Sometimes, families have traditions that involve career paths. Whether it is a family business or children following in their mother’s or father’s career footsteps, careers that have a family connection can bring together people from different generations in the workplace. While I have no experience with family – related career traditions, I can only imagine that it makes for a very interesting experience, for better or for worse. Today, I saw a very interesting program on PBS about Mohawk ironworkers. Since the Mohawk are a First Nations people, they have tribal as well as nuclear family connections. One group of … Continue reading →

Last week, my sister got married. It was an incredible event, complete with a sunset cruise on a beautiful schooner. I am very happy for my sister and her husband, and I really enjoyed visiting with them and meeting his family for the first time. As is the case with any wedding, the uniting of two families brings about family history related discussion aplenty. One discussion that I remember has to do with kinship terms, more specifically how the two totally adorable ring bearers are now related as a result of the wedding. One of the ring bearers is my … Continue reading →

Take a close look at the oldest family photos that you have. Or, walk into an antique store and browse through some really old photos. Why aren’t these people smiling? There are some really good reasons why they looked so serious in photos. Today, you can take your family to JC Penney, or Sears, or a number of other places, and have a family portrait taken. The photographer is going to encourage your family members to smile. You will probably be instructed to “Say cheese!” It is difficult to say the word “cheese” without smiling. It takes a second (or … Continue reading →

It’s pretty amazing what genealogists from Ancestry.com can dig up. It seems like they are always finding connections in the family trees of unexpected people. This time, they found that actor George Clooney and former President Abraham Lincoln are related to each other. Ancestry.com is one of the biggest genealogy websites. The site is frequently updated with new records and archives. They have a blog that updates at least once a week. They produce one or two live webinars every week. Somehow, the genealogists who work for Ancestry.com still find the time to dig up unexpected connections in the family … Continue reading →

This political season, many Americans have learned the party preferences of their relatives, (whether they wanted to or not). The knowledge may have sparked genealogists’ interest in learning if their ancestors favored elephants or donkeys. Ancestry.com has tips on how to find out. For many people, Facebook has become increasing more volatile as the 2012 Presidential Election progressed. Some of my relatives posted, (or, I should say, reposted), images with words on them that were of a political nature and that contained information that was not factual. My relatives who chose to broadcast their political views this way were not … Continue reading →

As if the timing of Hurricane Sandy wasn’t spooky enough, the damage from the storm led to an eerie discovery in New Haven, Connecticut. Downed trees are par for the course during any hurricane. Even trees that have firmly stood their ground for a hundred years or more can sometimes topple if they are dying, weak, or even if the wind hits them just the right way. That is exactly what happened in New Haven, right on the green downtown. A giant oak tree that had been standing there since the early 1900’s fell down, revealing human remains just in … Continue reading →

It has just occurred to me that by this time next week, there will be several additions to the group of people whom I refer to as “family”. My little sister is getting married, and since she lives in Florida we get to go there for the celebration. I am excited to see her and to make the trip there with my family. While I have met my sister’s fiancé, I have never met any of his family. This will be the first time that I meet them. There’s no time like a wedding to dust off your knowledge of … Continue reading →

Is there a black sheep ancestor somewhere in your family tree? If so, you are probably curious about some of the stories that have been handed down over the years. How much truth is there in what you have heard, and how much has been embellished or covered over? Perhaps your family prefers to let sleeping ghosts lie – until you discover interesting details while conducting what you thought was a routine check of the census records. Researching or discovering a black sheep ancestor can be fascinating, yet it can be very difficult for you and for your family. When … Continue reading →

Parents give a lot of thought to the name that they will give their children. Typically, a child will be given a first name, a middle name, and a surname (which may or may not contain a hyphen). Celebrities tend to give their children unusual names. Uma Thurman gave her daughter seven names. In many families, there are certain names that are handed down from one generation to another. In my family, we have a lot of people, on both sides of the family tree, who are named James. It is common for new parents to name their baby after … Continue reading →