GenealogyBank celebrates 2nd Anniversary

GenealogyBank is celebrating its second year of service to genealogists! Join with us and celebrate!We’ll be “Two” on October 18th. How time flies. It has been a wonderful two years! We have loved receiving your fan mail and sharing in your success stories. We’re happy for your amazing finds and knowing the special value... (Read More)

Woman struck blind on seeing her son …

Obituaries can give us the details of our ancestor’s lives that we just don’t find anywhere else. Today I found this obituary in GenealogyBank for Judith Tormey (1800-1898) who died in Newark, NJ. Baltimore Sun 4 July 1898 This obituary article gives us lots of details and clues to fill in the family tree.... (Read More)

A Good Woman Can be Hard to Find…

It can be very difficult to find women in the early 19th Century – finding sources that actually give their names and genealogical details. It was common in the 19th century for genealogical sources to be brief and give only the basic information about a household in the census – or an entry in... (Read More)

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 cousins.... (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 so... (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)

Tim Russert, 1950 – 2008

On Father’s Day weekend it gives us pause to learn of the passing of Tim Russert. Deeply involved with his family as well as his life’s work he wrote about fathers and about his heritage. His easy manor and gift for telling stories always made us wonder – is there more that we can... (Read More)

Our Honored Dead …

When Abraham Lincoln gave his stirring remarks at Gettysburg in 1863 word spread quickly across the nation. The San Francisco (CA) Daily Evening Bulletin of 18 Dec 1863 captured the impact of Lincoln’s words that still move us today.Newspapers report what happens every day giving each of us the emotion, context and impact of... (Read More)