In honor of the Independence Day, I thought I’d create an inventory of what the families of my eight great-grandparents were doing on the 4th of July 1776. (Since the scope of my genealogy efforts includes my husband’s ancestry too, I’ll write about my husband’s eight greats in a...
Archives

Thoughts Inspired by Coronavirus
Today, at the end of March 2020, my home space of Minnesota is under a “stay at home” order. As the case and fatality counts mount, my thoughts have been turning to the impact that past epidemics had on my ancestors. In 1911 scarlet fever killed my great-grandfather William...

2018 Roundup
For a variety of reasons, 2018 was not a typical year for me! Education I did not travel as much as I usually do, so I didn’t attend any national conferences or educational institutes. I did, however, take advantage of online opportunities to learn from webinars and conference livestreams...

A Tribute to My Veterans
Each year on November 11, we pause to remember those who served in our military. Here is the roll of the veterans in my affinity. In my generation (Vietnam and post-Vietnam): My husband Jere Gene Mackin, United States Navy My brothers-in-law Patrick Charles Mackin, United States Navy, and Richard...

Trying a New Tool for New York Immigration Records
MyHeritage (www.myheritage.com) is an Israeli-based family history website that offers record searches, family trees, and DNA testing. The company’s strengths include participation by many genealogists from outside the U.S. and high-performance technologies for matching and search described here. Recently MyHeritage announced the addition of Ellis Island and other New...
