First I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to visit my website now or over the years. I really started it to share information with family members and it’s exceeded all my expectations in that regard. Its been active and dormant many times over the years but I’ve tried to always come back to it, even if it’s more sporadic than I’d like. This has caused the website to become a little random and disorganized. So, let’s try to fix it slowly! In the meantime, here are some highlight posts to get your started if you are unsure where to look for now.
Research Methods
If you want to see how I solve genealogy problems or are just curious about the process, these posts are great for that!
Filling Out the Menzies
This post shows how I used maps to find a family in Manhattan in census records. I knew the address, but they weren’t showing up in the search results. This shows how I used the information I already knew to narrow results. Hindsight shows me I should have tried more advanced search strategies like wildcards. We wouldn’t have had fun with the maps though!
Mystery Monday: We Found Her!
Traditional Research methods weren’t used here. I was just lucky to find a match to one of my mystery photos on Ancestry. Guess what though? That’s kind of a strategy too. 😂 These unidentified photos are all going to take a little of luck and in some cases a lot of random browsing Ancestry member trees.
If you like Mystery posts there is also an index here. Index
Paul Sutcliffe, IIt’s Your Turn!
As of today (28 Apr 2026), This is my latest post but it shows a lot of my research process too. Paul Sutcliffe is one of my direct ancestors who I had zero information on until recently. Now the pieces are coming together with records and DNA!
Real Investigations / Case Studies
This is actually my favorite type of entry. Case studies are how I learn the post and so those are the post I love to write too.
Finding Sarah Booth’s baptism and the Friths of it All
This shows how I found Sarah Booth’s baptism record despite all obstacles thrown at me.
Spent my Weekend with the Johnsons
The Johnsons are a very sad family for me to research. There were many deaths close together and it appears my ancestor, Mary Johnson-Moore, might be the only one of her family who survived. Though it seems it might have taken a toll, an update to this one is coming soon.
Samuel Redford, The Story Continues
Samuel Redford continues to be in my Top 2 Mysterious Ancestors List, Second only to George Thorward/George Yohn. Samuel is one of my immigrant ancestors who died soon after coming to America. At the time of his death, not many details were kept in American records. Like with George, I’ve been picking every detail I can from his surrounding family member’s records. This post is the latest batch of research into his origins.
Photo Fun!
I’ve identified a lot of photos and these are just some of my favorite entries.
Mystery Monday: Grandpa on a Bench
I’d been casually trying to identify a place in my Great-Grandparents slides for quite a while. One weekend, I posted it to Facebook and my cousin Pete solved it in hours. 🤣 This is your reminder to involve your family members in your research. They are sometimes the best help!
Identifying Pictures: Speed Round
I used Google Lens to quickly identify some pictures from my Great-Grandparents archives.
Identifying Some of Llewellyn’s Friends
In this entry it was Ancestry’s Yearbook Collection that helped me to identify some more people in Llewellyn’s photos. It seems my favorite examples of photo identification were done by all people and machines but me. 🤣
What I’m Working on Now
I should post soon about my Mom’s side of the family. This shows a decidedly slanted view of my research. 😅🤣