Genealogy, inspired!
Despite my years of researching and documenting my family, I’m continually humbled by how much I don’t know and how much is available to us if we simply know where to look or who to ask. Case in point: I recently learned in a Civil War Facebook group that I could request my 2x great grandpa’s Civil War Pension File using the information provided on the Pension Index Card I found on Ancestry.com a few years ago.
Inaccuracies are caused by faulty recall; there is no factual research to discover heights of buildings, dates of demolition, blood types
We all grieve the 1890 Census, but have you given any thought to what happened with the 2020 Census?
Let’s talk about it.
2020 was… whew! It was quite a year, wasn’t it? So much worry, uncertainty, and general confusion. The world had flipped upside down and all that we thought we knew was being questioned from inside our respective homes.
As many of us in the genealogy community know, the work that we do doesn’t all happen overnight. While some of us have been gifted documentation of our family history and some of us have had some fantastic luck in tracking down lines or have distant kin who can guide us in the right direction, that’s just not the case for all of us or for every situation.
And, as many of us in the genealogy community also know, all it takes is a single spark to pique our curiosity and carry us through even the most frustrating challenges.
Recently inspired by the Finding Your Roots Episode featuring Valerie Bertinelli and Brendan Fraser which focused on the immigration and naturalization of a few of their ancestors, I’ve gotten curious about one ancestor in particular, John Patrick Brogan, and have decided to devote some time this year to researching some of the details surrounding his move from Ireland to the USA.
I’m what one might consider a Seasonal Hobbyist. From family history to crochet, reading to making art, journaling to blog posting, there is a definitive ebb and flow to my interests and capacity.
While I’m still waiting to hear back from the Groundskeeper at the cemetery my Grandpa is buried at, I received follow up documentation the other day from the New York City Health Dept. in the form of his final medical report. It turns out our family story was correct, his immediate cause of death was…
I often wonder why it is that the people closest to us, in physical proximity and in heart space, are the ones most often taken for granted…
Why we assume we know the facts or, at the very least, have bits and pieces of facts clear enough in our heads that it’ll all come together easily and turn out just fine in the end.
I find myself currently in this liminal space with my maternal grandpa, Phil, who lived and died before I came earth side.
After years of thinking about it, I finally ordered and received my Grandpa Phil’s death certificate last week and goodness was that exciting!
Funny, isn’t it, how excited we can get about documenting our ancestors…
Seeing the details in black and white…
Reflecting on the circumstances that led up to that final moment…
Contemplating all that came before and all that transpired after?