You’ve heard the term “paper trail”, defined as “a series of documents providing written evidence of a sequence of events or the activities of a person or organization.” That, my friends, along with photographs and memories, is all we leave behind. And DNA. If you’re interested in researching those that came before you, the best Read more about Where do our ancestors hide? Accessing historical sources (pinned)[…]
My grandmother’s maiden name was McAdam, born in NJ in 1918 as the daughter of John J. McAdam, who was himself born in Albany, NY on the 4th of July, 1886. John had several brothers and sisters, and the various family members reading this are descended from this same family. A number of close calls Read more about The McAdams Of Albany[…]
This week we mourn the loss of the matriarch of our Mara family, Florentine Inez Mara (Wood, Lavelle), who died Wednesday, May 22, 2019 at age 88. She was the 9th child of Francis (Frank) D. Mara (1887-1949) and Margaret C. Reilly (1889-1966). Florri, as we knew her, was born on June 5, 1931 in Read more about In memoriam: The last member of a Mara family (1915-2019)[…]
I never heard of Wauwatosa WI until my great aunt Flori Mara told me that her grandfather Daniel Reilly grew up on a farm there. Daniel eventually moved to NJ and married Mary Murphy; their daughter Margaret Reilly married Frank Mara, who was Flori’s father (among several others). The Reilly’s are outliers in our family Read more about The Reilly’s of Wauwatosa WI (part 1)[…]
After the untimely and unexpected death of our immigrant ancestor Morgan Meara at the end of June 1855 and the destruction of their apartment as part of the Walker Street widening project, it seems his family’s short time in New York City (about five years) had come to an end. Somewhere between mid-1855 and mid-1860, Read more about The Mara’s settle in Jersey City: The first generations (1860-1922)[…]
Welcome to America! We pick up our story after the Meara’s arrival at New York City’s Castle Garden port of entry on August 24, 1850 (shown below in 1851). After the 1850 immigration document from their date of arrival, the written record for our Meara’s is very quiet (thus far in my search) until possibly 1853, when Read more about The Meara’s in New York City[…]
Beginning in September 1845, the Irish potato crops were failing and tenant farmers were being evicted (the highest rate of evictions were in Tipperary), forcing a million and half Irish to flee the island over a ten year period. Whether Morgan Meara and his family left Ireland because of the famine or being evicted (or both) Read more about The Meara’s leave Ireland for the New World[…]
Doing Irish research is not easy and involves a lot of getting familiar with the workings of the island itself in addition to doing the usual genealogical research. Thankfully, our Meara clan is a well-known one and much information exists – at least enough to tease out the basic backstory until such time as you Read more about The Meara’s of Tipperary Ireland[…]
I have a large batch of WWII letters between my grandparents Maurice and Mildred Mara scanned and archived, and occasionally I poke through the hundreds of pages looking for bits of info about the experience to follow up on. My grandfather describes movies he watched, places he went, assignments he had, people he interacted with Read more about Lt. Mara’s lonely Christmas, 1944[…]
Here’s another one of those fun connections in which I am related to a famous person and in no way qualified to inherit any money! 😉 Thomas J. Watson Jr. was head of IBM from 1956 to 1971, following the footsteps of his father Thomas Sr. Here he is alive and well, smiling for a Read more about Me and the President/CEO of IBM![…]
So I was poking around FamousKin.com (a searchable website featuring celebrities and their family trees), when I came across Kris Kardashian. I noticed her maiden name was Houghton. Hmm, I thought, I know that name, as many Houghtons are in my family tree. Next I researched my way backwards from her father (Robert True Houghton), Read more about My Kardashian Kousins-![…]