‘Meeting my dad was a D:Ream’ – pop star’s 50-year search for his birth father – If you’re one of those who believes non-physical traits are also passed on, you’ll enjoy this one.

The post Genealogy Roundup, March 4 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

After 70 years overseas, he returns to complete the genealogy – Way back on the first TV show I ever worked on, I got to tackle a story involving a Chinese woman who had a family tree that went back 4000 years! This is an article about finding the *recent* missing piece of the puzzle! Fun video, too.

Green-Wood Merchandise Design Contest – If you’ve got some artistic flair, here’s a chance to design for Green-Wood, an amazing cemetery!

Photo by Alyssa Coulter on Unsplash

The post Genealogy Roundup, February 18 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

How an unsolved 1971 homicide led to a surprise DNA connection – This happens a fair bit with my Army cases as well – when you almost accidentally reunite family members along the way.

Searching for Sisters: A Guide to Researching Catholic Nuns in the United States – If your family has ever included any nuns (or even if you happen to be Catholic), you’re going to want to snag this book ASAP for your sleuthing purposes!

Top photo: screenshot from John Mills Lecture at the Stanley-Whitman House in Farmington, CT

The post Genealogy Roundup, February 11 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Photo by little plant on Unsplash

The post Genealogy Roundup, February 4 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Top photo: Aisne-Marne Cemetery caretaker and me as a youngster

The post Genealogy Roundup, January 28 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

A second chance with a second surname – Improved surname tool at John Grenham’s Irish ancestors site! #genealogy

Photo Credit: Caroline Johnston under Creative Commons license

The post Genealogy Roundup, January 14 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

‘The hidden engine room’: how amateur historians are powering genealogical research – A salute to dedicated genealogists who create resources for all of us!

Christmas on Ellis Island.

Marriage and the Maiden Name – Interesting discussion

Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash

The post Genealogy Roundup, December 31 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Betty White, now 96 years old, graced us all with her presence at the Emmys. Mischievous and beautiful as ever, she was honored for her remarkable eight-decade career in show business which includes classic series such as The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Golden Girls.

But it was one of her more recent shows — Hot in Cleveland — that puts me most in mind of her own life. In it,White played a wisecracking, Midwest caretaker of a house a trio of Los Angelistas landed in upon impulsively fleeing their California lives. An Illinois native, White moved to Los Angeles while still a child, so this series was a version of her life in reverse.

Though born in Chicago in 1922, Betty Marion White was already residing in a neighborhood ensconced between Melrose Avenue and Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles by the time of the 1930 census. Her father, Horace L. White, a WWI vet and electrical supplies salesman, seems to have been doing fairly well in spite of the nascent Great Depression, as the family owned their home and — perhaps more importantly for Betty’s future career — a radio.

That only-child Betty was close to her parents, Horace and Tess, can be seen in this 1954 California Voter Registration in which the then 32-year-old Democrat shared the same address as her Republican parents. This same year she had a self-titled show on NBC and was voted honorary mayor of Hollywood.

(Ancestry)

Both Horace and Tess were raised in Chicago with a single sibling and Canadian-born mothers (thank you, Canada, for sharing yet another comedic talent with your Southern neighbor). Both also had immigrant fathers, meaning that all four of White’s grandparents were born outside of America, but the specifics are surprising.

It turns out that the ethnic brew that created Betty White is one-quarter Danish, one-quarter Greek, one-quarter Canadian, one-eighth Welsh and one-eighth English. Her Canadian portion sports branches that meander back not only through Canada, but also New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts to the early days of the United States, and eventually back to England, so in fairness, her English percentage should be rounded up a bit.

Perhaps what’s most striking is the Danish-Greek combination. Her Danish grandfather, Christopher White, came to America as a young man and bounced around Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois working as a salesman dealing in everything from hats to rubber. It’s possible that his wife Ettie was the quasi-namesake for Betty.

White’s other grandfather, Greek-born Nicholas Cachikis, also came here as a young man and worked as a salesman, but of one item — ice cream. For decades, he sold ice cream off a wagon, but it was apparently a hand-to-mouth existence as he was sadly buried in a potter’s field when he passed away.

So Betty White will always be Hot in Cleveland and a host of other places, but it’s Chicago, Denmark, Greece, Canada, England and Wales that should be hot to claim her.

Originally published on Medium on September 18, 2018

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An Ancestral Tour of Stephen Colbert’s Family – I see that this article I wrote about Stephen Colbert’s roots is making the rounds again, so I guess I’ll share it as well.

Lies, Damn Lies, and…Primary Sources? – Interesting article from an underutilized resource. Also includes a link to an intriguing collection of prison newspapers!

Clan’s American cousins help save historic Borders church – Love it when trans-Atlantic cousins help each other!

The post Genealogy Roundup, July 23 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

He thought his father abandoned him. Then he took a DNA test. – Lovely to see a welcome genetic #genealogy outcome.

The Rise of the ‘Club-Sandwich Generation’ – So now we’ve got the “club sandwich” generation thanks to the proliferation of living great-grandparents!

Photo by Chris Kofoed on Unsplash

The post Genealogy Roundup, July 9 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.