No, not the 80's rock band from Manchester. The Smiths, as in the ancestral brick wall I can't seem to break through. After taking a few weeks off from weekly posts, I'm happy to say I'm making progress figuring out family connections for my Irish 3rd great grandfather, William Smith (1818-1894). I resolved to find his roots in Ireland this year. It took some time and serendipity to get to this point in the Smith branch of my tree. I was stuck with my paternal 2nd great grandmother Mary Ann Smith for years. I posted a copy of her husband, my 2nd great grandfather, Francis Button Marr's will o ..read more

I resolve to get this posted within the last 12 hours of 2018! While accepting this challenge has been a lot of fun, I am going to take this coming year off. I'll dedicate 2019 to following up on some of the ancestors I have discovered. Like all genealogists, I've got some brick walls I am determined to break through. More of my family members gave each other DNA testing kits for Christmas, so their results will add to the tapestry of our story. Very excited about that. I find that writing out my goals and intentions helps me stay more committed to  marking them as "DONE". With that in ..read more

Keziah Miles Goodman Warner Maw 1834-1914 I remembered seeing a family who gave every one of the children Goodman for a middle name. Male and female. The prompt "Nice" led me to Goodman. A bit of a stretch, but it really paid off. I found out about the family and also took a detour into American history. They are my maternal ancestors. I wrote about my 1st cousin 5x removed Edward Maw here. Keziah Miles Goodman Warner (1834 - 1914) was his fourth wife. In succession, not as a polygamist! They were amongst the earliest Mormons who joined Brigham Young in settling Salt Lake City ..read more

My 8th great aunt Hannah Button (1672 - aft. 1676) was a naughty girl. In fact, so were many members of the Button family of 17th century Haverhill, Massachusetts. Notably her father Matthias Button. He had many dealings with the Massachusetts colonial judicial system. His story is too disputed and complicated for the purposes of this post, but suffice it to say, he was a scalawag.  Hannah's mother, only known as "Teagle", was killed when John Godfrey burned the family home down in 1662 (because he claimed her father Matthias owed him a debt). Hannah and other members of the house ..read more

My maternal great grandfather, Archibald Ferguson Dempster, Jr. (pictured here) was born on Christmas Day, 1844 in Mineral Point, Wisconsin, USA. Mineral Point is "Where Wisconsin Began" according to the town's website.   His parents, Archibald Dempster and Sarah McCuen emigrated from Scotland, marrying in Wisconsin on June 25, 1845. Archibald, Ferguson Dempster, Sr. was born in Fossoway and Tulliebole, Kinross-shire in 1815. His occupation was listed as a draper (cloth merchant) when he first came to America in 1839. Mineral Point has a rich history in mining. Although there is no ..read more

I spent way too much time thinking about who to feature this week. I ended up going through my List of Names and chose the 1st person I found who was born or died on November 30th. The last day before the last month of 2018. I got almost to the end of the "B"s before finding my 2nd cousin 3 times removed, Mabel Broadbent. She was born on July 28, 1870 in London, Ontario, Canada and passed away November 30, 1928. That is her in an undated photograph on the left. Mabel descends from my 4th great grandparents Isabella Hargrave and Zacharias Goff. They were hard working people who were som ..read more

I practice yoga every day. There are many benefits beyond becoming more flexible and fit. One of those is cultivating a sense of acceptance and gratitude. We all spend a lot of time living in the past   (regretting something you've done or didn't do), or in the future (making lists, plans, worrying about something that might happen). When you breathe and focus for a little bit every day you start to appreciate what is actually happening.  I'm grateful to leave stress and anxiety  behind every time I do my yoga. It is a work in progress. It's called a practice for a reason. I do ..read more

I learned a new random fact today. My great grandfather, Archibald Park, had one leg that was much shorter than the other.  My aunt (his granddaughter) remembered his routine was to take off his shoes and lie down on the couch after a long day. One of his shoes had a 3 or 4 inch heel so that when he stood he could walk normally. She also remembered he would keep a spittoon nearby and used it often.? I haven't found any pictures of him, but she says she can remember his white beard and hair as clear as day and that she could draw a picture of him. Hahaha. (Click to enlarge) I f ..read more

I just realized there are only 7 more posts left in this challenge! Where did the time go? Thanks again to Amy Johnson Crow  for giving a nudge in the right direction to stay disciplined and focused with the ancestry research. I'm part a group of genealogists on Wikitree that have been sharing 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks posts in a G2G forum. It's been fun forming that little community. Wikitree founder Chris Whitten and Eowyn have given us the added incentive of receiving a badge if we complete all 52 weeks and provide at least one ancestor or relative for each weekly prompt. Thanks to th ..read more

Once during a very difficult time in my life my paternal grandmother spoke to me from the beyond.  I was going through an acrimonious divorce and was (justifiably) angry. I had been swearing like a longshoreman, not my normal self at all. The stress of dealing with the life altering events I was experiencing gave me terrible insomnia, so I was always sleep deprived. It was about 3:00 in the morning and I was waking from a bad dream. Clear as a bell, and in her distinctive voice I heard a deadpan "Boo." I bolted upright in bed. "Dearie, you have to stop with the potty mouth!," says Grandma ..read more