I started researching our family stories in 1985. My great aunt Helen was my primary source of information and inspiration. She drove all over Iowa and Minnesota looking for clues to solve a family mystery – a mystery that was only solved years after her death thanks to DNA.
Over the years my archives have grown to include my husband’s family, and 200 years later we find ourselves living where his ancestors settled the New England frontier. The challenge of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks encourages genealogists to bring the family stories to life and the accompanying prompts are the inspiration for my blog posts.
The list of names will never be complete and some stories will never be told, but it’s my hope that sharing some of the family history will give others a sense of who came before them and how we got to where we are today.