Family Tracks and Tales

Every family has stories. Some are true.

  • Seeking Isaac: Part One

    Like many budding genealogists, I started by looking at direct ancestors, seeking to build a linear tree back through generations. But a great great great uncle, Isaac E. Lanier, posed a tantalizing mystery I am still exploring. Ingersoll’s Lanier compilation states that Isaac was born in 1817, “went to California in 1849 and disappeared”. However, Continue reading

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  • I can identify…whose ring

    We knew that the plain wide gold ring probably belonged to one of two women: my great-grandmother or her sister-in-law. Later, it had at one time belonged to my grandmother. But no one was left to positively match the ring to its original owner. Then a chance discovery in a box of family photos provided Continue reading

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  • Membership

    Consistency across different records helps reassure us that we are on the right track, while unique details give us clearer a picture of those departed relatives’ lives. The Massachusetts Mason Membership Card (Ancestry) for John William McElroy includes his full name, 1875 birth date and place, 1981 death date, and 1925 membership date. His occupation, Continue reading

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  • The death of Moses Sallee

    Starting points: The Sallee family information included in A Century of Wayne County, presents Moses Sallee as a prominent, prosperous citizen who died in 1840. There is no indication of anything remarkable about his death. Wayne County probate records include no will, consistent with the possibility that he died suddenly. The estate inventory includes not Continue reading

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About this site

Every family has stories. Some are true. This blog recounts some of the stories in my family and others I’ve researched, and my efforts to determine what really happened. Along the way I’ll also respond to a few of Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks themes.

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