How I Found my Elusive John MurphyMy earliest American-born ancestor was my great-great-grandfather, Edward Murphy. It took a while to figure this out as the skimpy traces he left claimed both New York and Ireland as his birth place, but then I stumbled across his baptism. To my… Mar 08 24March 08, 2024Article at Medium
Taylor Swift’s Formidable Female ForebearsThanks to this mother-daughter duo, she’s got cousins around the globe When it comes to genealogy, I prefer fresh territory, which is why I usually avoid the mega-famous. If someone is universally renowned, it’s a given that hundreds, if not… Feb 23 24February 23, 2024Article at Medium
6 Things You Didn’t Know about Hannah Waddingham’s RootsYou have 2 free member-only stories left this month. Sign up for Medium and get an extra one. Manx, Music, Military, Moxie and More What can’t Hannah Waddingham do? I’m late to the party discovering her talents in her portrayal of team owner, Rebecca… May 18 23May 18, 2023Article at Medium
Captured in Time: Nameless English Singing Girls upon Arrival in America in 1890I Just Wanted to Figure out Who They Were, but Found Myself Ensnared in a Victorian Melodrama No names were given, but the caption grabbed my attention: “English singing girls — imported by Italian padrone — ret’d by Britannic, Nov 19 1890.” As part… Mar 21 23March 21, 2023Article at Medium
Trace Your Roots with DNA: Using Genetic Tests to Explore Your Family TreeWritten by two of the country’s top genealogists, this authoritative book is the first to explain how new and groundbreaking genetic testing can help you research your ancestry. According to American Demographics, 113 million Americans have begun to… Oct 30 22October 30, 2022Article at Megan Smolenyak
Captured in Time: The Immigrant Lillicrap Family upon Arrival in America in 1890A Special Photo Finds It Way Home 130+ Years Later Bessie Lillicrap must have been exhausted when she arrived in New York with her children. The family had left Liverpool on October 7, 1890 and finally disembarked on the 18th. That’s a long time to… Apr 06 22April 06, 2022Article at Medium
Finding Barry Manilow’s Mysterious GrandfatherI should have known better when I decided to write an article about Barry Manilow’s Irish roots. As an Irish American fanilow, I wanted to know which town or city could lay claim to him (shout-out to Limerick!), but that’s not where the real story… Mar 09 21March 09, 2021Article at Medium
Philip Reed, The Enslaved Man Who Rescued FreedomThis is an updated version of an article that was first published in the May/June 2009 issue of Ancestry (pages 54–56), which has become freshly relevant for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is recent events at the U.S. Capitol.¹ In… Jan 10 21January 10, 2021Article at Medium
Solving the Mystery of Arne Pettersen, the Last to Leave Ellis IslandAnnie Moore and Arne Pettersen were Ellis Island’s bookends. An Irish teenager, Annie was the first to arrive when the immigration processing center opened its doors on January 1, 1892. 62 years later on November 12, 1954, Norwegian seaman Arne would… Dec 21 20December 21, 2020Article at Medium
Why Pharrell Almost Didn’t ExistEvery one of us is an amalgamation not only of all our ancestors, but of their decisions, and in 1831, Ambrose Hawkins was contemplating moving his family from America to Africa. Had he done so, his son Joseph would have been raised in Liberia… Aug 21 20August 21, 2020Article at Medium
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Revolutionary AncestorsIt makes perfect sense that someone who has as much respect for history as Lin-Manuel Miranda would be well acquainted with his roots, but I couldn’t help but be curious about them myself, so decided to climb the branches of his family tree. And what… Jun 27 16June 27, 2016Article at Megan Smolenyak
