Obituaries are fantastic sources of information. Dates and names are great, but hints at what kind of people your ancestors were are priceless. I love searching through old newspapers, especially the society section and obituaries. Usually the articles are short and give a couple little clues, but this particular obituary of my 3rd Great-Grandmother Catherine […]
The mystery of James Joseph Murphy is SOLVED! A million thanks to Ken W. who located the marriage record of Margaret Richards and James Joseph Murphy. This marriage record was found at Family Search and is the glue to all the questionable details that were lingering about. I stopped using the Family Search website about […]
One of my goals for this blog is to share best practices and lessons learned (mistakes made). My biggest mistake and probably the most reoccurring issue in genealogy, was copying trees and accepting them as fact. With the initial excitement of finding new details and connections, checking sources was not on my mind. I don’t […]
Update February 2017: James Joseph Murphy is no longer the biggest mystery in my tree 🙂 In fact, I ended up tracing his ancestry back to 1810. Original post is below, but more up-to-date info can be found: James Joseph Murphy William Murphy (James Joseph Murphy’s father) Catherine Aspery (James Joseph Murphy’s mother) Harry Murphy (James Joseph Murphy’s […]
Welcome! I’m Katie and live in the metro DC area, am an avid runner, cat lover, and enjoy spending my free time researching family history. Searching through the history/genealogy section at local libraries, going to cemeteries to look for headstone clues, navigating state and national archives to find vital records, interviewing family members, and filling […]
Katie's Grove 