A Gleasure Family Story
Last week I wrote about Ben Naylor's letters from the Gleasure Family in Ireland and the photos in the collection. Here's more of the story. When Frank Gleasure emigrated to Natick, Mass., about 1900, he left behind a number of younger siblings. For several years, his brother Joseph wrote letters...
Read MoreWDYTYA London and a Launch
What a busy week! Last week at this time, I was walking through Shakespeare's birthplace recovering from two action-packed days of looking at photos at Who Do You Think You Are? Live! in London. I have some pictures to share. As soon as I came home a new...
Read MorePhotos and Family History Vacations
Last weekend I spoke at a meeting of the Genealogical Research Institute of Virginia (GRIVA). My last lecture of the day covered family history vacations and discussed ways to use photos of homes, cemteries and other places to create an itinerary. I talked about visiting old family homes in person...
Read MoreThe Story Behind Unknown Faces in Photos
Last week, I featured Julie Magerka's genealogical photo mystery. As you know, I believe that every photo tells a story. By piecing together the clues present in a photo—photographer's imprint, props, faces, clothing and photographic format—you can let that photo talk. Even if you can't identify...
Read MorePhoto Wishes Really Do Come True
There are two success stories this week: an answer for the contest winner and a current connection for a 20th century mystery!First, there is a solution to the picture of the men dressed like Indians that I covered in Contest Winner Mystery and Contest Winner Revisted. A few people...
Read MoreAround the World with Family
Reader Carol Norwood is a dedicated genealogist searching for more details of her mother's life in far off Indonesia. Her mother Cita Dromer lived in Sumatra from 1927 to 1940. About a month ago, she sent scan of her mother's Poezie book (a type of scrapbook for poetry and other...
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Who Do You Think You Are? Live 2011
I'm posting a couple of days later than usual this week because I was in London for Who Do You Think You Are? Live. (Plus, I had a little downtime with my English friends.)Maureen solves photo mysteries at WDYTYA? Live.A series of last minute serendipitous things happened this...
Read MoreWish I Were There!
Hope it’s OK if I butt into the blog for a second. Maureen’s on a whirlwind trip to the Who Do You Think You Are? Live family history show in London, where she’s staying with genealogy Facebook friends.She says hi, and she sent a picture of the group queueing...
Read MorePostmortem Images
Remember how last week I mentioned that this column would feature a "viewer discretion advised" image? The sight of a deceased person in a photo is the reason for the warning. Like it or not, our ancestors began photographing the dead members of their family in the early 1840s. If...
Read MoreItalian Military Picture Part 2
Two weeks ago, I promised a second installment of the blog on the Italian soldier photo. Thank you for commenting on the first column. While I puzzled over the v. Fabio Massimo.83, two of you reminded me that v. stands for via, Italian for the road on which the...
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