I’ve had tremendous success uncovering ancestors from my mother’s side of the family, but my father’s family had always been a dead end, so to speak.
My father, Henry Ackley Sackett, who went by the name Harry, died in 1999. We knew his dad’s name was Henry, and his dad’s dad’s name was Orsemus.
Standing on her toes while the serviceman measured her, Viney Ruth Rogers still barely squeaked past the minimum height restriction to work at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio.
You just know family letters, Bibles, and diaries are out there somewhere. But where? Start with a resource like this family postcard to help you find clues to stories in hiding.
Chance.
Online keyword searches such as “School Records Gibsonburg, Ohio” or “Big Rapids, Michigan history” could land you just what you’re seeking.
Gifts.
“It all started because one Saturday I wanted to see how the demolition was going at the old Lloyd Brothers Walker Monument Company.”
So says Christine Zywocki, the woman who sat across the street in her lawn chair with
her lunch and her binoculars, keeping an eye on the old building near Toledo, Ohio.
Who needs Doc Brown’s time-traveling DeLorean from Back to the Future when a malfunctioning clothes dryer can transport you back to the simpler, backyard days of 1950s America?
When my clothes dryer broke last year, I was transported to another world.
The shotgun wedding, which has come to refer to any hasty marriage arranged because of an unplanned pregnancy, has deep roots in American family legends and folk songs, probably with good reason.
For years, the rule seemed to be that American couples were married in the bride’s hometown or county.
As medicine advances, why do 70 percent of all people still turn to age-old remedies? Turns out our ancestors actually were onto something.
In the fall of 1978, just six months after her daughter’s 13th birthday, Janét Booton was diagnosed with cancer. As others prepared for the worst, Janét looked into her options and decided on a treatment she really believed in.
Homestead records, when complete, include the homestead application, the certificate of publication of intention to make a claim, the homestead proof, testimony of two witnesses and the claimant, and the final certificate. Also included, if applicable, are naturalization papers and discharge papers from the Union Army.
The first genealogy guide I bought included the neatest checklist—“Three Hundred Places to Find Your Personal History.” The list was one of those wonderful gifts that keeps on giving. For the first time I realized how many fascinating historical records are out there.
Let’s face it, as long as people have been having babies, they’ve tried to figure out how to avoid having babies. Some societies used contraceptive measures to keep the population under control, and some couples prevented pregnancy to manage the size of their families. Plus, childbirth can be a dangerous business.