I got woefully lost tracing my family’s Jewish roots and fell into a familiar trap. Like many family history researchers on the Internet, I wanted to believe that I was related to the great Moses Levy, a New York merchant who commissioned portraits for most family members. My fifth grandmother was a Levy, Eva Levy. […]
Little to Nothing Remains of Philip Benjamin’s Time in Charleston
Nothing is worse than the crushing blow of dashed expectations, especially when it comes to genealogy research. I had high hopes that a recent visit to Charleston, S.C., would turn up something — a gravestone, a house, a place of business, anything — related to my fourth great-grandfather, Philip Benjamin (1779-1852). My spirits rose when […]
Major Life Events Probably Forced Simmers Family Moves
One thing that’s often lost in genealogy research is why families move. It’s relatively easy to find out where they moved using the Census or City Directories. Using Google maps, you may even be able to quickly find that the houses where your family once lived still stand. What you can rarely figure out, unless […]
Was King Tut’s Curse the Real Cause of W.B. Thompson’s Demise?
It’s been established that an early visit to Kit Tut’s tomb wasn’t good for your health. A long list of famous people was presumably laid low for disturbing the pharaoh’s 3,000-year repose. Maybe it’s time to add the name of William Boyce Thompson to the list. According to a letter written to an associate, Thompson […]
No Surprise: Isaie Gingras Was Buried in a Catholic Cemetery
It’s getting easier to figure out where a relative who died in the last 150 years is buried. The larger cemeteries often publish Internet lists of who was interred there, and they may even post a map to help you find a grave when you visit. But sometimes, if you are fortunate, a volunteer has […]
Discovered: The Gingras Ancestral Lands
Luck was certainly on my side when I searched for the mercurial Gingras ancestral lands. I had all but given up the search when I caught a glimpse of the marker on the left. Background is undoubtedly in order. All Gingras (pronounced Gin-Gra) in North America descend from my eighth great-grandparents Charles Gingras (1641-1710) and […]