Into the Past: My Road Trip to Scranton

February 19, 2025

Sharing Cleveland, Buffalo, and Canada Resources

Clipart Library It's really exciting to come across a new resource that brings an ancestor's story to life. It could be an historical map, a dictionary full of unfamiliar words and archaic terms, or a cemetery database. As I've researched Mary Jane Sheridan over the past few months, I've discovered several such resources that have made understanding her life and the records she left behind easier. As her residence changed over the course of her life, I've focused on not one, but five different localities. And I have found some wonderful resources that I'd like to share here so that other family researchers can benefit from them. Here are some of my favorites and how I used them: BUFFALO, AND ERIE COUNTY, NEW YORK Map of the city of Buffalo, N.Y. ( https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/agdm/id/30004/rec/2 ) This 1856 map was really helpful to me in locating Catholic churches in the neighborhood where the Sheridan family lived and might hold their s...

I am participating in 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, a writing challenge encouraging genealogy researchers to write about their ancestors. The challenge is hosted by genealogist, blogger and podcaster Amy Johnson Crow.

Here's my post for Amy's Week Eighteen prompt: Road Trip

By Nancy Gilbride Casey

Part preparation, part dumb luck, part generosity of others, part serendipity. These things equal success on a genealogy road trip, in my recent experience. Scranton and Wayne County, Pennsylvania were my road trip destinations in March 2019—the places my Gilbride ancestors first called home in the United States.

Facebook was the perfect medium to share my discoveries while on the road in Pennsylvania, and I reported back each night to my family and friends in a series of posts I'll share here. They create a neat road trip timeline, while capturing the thrill of the find, somber closure, and other emotions which may only come by actually walking where our ancestors trod.