Congratulations to my cousin Sarah Heath Palin!

Genealogists will love the fact that the new Republican choice for Vice President – Sarah Heath Palin is a descendant of multiple Mayflower passengers: John Tilley, John Howland, Stephen Hopkins, Elder William Brewster, Richard Warren and other well known New England families.   I am also descended from those Mayflower passengers …. so we’re... (Read More)

Patsy Leaves Family History TV Show over Gangland Grandpa

Uncovering our family history can reveal saints and sinners as we dig through old newspapers. Genealogists using GenealogyBank become used to finding a scoundrel here and there on the branches of the family tree. But British actress – Patsy Kensit was not prepared for what she discovered while filming a TV show for the... (Read More)

Thank you GenealogyBank!

We get letters all the time from ecstatic genealogists who broke through their brick walls in GenealogyBank. Grateful letters that say – “Wow – I finally found him” in GenealogyBank … thank you, thank you. Tonight I received a “Wow – I finally found him” note from Jane Giavelli Lauhon. She wrote: Thank you... (Read More)

Allen County Library (IN) receives $10 Million Gift

The Genealogy Center of the Allen County Library (Ft. Wyane, IN) has received a $10 million gift from the Edward D. and Ione Auer Foundation. The funds will be given to the library as $1 million payments each year over 10 years. The announcement is in the Ft Wayne News Sentinnel 1 August 2008... (Read More)

Wild Bill Obama

May 27th was Wild Bill Hickok’s day – I wrote about how easy it is to find newspaper articles about him in GenealogyBank. Wild Bill Hickok is in the news again – when Barack Obama mentioned his family tradition that he was a distant cousin to Wild Bill – James Butler Hickok (1837-1876).  ... (Read More)

It’s a great day for genealogy!

It’s a great day for genealogy! And, it’s a particularly good day for me too!Today marks exactly 43 years since I started working in genealogy. Wow, it’s been fun. It was 26 July 1965 – in Stamford, CT – George B. Everton, Sr. (1904-1996) and his wife Ellen (Nielsen) Everton (1902-1987) were conducting a... (Read More)

Swan’s Island Library burns to the ground

Today’s Bangor (Maine) Daily News has the stunning news that the Swan’s Island Library in Maine has burned to the ground. (Photo: Donna Wiegle – Bangor Daily News 25 July 2008) The library was hit by lighting, caught fire and burned. Click here to read the complete story. The library held over 10,000 books... (Read More)