It's amazing how curious you can get about people in no way related to you. I've written before about Olof Harrison, a Swede who mov

Our family has a photo of the framed wedding invitation of my 2nd great aunt and uncle. It's a charmingly simple one. When I first came

When you’re tracing an ancestor to Central Europe from a century or more ago, you need to find out which state they were from. Here are some

One of the early things my father told me when I asked him about his family was that my great-grandmother, Pauline Volkmann, had left her hu

A series of correspondence to and ​​from the same people opens up a whole new understanding about them. Old Swedish postcards from greater

In reaction to the horrific killing burning across Europe, in 1916, Danish composer Carl Nielsen wrote the Inextinguishable, meaning the &#3

When learning about ancestors who immigrated to the US decades or centuries ago, you get a double challenge. Not only is there the translati

English can be all over the map in how you’re supposed to pronounce any given set of letters: you polish the Polish silverware, you wait for

We thought it would be fun to conclude our week celebrating  the magic of handwriting with a light-hearted Christmas note that arrived one F

Eliese Trede, my mother's grandmother, immigrated in 1908, leaving her loving parents on a journey across the Atlantic. This is her 1925

1843 letter in old German handwriting from my 3x great grandfather, to his son telling him to hurry from the army before his mother dies.

I remember being flummoxed by my mom's handwriting. What could it possibly mean? How glad I am that I learned cursive and can now read h

Civil War 1862 Diary: Looking at just the week of August 26 highlights his experiences: rebels attacking, burning railroad bridges, fighting

Day 2 to highlight the Art of Handwriting and your Family through January 23rd, National Handwriting Day. Share a favorite family hand-writt

Post your family handwritten letters to celebrate National Handwriting Day.

An apprentice butcher's training in 19th century "Germany" included journeying and learning from one expert to another and sta

See the 1922 comparison of small-town Fairfield, IA versus New York City - it's entertaining what doing genealogy research can uncover t

Berg vs. Burg  These two words show up abundantly in family and place names across the Germanic languages (German, Swedish, Dutch, Englis

Some old cemeteries have gravestones written in German. Here are some tips to help translate some key words.

Recall that in our last blog on Herbert Harschnek, the US family had been searching for any German relatives for decades with no success. Wh