Dom Vitale's War
Last year, while going through boxes of old photos at my dad’s house, we came across a plastic bag containing hundreds of photos taken by...
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Feb 22, 20191 min read
Genealogical Gold
My great-great-great-great-grandfather, James Luke, emigrated from Birmingham, England in 1816 at the age of 20. I’ve been lucky enough...
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Apr 26, 20181 min read
Ancestral Homes
I recently drove from Maryland to New England for a week of genealogical research with the NEHGS Research Tour in Hartford. I went up a...
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Dec 14, 20171 min read
Finding the Amadons
Back in April I attended the biennial conference of the New England Regional Genealogical Consortium (NERGC) in Springfield,...
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Mar 2, 20171 min read
Identifying a Family Bible
Growing up, I remember having two huge old family bibles in the house. They were in terrible condition with detached covers, loose pages,...
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Dec 19, 20161 min read
Piece Work
I have developed a soft spot for two of my great-great-grandparents, Domenico Caldarelli and Maria Tavano. They were born in Italy,...
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Aug 16, 20161 min read
Honoring a Civil War Veteran
My great-great-great-grandfather, Elijah Dickinson, enlisted in Union Army in 1862. He was joined by both of his brothers, Atwood and...
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Nov 19, 20151 min read
Solving a family mystery
My mother was born with an unusual last name – Cottuli – which has been both a blessing and a curse for my research. The blessing is that...
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Sep 24, 20151 min read
Finding a better life
It is said time and time again that our immigrant ancestors came to America for a better life. What I often find in my research is that...
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Sep 8, 20151 min read
Making progress by breaking with tradition
As an avid genealogical researcher, I am keenly aware of the role that tradition plays in history. In all cultures, each new generation...
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Jun 2, 20152 min read
Hidden Between the Pages of a 130-year-old Bible
In the fall, I blogged about the restoration of a family bible which was published in the late 1800s. Because no births, marriages or...
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Mar 8, 20152 min read
Cousin Emily Dickinson and My Dickinson Ancestors
My maternal grandmother’s maiden name was Dorothea Brooks Dickinson. When I started researching that branch of the family tree, I...
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Mar 1, 20154 min read
James Luke, 1796-1885
James Luke was my 4th-great-grandfather, and for quite a while I had a very hard time finding any info on him. I knew that he was born in...
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Mar 1, 20152 min read
Porter Cross, 1807-1894
Two of my favorite ancestors, for no particular reason, are Porter & Sophia Cross, both born in 1807. They are my 4th-great-grandparents....
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Dec 28, 20142 min read
The Court File of Domenico Caldarelli
I finally received the court file in the mail! It primarily contained witness statements and the charging document. The first item of...
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Nov 24, 20142 min read
Rounding Out the Story of Domenico Caldarelli
After my last blog post, I turned to the members of the Italian Genealogy group on Facebook to help me decipher the last name of the man...
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Nov 22, 20143 min read
The People vs. Domenico Caldarelli
This week Eli is in New York City on business, so I came up to visit the NYC Municipal Archives. Dad took a train in from Massachusetts...
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Nov 1, 20141 min read
Arrivederci, Italia!
Just a few final photos of our incredible trip.
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Nov 1, 20142 min read
We Are The Chosen
I found this piece, written by Della M. Cumming in 1943, and it really expresses the motivation behind genealogy research. We Are The...
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Nov 1, 20141 min read
The Second Family Bible Restoration
Having had the Dickinson Family Bible restored earlier this year (see earlier blog post here), I was eager to see what Leonard’s Book...
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