How I use the blog

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Alexandria, 27 Apr 2024.

My little blog is now nearly twelve and a half years old, which is a bit surprising, but here we are. If you're fairly new to this space, and I've seen a few new followers in the past month or so, this space is generally for posts on family history. Sometimes I use this blog for photos from my travels, photos taken by others in the family, or historic photos connected to branches of our family or a place they lived. I might post maps, or news clippings mentioning ancestors or those related to them. Occasionally I'll mix in art, travel posters or other items which may, or might not have a thematic connection to the family or the time of the year we are in.

I use this blog to further research on family lines, or provide an obituary for those who did not have one. I certainly use the blog to highlight references to family in land deeds and other records, and often use this space to dig into DNA matches, ethnicity estimate updates, and more. The blog serves as a place for me to share.

I do not have a regular plan for certain posts or branches to follow, although I do try to extend my knowledge on the various lines throughout the growing tree. New records are made available all the time, either from newspapers, pension files, wills and probate, legal cases, archives or other surprising sources, so this involves checking and rechecking regular databases. Sometimes the posts I share here are also referenced on my own Ancestry tree or on FamilySearch. I do try to include sources, as I know when writing about ancestors who are further back along the tree, others are going to be related, and may stumble onto my research when doing their own.

A long time ago I turned off comments on the blog as this was allowing spammers, and I couldn't keep up with taking them down quick enough. A consequence of that is I'm probably missing out on some helpful queries from distant cousins, family or fellow researchers. It hasn't stopped a few of you good readers from seeking me out via other channels, and for that I'm thankful.

If you've read this far, thanks. The photo at the top of the page is a new mural on a home in Alexandria, which I also shared to my Instagram. Happy weekend everyone.