One Girl’s Childhood During the Great Depression
Here are memories of life on an Illinois farm, as recalled by...
Happening Now
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Ancestry for Free: Genealogy Research Sites That Don’t Cost a Dime
Can you really research your ancestry for free? Yes you can! Most...
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Family History Centers: Billions of Genealogical Records Are Closer Than You Think
Many of us have dreamed of making our way to the amazing...
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One Girl’s Childhood During the Great Depression
Here are memories of life on an Illinois farm, as recalled by my mother, Adra Erickson Wallin (1922-2010)… “I was born at home (all four of us were), at the farm at Barbers Corner on August 18, 1922, at six in the morning. A nurse and a doctor came—Dr. Ludwig—but... -
The Fourteen Garvers of Clare County, Michigan
I grew up with one brother and one sister—a typical 50s family. My mother-in-law, however, grew up in a different world—she shared her childhood with five sisters and eight brothers. Walter Garver and Hazel Alwood were married in Clare County, Michigan in 1914. Over the next 25 years, they had... -
What Happened to Ethel May Fazenbaker Murphy?
Thank you to Shelly Johnson for sharing this story with us. Whatever happened to Ethel May Fazenbaker Murphy? Growing up I had always heard about Ethel Murphy, mother to my great grandmother Frances May Catherine Murphy Fazenbaker Knepp. When I started doing genealogy about twenty five years ago I asked... -
The Two Wives of Thomas Garver
My husband’s great-grandfather Charles Garver had a brother, Thomas, who married two sisters—Mary Ann and Ellen Heilman. Thomas Garver (1850-1902) was farmer in Defiance County, Ohio. According to notes taken by his great-granddaughter Ruth Marie Burkhart in 1943 for a school project, he had a sideline as well. She wrote,... -
Double Wedding Ring: The Story of Rhoda Wyatt
Last year I spent some time researching the family history of my sister-in-law Susie. Along we way we discovered some memorable stories, including that of Rhoda Wyatt (1830-1910). Susie’s great-great-great-grandfather was William Wyatt (1799-1867), a landowner in Somerset, England in the 1800s. He had seven children with his first wife,... -
Chasing Rabbit Trails
Spring is in the air and lazy days of summer are in the immediate future. My thoughts wander as I view fresh flowers sprouting and buds appearing on the trees. In genealogy lessons, instructions are to create a research plan, stay focused and be diligent. While I agree, when spring... -
For the Love of Norman
I was married for the first time in 2007 at age 51, to a wonderful man. His father, Norman, walked me down the aisle that day, since my father had died many years before. As I got to know Norman, I was intrigued by the story of his mother, Eliza... -
My Twisted Search for Absalom Craddock Watkins
Thank you to J. Lee Simons for sharing this story with us. My mother’s maiden name is Watkins. One of her second-great-grandfathers is Absalom Craddock Watkins, who first shows up on public record in the 1820 Census of Bond Co., IL. With him is his wife Mary “Polly” Little, and... -
The End at the Inn: My Griner Ancestors and the Mysterious Death of Merriwether Lewis
Robert Evans Griner (1767_1827) eloped with Priscilla Knight (1774-1848). They migrated to what they thought was north of Duck River near Hickman County Tennessee that in those days was the border of lands of the Native American Chickasaw Nation, and there they built a cabin. The United States Army troops... -
Grandma Wallin: Ahead of Her Time
My paternal grandmother was Sara Elizabeth Peterson Wallin. It was Grandma Wallin who gave me my love of genealogy (and some of my Swedish genes). Grandma was born in Nebraska on November 8, 1894 and died nearly 100 years later, in 1986. She grew up at a time when girls,...
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One Girl’s Childhood During the Great Depression
Here are memories of life on an Illinois farm, as... -
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LitvakSIG is Participating in the 33rd Annual IAJGS Conference
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Ancestry for Free: Genealogy Research Sites That Don’t Cost a Dime
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The End at the Inn: My Griner Ancestors and the Mysterious Death of Merriwether Lewis
Robert Evans Griner (1767_1827) eloped with Priscilla Knight (1774-1848). They... -
Grandma Wallin: Ahead of Her Time
My paternal grandmother was Sara Elizabeth Peterson Wallin. It was... -
Charles Anderson, Boatman and Black Sheep
“The grandson wants to remember what the father wished to...
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