Soldier Accounted For From World War II – Welcome home, Pvt. Donald Roger Lichty. Honored to have researched your family. #hero #WWII

Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash

The post Genealogy Roundup, February 25 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.

6 Things You Didn’t Know about Mark Kelly’s Roots – Countdown! Will Ireland get to claim another?

Woman wins her very own ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ experience and discovers her great-grandfather was a Bristol war hero – This is something that FindMyPast did for a contest winner…a lovely experience for her!

Genetic testing firm 23andMe rejects CEO’s take-private offer – Anyone else nervous about 23andMe? #DNA

Photo by Bo Zhang on Unsplash

The post Genealogy Roundup, August 7 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

I Was Mortified When I Found Out My Parents Are Cousins but They Don’t Seem To Care – Kind of surprised people are still getting surprised by this stuff. Kissing cousins are so much more common than many grasp.

Supercentenarian and remarkable age records exhibit patterns indicative of clerical errors and pension fraud – While the results aren’t all that surprising, it interesting that someone took such a deep dive into this topic! You might have noticed in your research that when people get older, they get sometimes much older. Many elderly, for instance, keep rounding up over time across census records so that someone who’s, say, 89 winds up looking as if they’re 101. Well, this explores that issue. #genealogy

Shadow Boxes of Almudena Cemetery – Wish shadow boxes were more common in cemeteries. Would be interesting to see what ancestors (and their survivors) decided to include.

Parents are finding baby name ideas by visiting cemeteries – “I am a gravestone baby.”

The post Genealogy Roundup, June 13 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

A man who stole ancestors’ baptismal and marriage certificates to falsify his genealogy and thus be promoted to Knight of Honor and Devotion in the Order of Malta has been sentenced to two years in prison by Spain’s Supreme Court – A lot going on here, but I’m glad he got caught and sentenced.

Photo by Rusty Watson on Unsplash

The post Genealogy Roundup, April 17 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Ancestry Tests Produced Shocking Results. Should I Tell My Family? – Familiar but uncomfortable territory for genetic genealogists.

Doctored photographs create false memories of spectacular childhood events. –

Her bridal photos disappeared 30 years ago. A stranger just found them. – Can never get enough of this kind of reunion story!

Photo Credit: Michael Lamberty under Creative Commons license

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

No time to talk. Off on another genealogy adventure!

Top Image Credit: EpicTop10.com under Creative Commons license

The post Genealogy Roundup, November 29 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

He thought his parents’ wedding rings were lost forever. Then, he got a message. – Could read stories like this all day long.

So if I use this for my holiday greeting card to fellow genealogists, what should it say on the inside?

Sean Kirst: 75 years ago, life-or-death struggle overshadowed Buffalo high school game with 50,988 fans – Another moving story from my friend, Sean Kirst.

Longing to Belong Led Me to Genealogy – I had the opportunity to do something similar to this with a 96-year-old woman last week, and it’s very special. This tale is heartbreaking at times, but ultimately heartening.

The lack of pockets in women’s clothing has always been a pet peeve of mine, so it was a no-brainer that I was going to read this! And yeah, I’m one of those who enjoys one-topic history – salt, walls, disease, etc.

Top Photo Credit: Sean Biehle under Creative Commons license

The post Genealogy Roundup, November 15 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Video: Exclusive: How a Rare Portrait of an Enslaved Child Arrived at the Met – Unfortunately, I don’t seem to be able to get a free link for non-subscribers, but this video is so worth watching that I’m sharing it anyway. If you’re able to access it, please take a few minutes to watch this fascinating tale.

UPDATE: I’m learning on other platforms that most people *are* able to view this video, so I hope that applies to you!

Someone uploaded this fellow into one of the online trees I’m working on and I can’t stop seeing Josh Groban.

Northumberland coastal village creates one of the world’s largest family trees – Love this kind of local initiative. Reminds me of what a handful of us did with Osturňa, Slovakia some years back.

30 Million People Today Are Descendants of Passengers on the Mayflower – I don’t think this will be a surprise to most genealogists, but props to the writer for including pedigree collapse!

Top Photo Credit: NoName_13 under Creative Commons license

The post Genealogy Roundup, August 16 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Palmer veteran identified in remains from Korean War – Welcome home, Cpl. Gordon Dennis McCarthy. Honored to have researched your family. (2011)

Can you imagine living in the same house for 105 years? Elsie was born in her Huthwaite home And yes, it appears on the 1921 Census. Can you spot it? – Ah, this is charming!

Top Photo Credit: sarahhsia under Creative Commons license

The post Genealogy Roundup, August 2 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.