Category: Ancestor Stories
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RootsTech 2026 Day 2: Five Advanced Sessions and One Very Tired Brain
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RootsTech 2026 Day 2 was a full day — and a heavy one. Seven sessions, most of them Advanced/Professional level, plus a running battle with the session calendar to figure out what to watch now, what to move to replay, and what to add to the wish list for next…
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She Lost Two Children, Then Crossed an Ocean to Build a New Life
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In January 1885, Anastasia Hlinka buried her first child in the village of Litmanova, Slovakia. Maria Hurkala lived seventeen days. Nine years later, Anastasia buried a second child, Petrus, at seventeen months old. And then she crossed an ocean to build a new life — not in a dramatic moment…
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When Your Mom & Dad Disagree: Conflicting Evidence in Genealogy
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Two naturalization papers. The same daughter. Two completely different birthdays. When my great-grandfather Vasil Marcisak filed his Petition for Naturalization in 1935, he listed his daughter Eva’s birth date as March 4, 1911. Eight years later, Eva’s mother Anna filed her own petition and recorded May 15, 1911. One of…
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Why Attending RootsTech 2026 Virtually Is the Right Move Right Now
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Six years ago, I started attending RootsTech virtually. I haven’t looked back. With nearly 300 sessions completed, I’ve learned that virtual attendance isn’t a consolation prize — it’s a legitimate, powerful way to engage with the world’s largest genealogy conference. This year, attending RootsTech 2026 virtually is my deliberate, strategic…
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From Leluchów With Love: Andreas Knysz and Paraskevia Kowalski
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Andreas Knysz and Paraskevia Kowalski were born in the same small mountain village in what is now southern Poland, married there in 1868, and raised three daughters there. As far as the records show, they never left. Andreas died in 1873 at just twenty-eight years old, leaving Paraskevia a widow…
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They Were Standing on the Edge… and Never Knew It
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Ola Andersson and Hanna Persdotter were standing on the edge of a major shift in their family, but had no idea it was coming. When Ola died in 1915 in Wånga, Sweden, all his grandchildren lived nearby. When Hanna died in 1926, she believed only two had left for America.…
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One Address, Eight Census Records, 45 Years of Family Survival
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Tracking a family through census records from 1905-1950 reveals survival strategies. Eight NY censuses show how one Brooklyn family adapted across generations.
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Season of Change: How Basilius and Maria Lost Their World
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History follows the travelers, the ones who pack trunks and board ships. But for Basilius Marcisak and Maria Gladis of Litmanova, the most profound season of change involved staying exactly where they were while their world migrated away from them. Between 1872 and 1895, they buried five children in the…
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My Favorite Family Photograph (For Now)
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How do you choose a favorite family photograph from a collection of 130 images? I picked the one whose story I know best. This is my grandmother Eva Marcisak on June 18, 1945, at the Exchange Tavern in New York City. She had just said goodbye to George Dubinsky at…
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What Did Two Irish Immigrants Endure to Build a Better Life in America?
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This Irish immigrant story follows William and Ellen Dowling from Listowel, County Kerry to Brooklyn, New York in 1857. As teenagers traveling in steerage, they carried something that set them apart: literacy. By mid-century, Irish literacy rates had climbed to seventy-five percent, and this education shaped their American future. They…