Dead men tell no tales, but when those left behind do—a fellow family historian reminds us—their stories often reveal more than any records. This week I read a very moving piece by a fellow family history researcher. I have enjoyed many of Paul Chiddicks’ posts on Substack. He is also a columnist for Family Tree… Continue reading Living to Tell the Tale
Newspaper clippings can reveal a lot about an ancestor. Maybe too much. In the years I've been researching family history, I have found that my subscription to Newspapers.com has been a valuable resource, primarily in locating obituaries of ancestors. Obituaries can be extremely helpful in finding out detailed information about the decedent, of course. But… Continue reading I Read the News Today. Oh Boy!
What if one could actually speak with a dead ancestor? I remember first “discovering” my 5th great-grandfather Michael Antoine Garoutte (1750-1829). I had known for some time that my ethnic background was almost exclusively Scots-Irish, with the exception of a maternal line traced to Germany. Discovering this direct link to France, through Michael Garoutte, came… Continue reading The Specter of My 5th Great-Grandfather
