Beethoven and Goethe, the German Shakespeare, were glad to see liberator Napoleon come, and glad to see occupier Napoleon go. Napoleonic la

You’re tracing your family back, and the spellings sometimes just go crazy.

Save letters! I have a treasure trove of memories downstairs. So began the email from my mother earlier this week.

French Germany? France is French and Germany is German, as a general rule, so how could you have French Germany? Well, borders can be flu

The first U.S. president born in the United States (so after the country’s founding) didn’t even speak English as his first language.

The largest emigration ports from Germany to the New World were the Hanseatic cities Bremen and Hamburg, Germany’s leading ports even today.

I love scouring old newspapers. I hit the jackpot with Joseph Billman from Erie - German-born and Civil War veteran.

The main Celtic traditions for genealogy are the Irish, the Scottish and the Welsh. Complicating matters, Irish settlers brought Gaelic from

Christine makes the journey across the Atlantic in 1950. Her daughter in Germany worries that her frail mother might not be strong enough.

Why do some family names end in -son and some in -sen?

AUGH! It’s not just a cry of distress, it’s an anglicization. Why do we see lots of names ending in -augh? Baugh, Grumbaugh, Brumbaugh?

Why were there piles of Christmas cards from 1960 sent from around the world to a young girl in Virginia?

Sewing, in addition to laundry, used to be a responsibility that almost every woman had. And yet it can be tough to get insights into this p

Just a head's up for those looking up dates further back (generally prior or 1752) or from some other countries cultures: People used di