Category: 52 Ancestors
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Forged by Mystery: How Childhood Playtime Shaped My Genealogy Obsession
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I blame Nancy Drew. And Encyclopedia Brown. And every cryptic puzzle in Martin Gardner’s Codes, Ciphers and Secret Writing. Growing up in the mid-1970s, I devoured mystery books like other kids consumed Saturday morning cartoons. When I finally graduated to adult mysteries, Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot taught me that the…
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When Shakespeare Couldn’t Save My Family’s Money
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When I discovered newspaper clippings about my Irish ancestors’ encounters with Brooklyn’s legal system in the 1860s and 1870s, I uncovered stories that reveal the harsh realities of immigrant life. My 2x great-grandparents William and Ellen Dowling became victims of a robbery when someone they trusted stole $55 hidden in…
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From Wide Open Spaces to New American Lives
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The story of American immigration is fundamentally a story about sky—trading the endless horizons of rural homelands for narrow urban canyons and industrial smoke. Between the 1840s and 1920s, five families made profound journeys from Europe’s most open landscapes to America’s most crowded neighborhoods and industrial centers. From County Kerry’s…
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William Dowling: A Young Listowel Lad in New York
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When I think about my earliest documented ancestor, my mind travels across an ocean and back in time to a young man making his way from the hills of County Kerry to the bustling port of Liverpool, England, in 1857. William Dowling, born around 1838, presumably in Listowel, County Kerry,…
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Sacred Traditions – The Byzantine Catholic Faith of My Ancestors
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Discover the rich Byzantine Catholic traditions of my Slovak and Polish ancestors, from sacred sacraments to holiday customs. A personal journey through immigrant faith practices that preserved ancient Eastern Christian heritage while adapting to American life in the early 1900s.
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Cousins: 3 Lessons From My Most Surprising DNA Matches
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Discover 3 essential lessons from surprising DNA cousin matches, including a dramatic phone call revelation and Swedish family tree connections.
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Ships, Dreams, and New Worlds: Three Generations of Family Immigration
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iscover how Irish, Slovak, Polish, and Swedish families journeyed to America from the 1850s-1920s. Explore passenger records, settlement patterns, and immigration stories across three generations.
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From Scraps to Success: Peter Plunkett’s Paper Business
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#52Ancestors Week 27 – Family Business Sometimes the most remarkable family stories hide behind the simplest occupations listed in census records. When I first discovered my paternal 2x great-grandfather Peter Plunkett in the 1860 census, listed as a “junk dealer,” I never imagined the entrepreneurial journey that single entry represented.…
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Two Anastasias, One Powerful Legacy: When a Name Means “Resurrection”
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Discover two great-great-grandmothers named Anastasia who lived under Austrian rule in the 1800s. Both carried a name meaning ‘resurrection’ – one emigrated from Slovakia to Pennsylvania, the other died young in Polish Galicia. Their shared name connects across time and tragedy.
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The Ultimate FAN Club: When Family Becomes Everything
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Week 25 of #52Ancestors Challenge: FAN Club When Elizabeth Shown Mills coined the term “FAN Club” – Friends, Associates & Neighbors – she gave genealogists a powerful research strategy. But I’d like to expand that definition slightly to include both Friends AND Family, Associates & Neighbors, because family networks often…