I have been doing better about working on my tree, although I am still slacking off on writing regular blog posts. So I thought I would take a moment to write a quick update about some of my recent findings.... Several months ago I had been contacted by a gentleman named Bruce in Canada saying he was a match to a couple of tests that I manange and that he believed it is on my Simmons line, and he let me know that Simmons was not their original surname which is why I was having trouble getting past my 2x Great Grandfather George Simmons b 1841. His theory is that George's parents are George Cle ..read more

Frederick Charles Newman, come out, come out wherever you are! Seems he disappeared after 1891, or at least I can't find him after that point.... So I am looking for descendants of: George Newman (b 1822 Chelmsford, Essex, England d 1868 Chelmsford, Essex, England He was a Printer/Composter) and Mary Ann Bridge (b 1834 Essex, Southminister, England d 1911Chelmsford, Essex, England). To my knowledge Mary Ann Bridge and George Newman had 5 children all born in Chelmsford, the youngest was born after George’s death. They were: George Henry b 1860 (1859 D Quarter) Louisa Jane b 1862 (1861 S Quarte ..read more

Thirteen months since my last blog post. Thirteen months of still letting other things interfere with something I love doing. Thirteen months of letting urgent take priority over important. I realized recently that my mindset and my way of thinking lately was leading to some resentments, discouragement and at times even some real feelings of anger. None of that is healthy or helpful. I kept telling myself that when "A" happens, then I can do "B". Well, it doesn't look like "A" is going to happen anytime soon. And there really isn't anything I can do to make "A" happen, or at least nothing that ..read more

In 2015 I started a “Do-Over” on my Genealogy Research, or at least that was my intention. I read Thomas MacEntee’s posts, participated in discussions in the Genealogy Do-Over Facebook Group, did some of the “assignments,” but never made much progress in actually working on my research. Some of that is I took on outside responsibilities to a couple of different organizations. Both organizations are good and worthwhile, but they took time and energy away from being able to do what I really wanted to be doing. I allowed the needs and priorities of the organizations to set the priorities in my li ..read more

I belong to some genealogy groups on various platforms. Recently I read a post by a person that said they were just starting out and was asking if someone could take them under their wing to show them the ropes. I posted a couple of responses offering some small bits of advice. Then I got to thinking, maybe there are others out there who could use “someone who could take them under their wing.” That is what I hope to do with blog post, to take those who are new to doing genealogy under my virtual wing and offer some guidance in where to start. One of the first things is to clarify in your own ..read more

Where are you in your genealogy research journey? Complete novice? Interested but haven’t actually done any research? Beginner? Maybe added a couple of names, dates and places; but really not sure what you are doing or what comes next? Intermediate? You have spent some time doing basic research, but know there are a lot more things you can do to research the people in your tree; however, not real confident of the how and where to look. Genealogy Buff, like me? You have your tree fairly well developed; confident in the basics and comfortable with other records and methods to flesh out the peopl ..read more