GraveObsessions
Digging up my roots!
Stories from an addicted genealogist
From Colonial New England to Minnesota, Norway to the United States..
learn more about the families I’m researching.
s
Ernest Loren Simpson
Ernest Loren Simpson – my grandmother’s father and my namesake (Well, his middle name at least!)
Susan Belle Stanwood
Susan (Stanwood) Clark Simpson was my grandmother’s mother, and the person whose roots I’ve spent my life searching!
Julia Christine Veland
Julia (Veland) Uphouse provides me with opportunities to research my Norwegian heritage! Her mother, Lisbet (Gravdahl),
-
The Stanwood Coat of Arms
The coat of arms is an oft sought-after element of family historians. Symbolizing the right to bear arms, the coat of arms indicated status and privilege. Rarely are those seen in the United States deemed authentic. The New England Historical and Genealogical Register 50:542 tells us of the Stanwood Coat of Arms. The article’s author, Mrs.…
-
Oh my WORD! Microsoft Word, that is!
I’ve had a variety of posts about my workflow and tools that I use to stay organized. A recent inquiry regarding my post on databases made it apparent an update was due on my process for tracking research. After playing around with several applications for use as a research log, I found no tool or…
-
Making the case for the parentage of Lavina (Spencer) Bursley
Autosomal DNA, town records of Provicetown, Massachusetts, chain migration shed light on Lavina (Spencer) Bursley’s family. Lavina (Spencer) Bursley[1] was born about 1780 in Provincetown, Barnstable County, Massachusetts.[2] The town was so small that at the time of 1790 census only one page was used to enumerate the town’s 454 inhabitants. Included on the census was…
-
Women in my tree: great grandmother Annabelle (Boyd) Rogers
Women seem to fade into the background of our family trees, their lives and stories so quickly forgotten. Researching my father’s family, I recently realized I had asked him very few questions about his beloved grandmother, Annabelle (Boyd) Rogers, who, with Dad’s grandfather Joseph Rogers, raised my Dad and legally adopted him. Annabelle, shown above…
-
Maine’s Digital Records Explode at FamilySearch
If you were like me and initially stunned and short of breath upon hearing that FamilySearch was ending microfilm rental on August 31st, take heart! Yes, rental is ending, but it is being replaced with something far better – DIGITAL RECORDS! Best of all many of these records, including those found in my itty bitty,…
-
Seek and ye shall find….the missing children of Benjamin and Cynthia (Day) Bursley
My great, great grandmother, Lavina (Bursley) Stanwood, was the sixth child born to Benajamin and Cynthia (Day) Bursley. Pictured with her above are her living siblings, beginning with John Morris Bursley (left), Susan (Bursley) Schelefoo Smallen, Lavina (Bursley) Stanwood, and Martha (Bursley) Orrock. Another brother, Aaron Day Bursley, lived to adulthood, but photos of him…
-
Nathaniel Lord, 3rd Great Grandson of Robert Day
On 27 November 1742, twenty-eight year old Elizabeth Day (daughter of Thomas Day and the great grand daughter of Robert Day of Ipswich) published intentions of marriage to Nathaniel Lord. The two continued to reside in Ipswich, where they died and were laid to eternal rest in the Old Burying Ground. Nathaniel died 16 January…
-
eBay treasure: Harriet Luzetta Day’s Arithmetic Book
Harriet Luzetta Day was the sister of my third great grandmother, Cynthia Sears Day. She was born about 1812 in Industry, Somerset County, Maine, and became a teacher, probably giving up her occupation when she married Rowland Freeman in 1834. Shown below is an arithmetic book owned by Harriet L. Day which I recently purchased…
-
Custom Smartphone Cases Carry Your Ancestors!
The iPhone 7 was just released. My iPhone 6 Plus is just fine though, although it just had it’s second birthday. My case, however, is quite cracked and desperately in need of replacement. My creative son suggested I buy a custom case, and thought I’d enjoy one with a genealogy theme. So, off to Zazzle…
-
Persistence pays off with original records!
Death certificates are great sources of info – but the one above was frustrating to me. I wanted to see the original death register from which the data had been taken. However, I was told that privacy laws prohibited me from viewing the nearly 150-year-old book containing the death of Cynthia (Day) Bursley, my 3rd…
Lauren Rogers
Addicted Genealogist
Categories
