Blog

Apr 26, 20191 min read

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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