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Category: Genealogy

The Battle of the Hedgerows Ends July 18, 1944

Today in History  July 18- The Battle of the Hedgerows Ends with a Family Connection

While most people are familiar with D-Day June 6,1944, many myself included, don’t know much about what happened next.  From July 11th to July 18th the US and German forces fought for control over the city of St. Lô. St. Lô was key to the US Army’s breaking out of Normandy into the French hinterland. Because the US forces had to fight their way through fortified hedgerows that separated field, the battles became the Battle of the Hedgerows. Read More

DNA and Ancestry Answer a Family’s Question

Dna Matches add to my fan chart

Genealogical research has never been easier. With the plethora of information available on-line at Ancestry.com and Familysearch.org, you can start to build a family tree in hours instead of years. Then, when you add in inexpensive   DNA testing, you can uncover long-buried family secrets or answer family questions that cross generations. Read More

Ashton Family History: John Sherrington Ashtons II and III

John Sherrington Ashton Jr.(1837-1864)
John Sherrington Ashton III (1858-1937)

So where should we start my tale about the Ashton family. How about with a quick story about the start of my genealogical research. My first experience with genealogy was when I went with my mother in law to the Trenton Archives for the first time. The only thing that I remember about that day is that I found the death certificate for my great-great grandfather. The second John. Sherrington Ashton. Read More

John Sherrington Gottlieb?? Who Knew!

RGranddad Adds  New Cousins from the Gottlieb Family!

So the name John Sherrington Ashton has a nice British ring to it, don’t you think!  Well, it should my family immigrated from Lincolnshire, England in 1851. But how about the name John Sherrington Gottlieb!! Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it does it. But through the wonders of Ancestry and DNA testing.  I have discovered that he does have a branch on my family tree! Read More

Samuel Johnson of Howell NJ – exciting discoveries….

Granddad discovers his 5th great-grandfather  Samuel Johnson served in the American Revolution and more…

(Featured Image: My 5th Great Grandmother Antje Anny Brower)

Yesterday, I decided to do a little work on my family tree.I realized that I had never put in the information that I had discovered about my 4th great-grandmother Eleanor Johnson Cliver. When I first researched Eleanor and found her death certificate it said that her father was Daniel Johnson of Monmouth County. I searched and searched for a Daniel who could be Eleanor’s father but never could find anyone. Then one day on Ancestry, I came across an abstract from a will that listed Eleanor Johnson, wife of Samuel Cliver! Eleanor is one of eight children of Samuel Johnson and Antje Anney Brower. Now what I hadn’t done until yesterday was enter all that information i.e. her parents and siblings. Read More

The Schultüte and Thoughts of Dresden

Schultüte – the traditional German School Cone

Sometime last week my wife came across some of my old family pictures and gave them to me to put away One  was a picture of my father’s mother Charlotte Frieda MeyerCharlotte Meyer Report Card. In the picture she is holding a cone that is almost as long as she is tall. So my wife set out to find out, what the cone was. Read More

Discovering a Karn Cousin!

A few weeks ago, my daughter Elizabeth went to Target and when she checked out the cashier, an older gentleman, asked her for identification,  since she was using her family team member discount card. After he checked the name, she thought he said “Karn, my mother’s maiden name was Karn”. When she came home and told us what he said, my wife and I couldn’t figure out the family connection. With not many Karn’s around the area, we knew he had to be related, but there was no one that we knew of who could be his mother! We needed to find out!! Read More