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Dom Vitale's War
Last year, while going through boxes of old photos at my dad’s house, we came across a plastic bag containing hundreds of photos taken by...
Apr 26, 20191 min read


Genealogical Gold
My great-great-great-great-grandfather, James Luke, emigrated from Birmingham, England in 1816 at the age of 20. I’ve been lucky enough...
Feb 22, 20191 min read


Ancestral Homes
I recently drove from Maryland to New England for a week of genealogical research with the NEHGS Research Tour in Hartford. I went up a...
Apr 26, 20181 min read


Finding the Amadons
Back in April I attended the biennial conference of the New England Regional Genealogical Consortium (NERGC) in Springfield,...
Dec 14, 20171 min read


Identifying a Family Bible
Growing up, I remember having two huge old family bibles in the house. They were in terrible condition with detached covers, loose pages,...
Mar 2, 20171 min read


Piece Work
I have developed a soft spot for two of my great-great-grandparents, Domenico Caldarelli and Maria Tavano. They were born in Italy,...
Dec 19, 20161 min read


Honoring a Civil War Veteran
My great-great-great-grandfather, Elijah Dickinson, enlisted in Union Army in 1862. He was joined by both of his brothers, Atwood and...
Aug 16, 20161 min read


Solving a family mystery
My mother was born with an unusual last name – Cottuli – which has been both a blessing and a curse for my research. The blessing is that...
Nov 19, 20151 min read


Finding a better life
It is said time and time again that our immigrant ancestors came to America for a better life. What I often find in my research is that...
Sep 24, 20151 min read


Making progress by breaking with tradition
As an avid genealogical researcher, I am keenly aware of the role that tradition plays in history. In all cultures, each new generation...
Sep 8, 20151 min read


Hidden Between the Pages of a 130-year-old Bible
In the fall, I blogged about the restoration of a family bible which was published in the late 1800s. Because no births, marriages or...
Jun 2, 20152 min read


Cousin Emily Dickinson and My Dickinson Ancestors
My maternal grandmother’s maiden name was Dorothea Brooks Dickinson. When I started researching that branch of the family tree, I...
Mar 8, 20152 min read


James Luke, 1796-1885
James Luke was my 4th-great-grandfather, and for quite a while I had a very hard time finding any info on him. I knew that he was born in...
Mar 1, 20154 min read


Porter Cross, 1807-1894
Two of my favorite ancestors, for no particular reason, are Porter & Sophia Cross, both born in 1807. They are my 4th-great-grandparents....
Mar 1, 20152 min read


The Court File of Domenico Caldarelli
I finally received the court file in the mail! It primarily contained witness statements and the charging document. The first item of...
Dec 28, 20142 min read


Rounding Out the Story of Domenico Caldarelli
After my last blog post, I turned to the members of the Italian Genealogy group on Facebook to help me decipher the last name of the man...
Nov 24, 20142 min read


The People vs. Domenico Caldarelli
This week Eli is in New York City on business, so I came up to visit the NYC Municipal Archives. Dad took a train in from Massachusetts...
Nov 22, 20143 min read


Arrivederci, Italia!
Just a few final photos of our incredible trip.
Nov 1, 20141 min read


We Are The Chosen
I found this piece, written by Della M. Cumming in 1943, and it really expresses the motivation behind genealogy research. We Are The...
Nov 1, 20142 min read


The Second Family Bible Restoration
Having had the Dickinson Family Bible restored earlier this year (see earlier blog post here), I was eager to see what Leonard’s Book...
Nov 1, 20141 min read
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