Cherry Tree Genealogy

04/17/2026

This post made me laugh - one of my lectures even addresses the urban legend that immigrants' last names were changed at Ellis Island. The place where so many people first set foot on U.S. soil certainly deserves recognition!

Today is National Ellis Island Family History Day where they processed the most people ever in one day - 11, 747 people in 1907.

And not a single one of them had their name changed against their will! Not one!

Cue the angry and uninformed comments in 3....2....1....😁

03/24/2026

Book recommendation! If you like genealogy, family history, or historical fiction, check out "Elizabeth Street" - the not-so-fictional story of author Laurie Fabiano's Italian ancestors who settled in New York City in the early 1900s. It was a fascinating read!

03/06/2026

It's RootsTech time! There's no other genealogy conference quite like it. No matter how long I've been researching, there are always new techniques and technologies to learn about and Day 1 has been full of terrific information!

02/14/2026

Happy Valentine's Day - I can't think of a better time to review some marriage records! 💕

02/10/2026

I was honored to be the featured speaker for the Temecula Valley Genealogical Society monthly meeting tonight! My next few talks will be in-person events, but I do appreciate the way Zoom and other technologies help us connect even from across the country.

Temecula Valley Genealogical Society

01/01/2026

Many thanks to all of you who helped make 2025 the best year yet for Cherry Tree Genealogy! I had the privilege of speaking for new organizations, researching new families in new places, exploring all kinds of DNA connections, and even making a little bit of time to work on my own projects. As 2026 begins, I'll be taking some time off from family tree research projects to focus on creating a few new lecture programs, but I plan to be writing again by springtime (so if you've been wanting to learn more about your family history, don't worry, I'll be back at it before you know it!). Here's to the new year - may it be full of discoveries for us all!

12/24/2025

With Hanukkah last week, Christmas Day tomorrow, and the new year right around the corner, we may find ourselves honoring our ancestry without even realizing it when we keep family traditions alive! I baked sugar cookies with my children yesterday using my grandmother's recipe, and we keep a bowl of walnuts out at Christmastime like my husband's great-grandmother did. What family traditions do you incorporate into your home at the holidays?

11/28/2025

The Black Friday sales are on - if you're looking for genealogy discounts, now's the time to shop around!

11/11/2025

Seriously though, happy Veterans Day to all the men and women who've served our country! I'm grateful for my veteran ancestors (and not just because they left extra documentation for me to find 😉).

🤣

11/07/2025

Find out more about the American veterans in your family tree this weekend!

Honor the veterans in your life. Discover their story with FREE ACCESS* to all WWI and WWII records through November 16. Explore enlistment records, draft cards, war diaries, photo collections, and more! https://f3.social/veterans

*Free registration required

10/14/2025

Getting all set up for my lecture for the Fearrington Village Genealogy group - happy Family History month! 🌳

09/19/2025

You might be a genealogist if... one day you're finding folks in the records from rural Mississippi, and the next you're digging through DNA matches from 19th century Italy!