Category: 52 Ancestors
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Sixteen Years Old and Brave Beyond Measure: Why I Admire My Great-Aunt Alma
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When I was sixteen, my biggest worries revolved around my high school classes, whether the cute boy outside Moeller High School noticed me, and getting my first job at McDonald’s. My great-aunt Alma Svensson was also sixteen once. But on January 11, 1912, she boarded the S.S. Oscar II in…
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Hello Again: The Genealogist Behind These Stories
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Hello again! As I begin my second year of the #52Ancestors challenge, I wanted to re-introduce myself and share who I am as a genealogist. I’m the researcher behind Our Growing Family Tree, where I’ve spent 25+ years tracing my Irish, Slovak, Polish, and Swedish immigrant ancestors. This genealogy blog…
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Memorable Genealogy Year: A Year of Growth and Discovery
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When I started this year’s #52Ancestors challenge, I knew I was committing to write 52 blog posts about my ancestors. What I didn’t know was how this memorable genealogy year would transform me as a genealogist, writer, researcher, and storyteller. From finally discovering what happened to my great-grandmother Julia Knysz…
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My Genealogy Year in Review: A Musical Journey
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My 2025 wasn’t about musical ancestors—it was a symphony of genealogical discovery. From my fifth year at virtual RootsTech to my first in-person NGS conference, from confirming two sets of Pennsylvania twins to piecing together Irish Brooklyn networks, from Swedish language barriers to AI transcription tools, this genealogy year in…
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From Battlefields to Family Tables: Heirlooms of the Heart
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Family heirlooms tell love stories that transcend time. George Dubinsky’s solid wood military footlocker journeyed from battlefields—Fort Davis in the Canal Zone (1936), the Pacific Theater (1941-1944)—to family tables, eventually carrying his daughter to summer camp in 1959. Eva’s W.S. George “Flower Rim” china transformed from wedding gift to beloved…
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Letters Home: Voices From the Edge of War
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In summer and fall 1941, two Slovak-American brothers wrote letters home before Pearl Harbor changed everything. Steve Marcisak, stationed at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii, penned cheerful descriptions in Slovak about company picnics, swimming, and rifle practice. His younger brother Paul, training with the Marines at Parris Island, wrote of his…
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Family Cooking Memories That Last a Lifetime
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Family cooking memories last a lifetime—the good ones, the disasters, and everything in between. As we just celebrated Thanksgiving, I was reminded how gathering around shared meals connects us to those who came before. My childhood memories revolve around Mom’s special stuffing and breakfast casserole, dishes that define our holidays.…
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Same Name Genealogy Challenge: Four Generations Deep
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The same name genealogy challenge becomes exponentially harder when four generations carry identical names. Four William Dowlings span my family tree, each reflecting vastly different American experiences. The Irish immigrant William (1839-1893) built a Brooklyn dry goods empire from a peddler’s cart. His son William F. (1866-1917) never married, channeling…
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Three Men at War, One Family Keeping Hope Alive
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During World War II, one Brooklyn family’s mailbox became an unexpected archive of wartime experience. Anna and Vasil Marcisak didn’t receive letters from just one soldier—they received three. Two sons and a future son-in-law, scattered across two theaters of war, all writing to the same address. Steve Marcisak became a…
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Four Sets of Twins: Two Families, Remarkable Stories, and Missing Records
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Four sets of twins across two family lines—maternal great-grandmother Anna Hurkala Marcisak and paternal 2x great-grandmother Julia Clarke Smith. I can prove three sets: Bernard and James Plunkett (Brooklyn, 1851), Eva and Adam Marcisak (1911), and Paul and Pauline Marcisak (1922). But the fourth set remains lost in that seven-year…