Our Growing Family Tree

Diving Into the Names That Built Our Family Tree

October 21, 2025

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Kirsten M. Max-Douglas

My family tree reads like a passenger manifest from Ellis Island’s busiest years. The Marcisak and Hurkala families fled Slovakia’s mountain villages for Pennsylvania coal towns. The Dubnianski and Knyz families left Polish Galicia behind, though not all found happy endings in America. Swedish ancestors remain partially mysterious—my great-grandfather claimed…
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Unlocking Family Histories: The Power of Cemetery Research

October 19, 2025

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Kirsten M. Max-Douglas

Cemeteries hold a special place in every genealogist’s heart, preserving not just our ancestors’ remains but their stories carved in stone. From Brooklyn’s Holy Cross Cemetery to Queens’ Calvary Cemetery to Pennsylvania’s Byzantine Catholic burial grounds, multiple branches of my family tree found their final resting places in three states.…
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Finding the Lost Daughter: The Search for Letitia Plunkett

October 6, 2025

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Kirsten M. Max-Douglas

Every genealogist has that one ancestor who simply vanishes from the records. For me, it was Letitia B. Plunkett—my great-great-grandfather’s youngest daughter. I had census records showing her as a child and young woman in Brooklyn, and then nothing. She seemed to disappear into thin air after 1910. But people…
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Advanced City Directory Research: Professional Genealogy Methods

September 27, 2025

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Kirsten M. Max-Douglas

City directories are one of the most powerful yet overlooked genealogical tools. Unlike census records, they provide yearly snapshots that capture where ancestors lived, how they worked, and how their lives changed over time. In this article, I explore advanced strategies for using directories effectively—from browsing images instead of relying…
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In the News: David Sten’s American Life Through Newspaper Headlines

September 14, 2025

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Kirsten M. Max-Douglas

When Swedish immigrant David Svensson Sten arrived in America in 1926, he probably never imagined his life would be so thoroughly documented in local newspapers. Over 29 newspaper mentions spanning 1939-1960 reveal how deeply he integrated into his Delaware community. From a dramatic 1939 car accident that made multiple headlines…
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Education: It’s More Than Just a Report Card

September 7, 2025

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Kirsten M. Max-Douglas

When I examine my family’s educational history, I see more than report cards and diplomas—I witness the dramatic transformation of American education itself. From Slovak and Polish great-grandparents who couldn’t read to siblings with master’s degrees, our four-generation journey mirrors America’s evolving commitment to universal education. In the 1870s, students…
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Hidden in Plain Sight: The City Directory Advantage

September 6, 2025

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Kirsten M. Max-Douglas

City directories offer genealogical gold beyond census records, providing annual snapshots of ancestors’ working lives from the 1800s through 1930s. These published guides documented not just occupations and addresses, but revealed family relationships, economic mobility, and neighborhood connections that census records often missed. My great-great-grandfather William Dowling’s progression from peddler…
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Forged by Mystery: How Childhood Playtime Shaped My Genealogy Obsession

August 25, 2025

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Kirsten M. Max-Douglas

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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