Avid family historian pestering relatives for lore, sifting through old dusty records, and passing the spittoon for DNA samples - all to unearth his roots.
Jan 26, 2022 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
I was 11 when #MyGenealogyStory began. My teacher asked the class to map out our family trees. I was clueless. My aunt, an avid family historian, came to my rescue. 1/5
She shipped me a tube containing a tightly rolled pedigree chart. Like a treasure map to the past, I excitedly unfurled the scroll (printed on dot matrix paper with perforated edging). Covering the dining room table, it contained peculiar names like Burr Zelah and Waitstill. 2/5
Jan 23, 2022 • 6 tweets • 4 min read
For our ancestors who lived before the age of photography, their signature is often the closest we get to “seeing” them. Do you have a favorite ancestral “John Hancock”? 1/6 #NationalHandwritingDay
My favorite ancestor signature (at the moment) belongs to my 5th great-grandfather Thomas Kirk, who left his mark on the 1832 administrator’s bond from his son’s probate file. It’s simple and suggests a lot about his education and life. 2/6 #NationalHandwritingDay
