part I: Chapter One It came like a long-forgotten letter finally delivered. In the spring of 2022, when the U.S. government released the … Continue reading My Maternal Grandfather
Solving Mysteries with Google Lens
While browsing the internet, I have on two occasions come across portrait paintings that are presented as depictions of my ancestors. On one occasion, I discovered an image on Ancestry.com that another researcher was using as a profile portrait for our shared ancestor, Evan Prothro. My initial inclination was to simply copy this image and use it as the profile picture for my mother’s 2X … Continue reading Solving Mysteries with Google Lens
Finding Eldad Parts 1 & 2
Here is a video series I created discussing using my brother’s DNA to help us find more ancestors, aiming to uncover the rich tapestry of our family history. Throughout the episodes, I delve into the process of analyzing genetic information and how it can shed light on connections that were previously hidden to us. Additionally, I excitedly share the remarkable story of how I discovered … Continue reading Finding Eldad Parts 1 & 2
More Patriots Discovered
I’ve discovered two more ancestors who answered the alarm two hundred and fifty years ago on April 19, 1775. This makes four patriots on my father’s side of the family who took to the field during the Battles of Lexington and Concord. I will provide more details on how I found them later, but as a matter of introduction, I present them here: Samuel Stearns … Continue reading More Patriots Discovered
Remembering Patriots: Seven Ancestors Who Fought in the American Revolution
Introduction On this Memorial Day, we gather not only to honor the fallen but also to resurrect the forgotten. Allow me to present seven of my ancestors who served in the military during the American Revolution. These are not the names etched in marble nor the grand heroes celebrated in epic ballads. Nope, these are just some of the ordinary men who overnight went from … Continue reading Remembering Patriots: Seven Ancestors Who Fought in the American Revolution
More O’Malley
I have discovered more information about my O’Malley family in Minnesota. I found the source for the marriage record of my great, great-grandparents, I learned that Martin O’Malley died because of an accident, and I found a first hand account of the Dakota war from a resident of Mower County. In an earlier post, I mentioned that I had documented the marriage of Martin O’Malley … Continue reading More O’Malley
Typical (Irish) Immigrants!
One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. However, when it comes to slot machines and genealogy, repeating the same actions can sometimes lead to surprising and rewarding outcomes. That’s why, every year around St. Patrick’s Day, I visit Ancestry.com to continue searching for my Irish ancestors. On my father’s side, the O’Malley family settled in … Continue reading Typical (Irish) Immigrants!
The Winthrop Society
Being the extreme introvert that I am, I am not a joiner of societies, associations, or clubs, yet considering that I am a descendent of “one or more passengers of the Winthrop fleet, or of others who settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony on or before 31 December 1640,” I thought I might apply to join an organization called The Winthrop Society. Being the extreme … Continue reading The Winthrop Society
Politics as Usual
As the old saying goes, there is nothing new under the sun. We like to think of voter fraud and accusations of stolen elections as modern grievances, but in truth, America has a long and sometimes bizarre history with such claims. Back in the late 1860s, as the dust of the Civil War was still settling, Democrats in the former Confederate states found themselves largely … Continue reading Politics as Usual
Gathering Leaves 