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
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
Genealogy and a family trip have made the sacrifices of members of the military and their families more real for me. I was tasked from the prompt at the end of this essay to write about how finding out something about an ancestor had changed how I view that ancestor. I’m deviating from the script… Continue reading Walking a Mile in My Ancestors’ Combat Boots
