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The Christmas Ornaments (reprinted)

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Mystery gift from afar It was an unexpected arrival – and as I strolled back from the mailbox I was full of anticipation at the surprise package from my father. Small, the size of a box full of checks, what on earth could this possibly contain – and why? It was between holidays – right after Thanksgiving and enough “before Christmas” not to be a Christmas gift. I smiled with delight. Packages from home and my parents were always fun. And in this case, somewhat mysterious, given the timing. In the house, I carefully cut through the layers of clear packing tape that encased the box. As I lifted the lid off, there was a note labelled in my father’s unmistakable handwriting: Care Package. Like any kid with a new toy, I laid the note aside (the adult kid did this very carefully) and then I just stared at the contents.    I took another look. Jumbled together in the bottom of the box were not quite a dozen crumpled red and silver foil balls, some with narrow wire sticking from...
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Finding Tidbits

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During a recent presentation I reflected on the different research sources at which we find tidbits of information we might not have expected to find.  One case in point is my ancestor Jonathan Marney. A search for Jonathan Marney at the General Land Office, Bureau of Land Management website glorecords.blm.gov , shows that Jonathan made cash purchases in Missouri beginning in 1833 and as late as 1850 in Iowa.  In 1851 he received a warrant for land because of his service with the Virginia Volunteers during the War of 1812. Searches at Ancestry and Fold 3 for military files gave me Jonathan's service  records from March to October, 1813 and his marriage to Ann P. Oliver in Montgomery County, Tennessee June, 1817..  Jonathan died in Missouri, 1854 and his widow, Ann is active in land and pension files as late as 1878.  In one of the last documents in the pension file is a statement explaining why she had not signed with a clear signature as she had done previously...
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Thankful

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James Wheeler: Free to use. Pitt Meadows, BC.  CanadaCrop Field Under Rainbow and Cloudy Skies at Daytime   Modern Blessing: Public Health   I am so thankful to live now, not 100 years ago. There are tiny figures next to the wife's name in the 1900 and 1910 US census, noting the number of children born and children living.  I feel relief when the numbers are the same; sadness when they are not.  Worse, we often never know the names of those who have died.  This past week I transcribed a long flowery obituary written by a grandchild of Kezia McGowan Husted, and this part touched me:  "Kizia McGowan was born in Wayne county, Ohio, February 18th 1830. Came to Illinois in 1845 and married Lyman Husted, 1847. To this union were born ten children of which four are living , namely: Mrs. Carrie Dudley, Mrs. Mary Cochran, William and James Husted. Six children preceded Grandma to heaven, when they were quite young... her angel children, whose names were: Ve...
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Collaboration & Synchronicity=Magic

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   Collaboration :   creating with others. Synchronicity : apparent  simultaneous occurrences which seem related. These two concepts are different, but why  so often  do they seem to happen together? Perhaps because we think about projects  unconsciously for a while, then something prompts us to begin. If we collaborate with others who "sync" with us, magic seems to happen.  Here in the USA, we talk about independence more than interdependence. But we know that humans are social beings, so we need one another. Separation and loss are tragedy. In contrast, working toward common goals leads to good ends. I think this is why genealogy and family history are popular pursuits, and large projects such as Wikitree and FamilySearch rely on collaboration. It is about us humans and our family and friends, both now and in the past—and we hope into the future.  In most every discussion about doing genealogy, the twin threads of collaboration and synchro...
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On the Flip Side

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Chris Hagerman: Two Face: The Flip Side roller coaster at Six Flags America. CC 3.0 Tactics, Strategies, Plans & Practice I've been researching a lot lately, but not for my book on my mother's McBees, or even my "52 Ancestor" project . Those are not forgotten; just on the back burner for now. Instead, I decided to fill a hole in the tree, which has our grandchild as the base person. When we're all gone, it will be his. Because I knew very little about his mother's father's line, I decided to tackle that. It is 100% Russian Jews and we are using DNA as a major clue to families long separated by migration and other historical events. But there is   a major roadblock: endogamy . Endogamy is  marriage within a specific group as required by custom or law . Jews in the Russian Empire were confined to the "Pale of Settlement" and could not live in cities or large towns. As a result, intermarriage normal in small communities was magnified, and lasted...
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Explore!

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Creator: Gregg Evans  Copyright: © 2025 GCE Inc. Gregg Evans in the above comic illustrates a common dilemma, so I want to ask:  What excites you? What fills you with satisfaction?   There is a reason that every genealogy and family history expert advises starting projects with a research question, and demonstrates crafting the query into a research plan to save time and money, and success. Success inspires us work through hard problems.   I want to ask another question though, about how you enjoy learning . Whether researching your family, or learning about how to do better research, we all have different learning styles. Do you learn best all by yourself in a quiet place, or with others such as a research group, class, seminar or college class? Is in-person best for you, or recorded sessions you can view at your leisure? Do you prefer reading, listening, or watching videos? Since covid-19 propelled both online meeting and education, we have an abundance o...
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A Double Paternity Mystery

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Chimney Rocks, Cherokee National Forest,  Del Rio, TN, courtesy of wikimediaCommons   A Double Paternity Mystery I never imagined when I submitted my DNA to Ancestry.com how much time I would subsequently spend helping long-lost cousins solve paternity mysteries. One of my closest matches was Ken, with whom I share 136 cM, but his tree did not appear to have any overlap with mine. I reached out, asking whether this was a mystery he was interested in solving. Ken put me in touch with his daughter Kim who was down for some detective work, and together we have spent months untangling the story of how our families are related.   The names of everyone except Kim and Ken have been changed due to the sensitive subject matter. Origin of the Mystery Ken's father was an airman stationed in Sacramento in 1960, who went home to east Tennessee and never returned to the girlfriend and infant son he left behind. Ken was raised by a stepfather he believed to be h...
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