Memory Tree Genealogy Journal

Matrilineal Monday - sharing photos, stories, or genealogical information about women in our family tree.  Today, I'm sharing a photo of my great-grandmother, Catherine Margaretha Miller.  What's not to love about this sweet photograph?  Taken at my great-grandparents' home in Samoht Ridge, Delhi, Hamilton County, Ohio, a copy of this photo was passed to me as part of a collection of family history information from my maternal grandfather.  Catherine passed away while my grandfather was bravely serving the United States abroad during World War II.  Some of the details I love most about the photograph include her beautiful outfit, lapel pin, and necklace, the fact that my hair appears so much like hers (I get my dark hair from both sides of the family, though!), the brickwork on the front facing of the home, and the family dog making a cameo in the back left.  Old photographs like this one really enable me to feel a personal connection to relatives I...

IMAGE SOURCE There's just something about finding a marriage license application on file from a relative that just speaks to my heart.  I imagine the excitement...the butterflies...the feeling of "are we really doing this?!?!" that must have accompanied the happy couple.  While working on a little genealogical detour of my own, I came across this license application and subsequent marriage certificate for my paternal great-grandparents William Ray SMITH and Catherine Margaretha MILLER.  A few months back, I featured Catherine Miller's family IN THIS ARTICLE pertaining to her father's trade in the steel industry.  William and Catherine are the parents of my paternal grandfather (Papa).  Most significant for me in this record is the listing of William's parents' names - E. A. Smith (Edward A. Smith - 1852-1918) and Cora B. Mead (1863-1919).  Feeling the love in the air!

Ever since I received my AncestryDNA results and discovered my Turkish/Persian/Caucasus ethnicity and – even more surprising – my LACK of Central European ethnicity,   I’ve made a concerted effort to look further into the lives of my immigrant ancestors and their lives across the ocean.   Most of my time until recently has been tracing family roots on American soil; diving into international genealogy is a completely new ball game.   My first experience with international research was working through my husband’s Norwegian family history…and involved learning new terms in a new language (words like church, parish, baptism, marriage, death, etc.).   It also involved in-depth geography lessons, advancing my understanding of migration, patronymic naming systems, and even digging into common routes of immigration from Norway to the United States.   Thanks to Google Translator, I have been able to use the wonderfully-detailed Norwegian Archives website to lo...