April 2012
33 posts
4 tags
Finding Daddy in the 1940 Census
Robert, Judy, and James Szucs, with John Mekalski (and John Szucs, Jr. in the doorway), c. 1942
I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve. As I write this we’re 28 hours from the release of the 1940 census. Yes, we’re measuring it in hours now. This is the first census that I’ll be able to see that includes my dad. He was a young boy in 1940 and I’ll find him, his brother and sister, and my...
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Finding My Adopted Family in the 1940 Census
Lou arriving in El Paso in the arms of her grandfather, Raymond Dyer, 1943
It was 1943 when my father became ill and my mother was left to support six little children. At 22 months of age, I was taken in by my mother’s sister’s family. My grandfather flew with me from New York to El Paso, Texas to the Pyburn home and what was supposed to be a temporary arrangement. My father never recovered so my...
March 2012
15 posts
2 tags
Our 1940 Stories: Remembering Small Town America
My mom grew up in Caldwell, Idaho, a little town near the Oregon border.
The family home is gone now—replaced by a medical complex—but not my memories of it. As a young girl a trip to grandma’s always meant feasting on fried chicken, making dolls out of hollyhock blossoms, and getting candy from the Penny Wise drugstore.
When the release of the 1940 census was announced I knew my first stop...
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Your 1940s Stories
Can you believe it’s almost here! No longer are we talking about the release of the 1940 census in terms of weeks or months—it’s only days away! As we sit here watching the clock and counting down, we thought it would be fun to get us in the mood with some of the stories you’ve sent us for our 1940s time capsule. (If you’d like to share your story, see the details at...
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Ask Ancestry Anne: Finding my grandparents in the...
One of the first families I will look for will be my paternal grandparents Gilbert Gillespie and Ann Gillespie nee Feazell. This will be the first census where I will see them married, and my Aunt Madeline will be on it as well. My dad was born in September of 1940, so he just missed appearing.
Fingers crossed that one of them is on line 14 or 29 and was asked supplementary questions, but I’ll...
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Kris Williams: How I Got Started in Genealogy
“My life not availeth me in comparison to the liberty of the truth”
When I was 11 years old and in the 4th grade, I had a teacher who was obsessed with genealogy. She would regularly come in and tell my class about the new things she had found through her research. Eventually, as a graded project, she had us go home and start our own family tree. She gave us some pointers on how to get started...
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Movers and shakers who forged the way on Who Do...
On last night’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? award-winning actress Helen Hunt uncovered the stories in her dad’s family tree. She knew little about his family; her dad’s mother died when he was just five years old. But Helen’s goal to unlock the past and share it with her own daughter persevered. First stop – census records that directed her to California and ultimately the Gold Rush,...
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Helen Hunt Discovers Her Past on Who Do You Think...
Discovering that her great-grandmother was a leader in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union doesn’t sit well at first with award-winning actress Helen Hunt – until she traces this powerful female’s surprising impact on history. From groundbreaking roots in California to a women’s rights mover-and-shaker in Maine, it’s a story full of surprises. Watch it unfold on Friday night’s episode of Who Do...
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Win the Journey of a Lifetime in the 'Star of Your...
Who Do You Think You Are? follows some of today’s most beloved celebrities as they embark on personal journeys of discovery as their families’ histories are revealed. We all know a celebrity’s story is interesting, but what about your story?
Ancestry.com allows you to unlock so many magical moments in your family journey, and we want to allow you the mystique celebrities get to...
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Return of a Treasure
With a lead from an 1860 slave schedule, I found the name of my family’s slaveholder. Later, I located an article the slaveholder’s 2nd great-granddaughter had written about her family. Reluctantly, I contacted her and identified myself as the 2nd great-granddaughter of a slave owned by her 2nd great grandfather and I’m glad I did. I sent her results of extensive research I had done on my...
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Getting Ready for 1940
It’s getting closer. Only 25 more days until the 1940 census is released. So I’m busily trying to update my family tree, adding every address I know of to the ancestors who were alive in 1940. I’m feeling quite organized actually. I created a report using Family Tree Maker that lists family members who were alive in 1940.
The report’s really pretty simple to create. Under the Publish tab in...
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Ask Ancestry Anne: Where is George Elmer Thomas?
Dear Anne
Is there any way that you can help me find out who the parents were for George Elmer Thomas? He was born November 18, 1863 and died December 27, 1955. He was married to Emma Adams in Burlington, NJ at the Methodist church (no help there on his marriage return). He lived in Buddtown, Burlington and Vincentown, New Jersey and he died at the Cranbury Nursing home in Cranbury, New...
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Searching without a Last Name
Over the years my family had tried to find a record of the birth of my grandparents’ first child, who was born in England in the very early 1900s. The family story was that my grandmother, Anna, left Russia first with the opportunity to travel to England with a choir “to sing for the queen.” She jumped ship and stayed in England, where their first child was born. Grandpa...
February 2012
19 posts
2 tags
“If the past has been an obstacle and a burden, knowledge of the past is the...”
– Lord John Acton (1834-1902)
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Ask Ancestry Anne: New Ways to Use Your Hints
One of the many advantages of having a tree online at Ancestry.com or on Family Tree Maker or one of our downloadable apps is that you can take advantage of our hints. While you are away we are out searching for you.
And now we have a new way for you to access those hints: the All Hints Page
If you are on a tree view online, mouse over the find a person in your tree text box and choose List of...
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Ask Ancestry Anne: The Ancestry Insider is Talking... →
The Ancestry Insider was at mine and the Barefoot Genealogist’s Roots Tech presentation: Don’t Waste Your Money and other thoughts
