Welcome to my adventures in genealogy! These are stories about breakthroughs and cool stuff that’s happened during my ancestral quest. I wish I’d started putting these in writing long, long ago.
The Enigma named Oliver Edwards
The ongoing, seemingly impossible search for Oliver Edwards’s origins Oliver Edwards, who was born about 1813 in Virginia and who died before 24 Sep 1897 (when his death was announced) is an almost complete mystery…
James Flanagan (d. 1752): Commentary and corrections on Bob Flanagan’s history on clanflanagan.org
Descendants of James Flanagan (d. 1752 Louisa County, Virginia) are indebted to Bob Flanagan for sharing his knowledge of our family history. At the end of his report, he invites researchers to make additions, corrections,…
Finding Lucy
How I found the maiden name of my 5x great-grandmother, Lucy, who married Rev William Thames about 1779 7 Oct 2022 – I’ve had this on my list for so long, thinking it would be…
William Thames of Clayton County, Georgia (1796-1892)
William left some clues for us in 1877 William is one of the early Thames men for whom we don’t know parentage, exactly, but evidence points to him being the son of Thomas Thames (son…
James Flanagan’s 1752 will deserves a fresh look
In light of the fact that we now know James Flanagan had two sons named James, I believe his will warrants closer examination. This is my work in progress (isn’t all genealogy permanently “work in…
Whittle Flanagan’s Red Hill in Louisa County, Virginia- a study
Let me just preface this by saying I did not set out to find errors in previously published genealogical work. I simply love maps, history, and genealogical research. But I did find an error, and…
Thomas Thames c1700-1758 – Research in early records – NJ-VA-NC
Thomas Thames c1700-1758 – New records for a Thomas Thames have been discovered. Do they belong to our Thomas?
What Happened to John Flanagan? – A Descendant’s Discoveries
My quest to resolve the mysteries surrounding my 4x great-grandfather. John Flanagan was born between 1790 and 1799 (based on the 1840 census) in VA (probably Albemarle County, since his parents, James Winwright Flanagan and…
Grandad McLemore gets airtime 131 years after his death
Richard McLemore (1798-1881) of Meridian, Lauderdale County, Mississippi, married Nancy Perry Hill. Richard is credited for founding the town of Meridian. Richard and Nancy were my gggg-grandparents. Back in 2013, I was following the AMC…
Sorting out the Samuels
Got multiple ancestors with the same name in the same place? It can be a nightmare to sort out. It’s time to expand the arsenal of documents you use. What follows is a report I…
A Certain Serenity
My thoughts on genealogy as a calming pursuit Back in 1988, I started shaking my family tree to see what would fall out. I had no idea what I’d find, I was just curious to…
Serena’s Brick Wall, resolved!
Since very early on in my genealogy adventures when I first identified Serena, my 3x great-grandmother and wife of William M. J. Kelley, she’s been a genealogy brick wall. According to the 1850 census, she was…