Not once, but twice the William Hawley family was devastated by fire. The logging industry was a primary industry in Northern Michigan in the late 1800s and early 1900s. William Hawley’s family was no exception. William moved his family from upstate New York to Long Rapids Township, Alpena County, Michigan…
Have you ever thought about how your ancestor’s possessions would be valued in today’s world? I often think about this because it helps me to better compare their situation against my own. On the 1850 United States Population census individuals were asked about only the value of their real estate….
I typically research newspapers using the website Newspapers.com to find details about the lives of my ancestors that may not be available in other typical genealogical sources. When searching for information about my second great grandmother Mary Anna (Annie) Faught, I found information not only about her but also some…
The theme for week 9 of the 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge is multiples. I was struggling with this theme. Nothing jumped out at me that was interesting enough to write about. But thanks to Valerie Hughes from the “Genealogy with Valerie” blog, my writers block was cured. Valerie…
One of the many topics that I have fallen in love with as I have been researching my own family history is the history of my home town of Alpena, Michigan. Although Alpena was and still is a small town, there is so much history to share. In this blog…
The source I chose to talk about this week for the 52 ancestors in 52 weeks theme of “Unusual Source” is called “U.S., Appointments of U. S. Postmasters, 1832-1971”. These records can be found in more than one repository, I found these records on Ancestry.com. I’m not sure if this is…
Valentine’s day is known for flowery words in beautiful cards, and grand expressions of love. Engagements, weddings, first dates…. However, I came across another way that Valentine’s day cards have been used over the years to express the feelings of the sender. Hint, there were no expressions of love… Tis…
It’s funny how a single recipe can be such a big part of a family. In our family that recipe is for homemade noodles. For as long as I can remember when my family thought about comfort food, that meant homemade noodles and lots of them. Although, I would love…
This has always been one of my favorite photos, probably because of all the wonderful stories that come to mind when I see it. This photo is of my second great-grandmother Loretta Alma Ward. Loretta was born on September 15, 1878, in Stanton, Montcalm, Michigan to Francis M. Ward and…
Children are often named after their parents, grandparents, close family, or friends. I’ve even seen children given a name based on the location of their birth. One trend that I noticed in my family tree was naming children after United States presidents. Have you noticed this in your family tree?…
My eighth great grandmother, Eulalia Marche, can be considered a legend in many ways. In 1635, Eulalia, her husband Henry Burt, and their six children left their home in England to start a new life in the New England colonies. However, the legend that I am going to write about…
I have decided to take on the 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge, as laid out by Amy Johnson Crow on her website. The theme for the first week of this challenge is “Beginnings”. This week I have decided to write about my ninth great grandparents, Jean Royer and Marie…
It has been a long time since I have written a blog post. It has been over six months since I published my last post. I’ve attempted to start a new post multiple times. I even have several draft posts that are somewhere between 10% and 60% complete. I just can’t…
In previous posts, I wrote about my great grandmother Mae Arla (King) McKenzie and the letters she wrote to her daughter Cora. As in everything, timing and context are important when analyzing the lives of our ancestors. To catch up on the life of Mae and her family thus far, take a moment…
Edouard Joseph Royer, my 2nd great grandfather, passed away on August 22nd, 1939 in Rudyard, Chippewa County, Michigan at the age of 77. Edouard’s obituary was published in The Evening News, published in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan on Tuesday, August 22, 1939. I have transcribed the obituary below: Obituary Edward…
