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Look Twice: Ellen is Discovered!

  Image by rawpixel. Don't you love serendipity? I was surprised by a recent discovery after coming back to a missing record from a 2019 project. I was working on my McAndrew-Kelly line from Scranton, Pennsylvania. I contacted a local researcher to look for the marriage of Patrick McAndrew (Abt. 1838-1892) and Ann Kelly (Abt. 1844-1925), and the baptisms of their children in local Catholic church records. She found everything except Patrick and Ann's marriage and the baptism of the couple's first daughter, Ellen. My friend speculated that perhaps Patrick and Ann had married in their native Ireland and that Ellen was born and baptized before they immigrated to Pennsylvania. At the time, I did not have any information on the family before the 1870 census.  I've learned a lot about Patrick McAndrew, a second great-grandfather, since 2019. I've fleshed out his timeline and have narrowed daughter Ellen's birth window to between 1865 when Patrick paid federal taxes du...

So Many Stories to Tell

Young Thomas J. "Tommy" Kozlina and my mom Anna Margaret Kozlina.
Friends,

This past year, I have dedicated much time to my favorite hobby: family history. I have read books, listened to podcasts, attended workshops, and begun again, to research our family lines.

I do so for a variety of reasons, but mainly I am intrigued and excited by the people the research reveals. At first, it was all about the names and dates, and "how far can I get back?" And, while that is still somewhat of a focus (Apparently, we cannot go back to Ireland until I find out where the Casey line is from!), I find more and more that I am just drawn into the stories that emerge, as I find more details of our ancestors' lives.

There's the funny stuff : "Polish Wedding Causes Trouble," is the headline of a newspaper article featuring my great grandmother Margaret McAndrew Gilbride. We'll save that one for another post.

There's everyday life: "So-and-So is visiting their mother this week." The not-so-everyday: "Sleeping Sickness Fatal to Girl."

There are stories which break your heart, and ones that make you nod your head and say, "Oh, so THAT's why..."

There are discoveries of familial likenesses, shared hobbies, tales of travel from abroad, and tales of deeply held American roots. There are railroad men, a hockey player, a prominent blacksmith, several coal miners, a nun and a priest...

Newspaper snippets - the Facebook of the time - recording who visited whom, or who wore what to whose wedding. There are both slices of everyday life and memorable moments in photo. There are bunches of interesting folk, who lived sometimes ordinary, sometimes extraordinary lives.

So many stories to tell. And here in this little space, I hope to share them with you.

Come on along.

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