Ancestral Family

01/08/2025

A broad newspaper search yield illusive family details that a direct search approach didn't. I found that by searching a location in a tiered strategy provided some interesting stories. I was also delighted that one such story about the Indian Famine Relief Fund in 1900 including my family members, as well as their school teacher. The school teacher turned out to be my Great Grandmother, Elizabeth F. (Hearn) Latimer. Her nickname "Libbie" was listed along with a very different spelling of her surname (correct Latimer - listed Lattemoore). Have you given this a try as yet?

02/17/2024

Tracking ancestral families by newspaper clippings: newspaper clippings can help connect family members, such as in this case where they owned and captained shipping vessels. Newspapers reported ships arriving and departing, along with who was sailing them at the time. They also provide more of that person's story of what they were transporting, when and where. They sometimes share harrowing stories such as storms; and in some cases, shipwrecks or disasters.

11/16/2022

A FAMILY BIBLE HEIRLOOM DISCOVERED: On a visit to photograph an old family homestead, a very thoughtful caretaker shared a wonderful surprise. He had retained the old family bible, dated back to 1888, in the hope that a family member might contact him one day so that he could place the bible where it belonged. That day came in the summer of 2022 on a trip to photograph the old homestead. It was an honor to present that family hierloom to one of the relatives.

11/16/2022

Welcome. Glad you're visiting, it means you're probably on a journey to discover your ancestors and learn more about their lives and times. I hope you do, it's a journey that is incredibly rewarding.

12/22/2021

Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season and a new year full of ancestral discoveries.

11/03/2021

There are always so many stories to tell - every ancestor has a story. This Ancestral Family Legacy Library is providing descendants with a wonderful array of family stories across centuries and geography. Within this library are ancestors spanning everything from knights in England, passengers on the historic Mayflower voyage, pioneers, indian interpreters, inventors in every century, ship captains, military men, brokers, merchants, tavern keepers, lawyers, accountants, engineers, masons & farmers - well, you name it - it spans "at least one of everything" - including owning your own island in Maine.

11/03/2021

Gone, but not forgotten: Sometimes people aren’t recognized for their achievement during their lifetime. When you start researching ancestors you may find an occupation that’s interesting to you and requires further investigation. One such example is that of John Wyatt an Inventor in Liverpool, England (1700-1766). Because the patent for his invention was taken out in his partner’s name only, he was never credited with a significant historical invention. In 1835, Sir Edward Baines, Historian and Member of Parliament decided to “give credit where credit was due.” In his book “History of Cotton Manufacturer”, published in 1835 he provided the proof and set the record straight that it was John Wyatt’s genius that sparked the start of the textile industrial revolution by inventing the spinning of yarn using a device. And now through genealogy discoveries his descendants can honor and share in his achievement. When you start researching, you may also find that ancestor’s achievements are part of museum collections.

06/18/2020

One approach to tracing and documenting your ancestral family history is to focus on specific surnames and their associated families. Is there a question or family tradition you’d like researched?

In Renee’s case, she decided to create a book for each of her paternal and maternal grandparents, with several lines traced back about 400 years. This takes a bit of time, but it’s a very rich history and legacy that she’s providing to her family.

05/31/2020

Great post and chart from FamilySearch about understanding cousin connections - including a calculator tool.

What is a second cousin? What does it mean to be once removed? Use this cousin chart and our simple explanations to answer all your cousin questions.

02/15/2020

Sometimes genealogy takes a different path. I've had the honored opportunity to research and help tell the story of an old farmstead and it's various owners who built, enhanced and preserved it for future generations to come. The "coffee table" book shares the story of the Fessenden Hill Farmstead, it's connected-style architure, it's various owners since 1800 and the loving renovation of it's current owners, Bonny and Lane Greenleaf. A wonderful legacy for Bonny and Lane to share.

09/26/2019

In researching families in census records, we sometimes learn of their occupation - or perhaps it's a family tradition shared if we're lucky. But sometimes luck continues as more is learned beyond the occupation to help tell more of that person's stories. Newspapers are a great source - as well as travel manifests. Renee's ancestor sailed across the Atlantic on a ship captained by A. J. Smith, of Titanic fame. But, again, as luck would have it, he sailed on the Baltic - before the Titanic was built.

09/26/2019

In Facebook, we get to share what's posted today as "social media". But in our ancestor's times the social media of their day - the newspaper - posted about people's life events. Renee's family was very well published in their day - even vacations were a media event. It's wonderful that they did because it now adds a nice story to their Ancestral Family History book.