Minutes of the Upper Presbyterian Church

Introduction The following is transcribed from an original, handwritten church register book in my possession. It is labeled only as the Upper Presbyterian Church. It mentions places northwest of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. As best I can tell, this register is from the...

City directories for genealogy: My young grandparents

I {heart} city directories for genealogy research. They offer year-by-year insights into our ancestors’ lives. In-between censuses, I can see people move into different neighborhoods, take new jobs, and even marry or separate. The young newlywed couple in 1947:...

Why blog my family history

A few years ago, a layover dropped me briefly at the Denver airport–and flared in me a sudden longing for my grandparents. I would expect to feel nostalgic at the sight of the Colorado Rockies. When I was a child, my mom took me several times to visit her...