Thinking of my grandfather, James V Shields, today and pulled up this letter he wrote home from France during WWI. Never spoke of his service in later days, so feel very fortunate to have this trace. He’s the fellow standing in the middle in the photo. #VeteransDay

New Jersey State Archives – For those with NJ roots! #genealogy

Suncoast Genealogy Society – Just a reminder that I’ll be talking #genealogy – in person for the first time in a long time! – on Nov 22nd in Palm Harbor, FL! Hope you can join us!

Photo: Osioni, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The post Genealogy Roundup, November 12 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

How I Found My Elusive John Murphy – In case you didn’t catch it earlier, this piece might give you some ideas for finding that elusive John Smith/Murphy/Schmidt in your family!

There Is More Good Than Evil in This Country – Thoughtful take on The Unclaimed, the new book about unclaimed persons

A Family Tree: Hippolyte Hodeau’s Trench Art (ca. 1917) – A family tree of a very different kind. Trench art from WWI.

Top Photo Credit: Charlene N Simmons under Creative Commons license

The post Genealogy Roundup, April 10 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Is it just me or is it becoming harder and harder to tell whether someone’s died? And yes, I realize that must sound strange to non-genealogists.

The genealogist who unearthed a dark family secret: ‘Discovering I had a traitor for an ancestor has been a rollercoaster’ – Love this article about renowned genealogist Nick Barratt and his experience uncovering a rogue in his own family tree.

Woman’s reaction to finding out she’s turning 100 is so wholesome and relatable –

The post Genealogy Roundup, July 26 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Army base in Louisiana sheds Confederate name for a Black war hero – Pleased to have had a chance to speak about WWI hero, Henry Johnson.

Was just asked to share this in one of the genealogy groups I participate in and thought it was worth re-sharing here because somehow this frustrating myth never seems to go away!

Camryn and Milo Manheim to lead off premiere of new Jewish-themed genealogy TV series – Another genealogy TV series headed our way!

How to plan a genealogy trip to connect with your roots – Whoa, is this right? Ancestry’s (ProGenealogists) roots travel services start at $3,000/day?! Time for some of us to increase our rates, eh?

Top Photo Credit: Verne Becker under Creative Commons license

The post Genealogy Roundup, June 21 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Looks as if I have another entry for my collection of butcherings of the Smolenyak name.

Always so strange cold-calling a twin and asking whether they were born first or second.

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

Top Image Credit: VirtualHistorians.com

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

Top Photo Credit: The U.S. Army under Creative Commons license

The post Genealogy Roundup, November 10 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

“There’s a television series for Amazon in the works, from the producers of The Crown.”

P.S. Her latest is brilliant and almost painfully relevant.

New POW/MIA Records Added! – It’s a little strange to see these lists on Ancestry/Fold3 as they’ve been available online elsewhere for years, but perhaps it will help with awareness. This announcement features one of the tragic POW/Shinyo Maru cases, and I’m pleased to say that many of these men’s families have been found – sometimes including relatives in the Philippines. Would be wonderful if it’s possible to identify some of them.

Top Image Credit: Ian O’Byrne under Creative Commons license

The post Genealogy Roundup, September 1 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Rapid City’s Halley family piano finds its way home after 80 years – Some years back, I struggled to find the right home for a family piano I was sentimental about. Finally found the perfect resolution, and these folks sure have as well.

Adoption story has several interesting twists, turns for two men – Balanced story. This one turned out well, but they acknowledge that’s not always the case. Glad these fellows found each other.

Mom of six who turned her Irish pub into a hub of pandemic service gets $1 million surprise –

Top Photo Credit: cisc1970 under Creative Commons license

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

The story behind Paul McCartney’s “Magic Piano” – Hey, Beatles fans! Check out this article about Paul McCartney’s magic piano by my friend Brendan Farrell!

The Amazing Women in Stephen Colbert’s Family Tree – On his (recent) birthday, celebrating the ancestors who brought us the amazing Stephen Colbert!

TJ Holmes interviews Megan Smolenyak about her research on President Obama’s Irish roots – Continuing to share some of the videos I’ve unearthed during my decluttering, and given that Sunday, May 23rd, will be the 10th anniversary of meeting President Obama when he went to Ireland to explore his roots, this seems a good time to share this fun interview with TJ Holmes leading up to it.

Top Photo Credit: Steve Evans under Creative Commons license

The post Genealogy Roundup, May 19 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.