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.

What Happened to John Flanagan?
My quest to resolve the mysteries surrounding my 3x great-grandfather. John Flanagan was born in VA (probably Albemarle County) about 1795 (per DAR records), son of James Winwright Flanagan and his wife Phoebe Simpson. He … Continue reading What Happened to John Flanagan?

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 … Continue reading Grandad McLemore gets airtime 131 years after his death

Sorting out the Samuels
Got multiple ancestors with the same names in the same place? It can be a nightmare to sort it out. And then it’s time to get creating and expand the arsenal of the types of … Continue reading Sorting out the Samuels

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 … Continue reading A Certain Serenity

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 … Continue reading Serena’s Brick Wall, resolved!