William and Nancy

Before diving into the Warren County, Kentucky Court case involving my 4th-great-grandparents, William Free and Nancy Hayden Clark Free, I need to step back and properly introduce William and Nancy. William is currently a brick wall, I do not know his parents or where he came from in Kentucky. I do not have a marriage record for William and Nancy, but I do have the names of their children, and US Census entries in 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880 for William and Nancy together. Let's start there.

In the 1850 US Census, William and Nancy appear in Division 2, Barren County, Kentucky, living two houses down from Nancy's parents Jonathan and Martha Clark. My 3rd-great-grandmother Martha Jane Free is listed in the household with her older sister Elizabeth C. Free.

Ancestry. 1850 US Census. Barren County, KY.

By 1860, the family had moved to neighboring Metcalfe County with Nancy's mother, Martha Patsy Clark, and added a son, William Jacob Free.

Ancestry. 1860 US Census. Metcalfe County, KY.

Martha Jane married William Matthews on 27 June 1861 in Metcalfe County. My recap on the family of William and Martha Jane is here from 2017. The marriage entry lists Martha's parents as born in Russell County, Kentucky (for William Free) and Virginia (for Nancy). 

In the 1870 US Census, William Free, Nancy and son William appear in Glasgow, Barren County, Kentucky. Nancy is listed as cannot read or write.

Ancestry. 1870 US Census. Barren County, KY.

By 1880, the family is shown in Roseville, Barren County, Kentucky. The 1880 entry states William's father was born in Kentucky and mother in Virginia, so those are leads to pursue on another search.

Ancestry. 1880 US Census. Barren County, KY.

This exhausts the census records for William, who died before 16 June 1900. Nancy appears as a widow in the 1900 US Census in Elk Spring, Warren County, Kentucky, living with her daughter Elizabeth.

Ancestry. 1900 US Census. Warren County, KY.

The census entries provide some hints of where to look next using FamilySearch Full Text Search, for records involving William and Nancy in Barren, Metcalfe and Warren County, Kentucky.

Another source of information on William and Nancy may be found in the Civil War pension files. It looks like William H. Free enlisted in the Union Army, 15th Kentucky Cavalry. There is a pension card on Fold3, and another on Ancestry listing Nancy with a widow's pension file number.

Fold3. US Civil War pensions index.

Ancestry. General index to pension files.

Martha Jane's Testimony

FamilySearch. Warren County, KY.

Thanks once again to FamilySearch Full Text Search, I've found a page of testimony signed by my 3rd-great-grandmother Martha Jane Free Matthews, in the case P. P. Rountree vs Nancy Free in Warren County, Kentucky Court, dated about 1903. While I've looked at the Matthews side, Martha Jane's side has some brick walls after her father William Free. I'll be diving into this case, and peeling back the layers on this mystery branch.

RootsTech 2027 session notices going out

At the end of May I submitted two session proposals for RootsTech 2027. This afternoon, the decline notices arrived from the RootsTech team. I'm really ok with it. I know they receive a ton of proposals each year and need to weigh the proposals with the themes, and talks from established names in the space. I'll still attend in person and I am looking forward to seeing which sessions made it through the competitive process.

The branch that went to New Zealand

Among the many DNA matches connected to my Dad's results on MyHeritage, one 14.3 cM match from New Zealand has a small tree showing her maternal grandfather's Hanley line. These Hanleys arrived from Ireland in 1863, settling in the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. John, his brother Patrick, and their sister Margaret Hanley settled in and around the Waimate and Morven Districts. Other trees on Ancestry show John Hanley as a son of Murtagh Hanley and Mary Fahey, and that John was born in Galway in 1843. 

Galway may have been the port the Hanleys sailed from, but it's very likely their roots trace back to Roscommon, 77 km away. Just like the cluster of Australian matches connected to the Gannon-Hanley group, this New Zealand branch shows a group of brave Irish immigrants made the long journey around the world in search of a better life.

Path in the Park

Vincent van Gogh. Path in the Park. 17-18 Sept 1888.

 

Ancestry's Regions by Parent and Grandparent Coming Soon

Ancestry. DNA regions by parent and grandparents.

Some AncestryDNA customers may have already begun to see updates on their accounts with a new feature - regions by parent and grandparents. This updated version of Ancestry's SideView is supposed to provide additional information about ancestral regions by grandparents. I don't have this yet, but am really interested to see what it says.

Don't overlook Ancestral Journeys

Ancestry. Journeys close-up.

Between 2024 and 2025, Ancestry renamed Genetic Communities to Ancestral Journeys as part of its AncestryDNA feature. In the next month or so Ancestry is likely to release its 2026 DNA update, and it will be very interesting to see how they keep improving on this powerful tool. In 2025, I used my Dad's ancestral journey for Central Ireland (concentrated around Lough Lee and the border of Roscommon and Longford) to hypothesize this journey belonged to the family of my 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget. Knowing what I know now, it's incredible that two years ago the DNA was pointing at this exact spot in Central Ireland. 23&Me's Ancestry Composition update also aligns with this region of Ireland for my results.

Ancestry. Journeys map for Roscommon and Longford.

Another of her majesty's soldiers

Fold3. UK Royal Hospital Chelsea Pensioner Service Records.

In June 2024, I shared entries from the British Army pensioner records for Timothy Hanley. I now think Timothy was an older brother of my 4th-great-grandmother Maria Hanley, mother of Bridget Gannon. Another Hanley soldier appears in the same records, Martin Hanley. According to his service record, Martin was born in Kilgeevin, County Roscommon, Ireland about 1813. This location is very close to Cloontuskert and Termonbarry (seen on the map in this post from 23 August 2026). He enlisted in the 73rd Regiment of Foot on 4 November 1832, receiving half a crown for signing as a recruit.

Martin was deployed to Gibraltar four months, then to the Mediterranean (Valletta, Malta then Corfu, Greece) for three and a half years, and North America (Nova Scotia) for three years, and the remainder of his time in Great Britain. His service ended on 28 June 1843 and he was approved for a medical discharge on 6 July 1843.

The service record includes a great description of his height and features, brown hair, grey eyes and a dark complexion.

I think Martin was discharged and under home depot service from 1839 through 1843. There is a Martin Hanley who married Ellenora Igo and appears in the 1850 US Census in Salisbury, La Salle County, Illinois. This Martin is the ancestor of three of my Dad's DNA matches. I think this is the same person as the Martin Hanley who served in the 73rd Regiment of Foot, which means Martin was likely a brother of Timothy, Thomas and Maria Hanley.

FamilySearch Wiki on Roscommon

FamilySearch wiki for Roscommon, Ireland.

As I dive further into the records on the Gannon and Hanley families in Roscommon and Longford, Ireland, it is a good reminder to check what sources are available using the helpful FamilySearch wiki. My particular connections point to the border of Roscommon and Longford, at the historic crossing of Termonbarry. While I've looked at some of these records in the past, it is always helpful to revisit these sources to see if there are new records that might have been added or overlooked.

Termonbarry, Roscommon. JohnGrenham.

Research Progress September 2026

With the calendar change to a new month it is time for another recap on my research progress. The main focus of August was the DNA Skills course and determining the family of my Irish immigrant 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget. Toward the end of August I seemed to have enough DNA signs to make the case for Daniel Gannon and Maria Hanley as the parents of Bridget.

There's a bit more work to do, and I am continuing to build out a genetic map linking a 44 cM match descending from a brother of Daniel Gannon, and a 23 cM match descending from a brother of Maria Hanley. The Gannons may have had a sibling who left Ireland for Australia, as there's a cluster of Australian matches also in common with HD, the 44 cM match, and his niece, a 26 cM match.

The other research questions I listed in my August post carry over to this month. I may switch over to the maternal side of the tree once I've had my 1:1 meeting with an expert coach as part of the DNA Skills course and confirm if I'm on the right track with my hypothesis for Daniel and Maria.

End of August

Photo by Patrick Jones. Tompkins County, NY. 19 Aug 2026.

 

A corner of Dimmick Township

 

Ancestry. US Land Ownership map, Dimmick, La Salle, Illinois. 1876.

The map above shows part of Dimmick Township, La Salle County, Illinois. In the middle of the map are some familiar names, Thomas and Timothy Hanley.

An overlap in Roscommon

 

Screenshot from JohnGrenham's Irish Ancestors page.

When I was in Dublin back in October 2025, I had a one-hour consultation with an expert at the Irish Family History Centre. Among the many suggestions she provided, one was to look at the resources on JohnGrenham.com. There's a tool where you can plug in two family names and see how they overlap in the records. At the time, we were looking at Dooner and Hanley, along with Farrell and Casey. With my latest discovery, I plugged in Gannon and Hanley, and the overlap is pretty clear.

The Australian Connection

 

Arthur Streeton. Golden Summer, Eaglemont. 1889.

As I look at the DNA matches in common associated with my 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget's side of the tree, I am seeing clusters of Australians descended from Irish people from Roscommon and Longford. The Australian story is worth exploring in further detail. On my extended travel calendar for late 2027 is a long awaited visit to Australia. I've missed a few opportunities to see Australia and New Zealand, and I'm really looking forward to the chance to finally travel to the land Down Under.

I'm going to use some of the remaining days of the month to look at some of these Australian connections and try to build floating trees connecting them back to my growing list of family names from the border of Roscommon and Longford.

It makes sense that descendants from my Irish line would escape famine era-Ireland for new opportunities across the world in Australia and New Zealand. I'd like to explore their stories further before I make my own long journey around the world to see this intriguing place. 

Did I solve it?

Ancestry. Ireland, Catholic Parish Records. 18 May 1824.

The image above from 18 May 1824 shows Bridget (Brigidam in the Catholic naming), daughter of Daniel Gannon and Maria Hanley in the diocese of Elphin, County Roscommon, Ireland. Sponsors were listed as Thomas Hanley and Margrette Kelly. If I am correct, this entry shows my 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget as she's brought before the church with her parents. If I have this right, Thomas would have been Bridget's uncle, and I've looked at him before, as Bridget lived next door to Thomas in the 1850 US Census in La Salle County, Illinois. This would also mean Timothy Hanley, the other neighbor in the 1850 US Census, the soldier sent to India via South Africa, was also her uncle.

There's a lot of "ifs" still to cover, but so far, the DNA is lining up with this hypothesis.

I examined this family back in June 2024, but it has taken a while for the DNA analysis to catch up to the paper trail. At the time I followed a hunch that Bridget was likely from a town near her first husband Patrick Dooner, who lived near Termonbarry, Roscommon, Ireland. It is unclear where Bridget and Patrick were married. So far I have not found a marriage record for them in Roscommon or Longford. It's possible they just eloped, or married elsewhere, even in England before arriving in America.

Using HD, an ungrouped 44 cM match in common with my Dad, I looked at both his shared matches of matches, and his own tree, to connect back to his great-grandfather Edward Gannon, born in Kilbarry, Roscommon in 1849.

Another generation back from Daniel Gannon, his father Thomas Gannon, born about 1770, was from Longford, Ireland.

Maria as a sister of Thomas and Timothy Hanley makes so much sense. This is why Bridget would have been living next door to them in 1850 with her infant Michael Dooner. There's also the group of matches connected to Philip Hanley, descending from Martin Hanley Sr (1810-1873). Martin Hanley was also from Roscommon. Philip is a 39 cM match with EWM, a 1C1R with my Dad, descending from his uncle Lowell O'Brien. My Dad and Philip have 23 cM in common, along with 17 cM in common with his sister.

If the hypothesis holds, Bridget's parents were Daniel Gannon and Maria Hanley, my 4th-great-grandparents. It also means I likely have the names of my 5th-great-grandparents, Thomas Hanley and Anne. These people were listed together in the Griffiths Valuation entry for Kilbarry, Parish of Termonbarry, County Roscommon. The family names Gannon, Farrell, Hanley, Cox, and Igo/Egan, show up repeatedly in DNA matches. I previously described about how Anna Maria might have been a name of Bridget's mother, based on Irish naming patterns and her children. If the hypothesis is correct, her first child with John O'Brien combined the names of her grandmother Anne and mother Maria.

I have a block of Hanley DNA matches connected to Philip who went to Australia and tested at MyHeritage. There's another group closely connected to the Hanleys who descend from Finnerans and Egans (Igo) in Roscommon. Another group of DNA matches align with the surnames Casey, Farrell and Greeley in Longford. There's more to do to validate the theory, but it is looking strong based on the combined DNA mapping, chromosome triangulation, and the paper trail.

I've run the hypothesis through several tools from YDG, to Claude and Google Gemini. These are all supporting the current theory.

In walking distance

Google Maps. Kilbarry to Termonbarry.

In my previous post, I looked at an ungrouped match with 44 cM in common with my Dad. This match, HD, had a great-grandfather born in Kilbarry, County Roscommon. On the map, this location is 6.7 km from Termonbarry, the home of Bridget's first husband Patrick Dooner. In fact, I looked at the family of this match back in June 2024, noting the names in the neighborhood - Gannon, Hanley, Cox, Farrell, Igo. This grouping deserves closer scrutiny.

Patterns developing

This has been a slower month for family history blogging, but in the background the activity continues. I'm currently in the DNA Skills Workshop with YourDNAGuide. Earlier in the month I shared a list of research questions, but for Skills I've focused almost entirely on trying to breakthrough on my the families of my 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget and the mystery O'Briens who went to Pennsylvania.

Since starting with YDG two years ago, I've been trying to develop the knowledge and skills to work with DNA matches. I think I've come a long way, building clusters, and learning how to apply various tools. It has certainly been a challenge with an absence of matches to Bridget's line. I might have been looking at the matches in the wrong way, and without additional elements necessary to find the right patterns.

In July I started to notice clusters of Australian matches on my Dad's results on MyHeritage. While some of these people have Irish ancestry and connections to other branches on my Dad's maternal line, it has been tough to distinguish whether a few of them trace back to the O'Brien side or Bridget's side. I tried a new approach where I used matches in common between my Dad and O'Brien descendant EWM on MyHeritage. He shares 228 cM, and as of earlier in the month, they had 210 matches in common. I created a spreadsheet, and listed the name of every match, amount of shared cMs, amount of longest block, and other notes such as country or the name of the branch where I suspected they fit on my tree. Essentially I was creating and separating the network of matches.

When that exercise was done, there were clear groupings:

• Matches also in common with the Pennsylvania O'Briens
• Lee, Lambert, and Brown-Welsh descendants, not connected to the lines of John O'Brien and Bridget
• Mystery cluster in Australia/New Zealand and Suriname
• A group connected to a descendant of the Hanleys of La Salle County, Illinois, pointing back to Roscommon, Ireland
• An Irish group with links to Roscommon/Longford, Ireland

I was able to separate 85 people from the 210 who seem to be O'Brien/Bridget and worth exploring further to see how they are related to each other. Then I went back to my groups of matches on Ancestry, checking these MyHeritage matches to see who showed up in both places, and repeated the steps with FamilyTreeDNA and 23&Me.

In the meantime, this month Ancestry introduced in ProTools the ability to filter matches by ancestral region. Using this feature on my Dad's matches and the groups I had already created for O'Brien/Lamon and O'Brien/Bridget, with Leinster, Ireland as the region focus, I was able to see matches who had Roscommon and Longford connections. There were a few matches that I had not placed in the earlier groups, including one match with 44 cM. Looking at this person's shared matches of matches, I could then see a cluster of Australians and some of these people were also on MyHeritage, the earlier chart I created from EWM's matches, and at 23&Me. This feels like a breakthrough.

Two years ago I had an absence of matches pointing to Bridget's side of the tree, now I have a growing spreadsheet of very real leads across the different DNA testing platforms. In some cases, for those who tested at MyHeritage, FTDNA, 23&Me, or loaded kits to Gedmatch, I can see chromosome segments in common with me and my Dad's results. This has also helped narrow in on potential Bridget matches.

It makes sense that some descendants of Bridget's family lines left Central Ireland for better opportunity across the ocean in Australia, New Zealand and America. My next step is to see how these people match to each other, build out some floating trees, and see who has lines connecting back to Roscommon and Longford. 

Closer to the end of summer than the beginning

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Ai Weiwei at LACMA. 9 Aug 2026.

While the calendar says mid-August, kids in the neighborhood are beginning their journeys off to college. Our senior's last year of high school kicks off in a week. This is probably the earliest it has felt like the end of summer is approaching. Soon I'll be driving Sophia north for Year 3. It's going to be an exciting period over the next six months. 

We have a few more weeks before calendar summer comes to a close, but we're entering the part of the year that seems to speed up.

Filter by region now on AncestryDNA

AncestryDNA Filters.

Ancestry has added the ability to filter DNA matches by ancestral region. Using my Mom's results as an example, when I click into regions as shown above, I get a drop down menu for all of her ancestral regions. Then I can click further to filter by matches in common from those regions. This is a significant improvement to the filter by journeys feature that Ancestry launched last year.

When I run this on my Dad's results and filter by Central Ireland, I can now see several bubble groups with ties to Roscommon, Ireland. This is really promising for finding potential connections to the family of my 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget.

Return from the West Coast

I'm back after spending the week in Los Angeles. The new David Geffen Galleries at LACMA are amazing. I could have spent more time there, but will have to make another visit on a return trip to the city.

A big focus of the research time during the month so far has been looking closely at the O'Brien DNA matches. I am currently working with 210 matches in common on MyHeritage between a first cousin once removed of my Dad's O'Brien side. I am attempting to separate the network of Lamon and Lambert matches, leaving me hopefully a group of O'Brien-Bridget matches who I can use to identify the families of my 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget.

DNA in the news: Adventures in the Animal Archive

A new article describes the use of DNA testing techniques on the pages of ancient manuscripts in the Duke University Library, and how this analysis is opening up methods for tracing the movement of parchments. Adventures in the Animal Archive: New Techniques for the Genetic Analysis of Parchment Manuscripts. Manuscript Studies, Vol 11, Number 1, Spring 2026.

Santa Monica

 

Made in Ideogram.

Urban Light, 2016

Photo by Patrick Jones. Urban Light at LACMA. 4 Jan 2016.

This is a memorable throwback from ten years ago. Night running from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and finishing at the Urban Light installation. I have a return visit to LA coming up, and I'm really looking forward to seeing the new David Geffen Galleries. 

The case for James O'Brien

FamilySearch. Luzerne County, PA Citizenship records. 28 Sep 1871.

While looking at the father of the branch of Pennsylvania O'Briens, James John O'Brien, several of the marriage records for his children list birth locations as Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. There's a James O'Brien who appears in the Luzerne County citizenship records in 1871, listing his arrival as November 1864 in New York. I cannot tell if this James was the same one who died in Pittsburgh in 1914. 

Michael Campbell served as a witness for James O'Brien on his petition for citizenship. I'm hoping I can find him in the 1870 US Census, perhaps living near the O'Brien family.

I have a hypothesis that James John O'Brien was the son of a James O'Brien, who may have been born in Ireland sometime about 1815-1825. This James may have been a son of my 3rd-great-grandfather John O'Brien, possibly from a first marriage before John arrived in the US and moved to LaSalle County, Illinois.

Restating research problem one

Ahead of the DNA Skills Workshop kickoff, I am restating my research problem on my paternal side.

Using my Dad's DNA matches, I am looking for the parents of my Irish immigrant 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget (my Dad's maternal 2nd-great-grandmother). There are hints that this family came from County Longford, Ireland before Bridget arrived in LaSalle County, Illinois sometime before 1849.

On the O'Brien side of the tree, I have a cluster of mystery O'Brien matches descended from James John O'Brien and Mary Nolan. This couple went to Pennsylvania. I have tried using WATO and BanyanDNA to figure out how they may be related to my O'Brien line.

I've now built a genetic map using diagrams.net to see the DNA matches descending from my O'Brien side and the mystery Pennsylvania cluster. I do not have that many O'Brien DNA matches, but thankfully my Dad's first cousin tested at Ancestry and transferred results to FTDNA so that I can see matches in common on both platforms. I can also see some of these Pennsylvania O'Briens are on MyHeritage and 23andme.

California

 

LA Public Library. Brubaker.

Summer

 

Vincent van Gogh. Garden at Arles. Jul 1888.

Research Progress August 2026

This is my monthly spot to review progress on my various research questions. As I head into the DNA Skills Workshop, it is time for a reset.

My Paternal Side

I had hoped to spend some time in July researching the mystery O'Brien connections who went to Australia. While I continued with chromosome mapping, digging into these Australian connections didn't happen. I may put that off for a bit. In the meantime, here's the current topics that I do want to try to pursue in the Skills workshop:

1. Determining the family of my Irish immigrant 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget.
2. Pursuing the possible leads connected to the Hanley family in LaSalle County, Illinois (see my recap from April 2026).
3. Jones YDNA
4. Working with XDNA matches

My Maternal Side

1. Portillo DNA matches and the mystery Guerrero-Leyvas.
2. Analyzing mtDNA matches in the maternal line path of Maria Jesus Vasquez
3. Campuzano YDNA
4. Creating a genetic map for the descendants of Jose Jesus Amado and Gertrudis Palomino
5. Continuing chromosome mapping using matches at FTDNA, Gedmatch, MyHeritage and 23andme

DNA in the news: Smallpox DNA recovered from Conquest-era Chilean mummies

A Reuters article from 30 July 2026 describes new research identifying smallpox in the DNA from Chilean mummies dated to the Spanish conquest era. The research was published in the 30 July issue of Science.

The researchers were able to sequence smallpox genomes from two likely Incan individuals dated between 1492 and 1631 CE.

This reminds me of the traces of smallpox in the photo of Jesus Anaya, taken in November 1916.

DNA in the news: ghost DNA signatures from ancient ancestors

A study published yesterday in Science identified signatures from mysterious populations of archaic humans before the time of neanderthals and denisovans. This article in the Telegraph provides a summary of the discovery.

Science. 30 Jul 2026.

Dad and Stormy

 

Photo by KDJ. Stormy & Dad.

An undated photo of my Dad with a dog named Stormy, likely taken about 1950-52 in Indianapolis. This is part of a set of photos taken by my Gumpy. Stormy appears to be a beagle or hound mix. I don't know if this was my Dad's dog, or the dog of my great-grandparents.

Diving in on DNA Skills

About two years ago, I decided to level up my DNA knowledge following the approaches of YourDNAGuide. I watched YouTube videos, recordings from RootsTech, joined Study Group,  sought guided instruction with DNA experts, attended RootsTech in person in March 2025, rejoined Study Group, and pursued a monthly pace of DNA research questions that have continued to today.

Study Group is winding down in September, but in its place I'm stepping up a level to the DNA Skills Workshop. This is more intensive, and a combination of online lessons and live sessions with a DNA expert coach, over the span of ten weeks. A complication for me during the ten weeks is primary work responsibilities and upcoming travel to LA, NY and Asia. But I'm going to dive in and give it a go.

I will probably be revisiting some of my challenging research questions, from the mystery Leyva matches connected to the Portillo family, and the complicated map of the two Campuzano families. I may use this as an opportunity to reconfirm the research on the father of Mary Alice Cain Read. I am also hopeful these techniques will help uncover the missing link to the family of my 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget, who likely traces back to Longford, Ireland.

The Skills Workshop begins next week. I'll be reading prep material this weekend, and aligning my research questions going forward for the workshop.

On top of the Leaning Tower

 

Photo by K. Jones. Me on the Leaning Tower. Oct 1985.

Here's another set of photos from our October 1985 tour of Italy. The shots above and below were taken in Pisa, in the Piazza del Duomo. For a while visitors were not able to climb the 251 steps to the top of the Leaning Tower, but visits are currently open again. I made the climb during our tour, as seen in the photo above.

Photo by K. Jones. Pisa, Oct 1985.

Photo by K. Jones. Tower of Pisa. Oct 1985.

Pompeii

 

Photo by K. Jones. Pompeii, 8 Oct 1985.

In October 1985, while our family was living in Germany, my parents took my sister and I on a trip to Italy. One of the highlights of that trip was a walk through the ruins of Pompeii, a city destroyed in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. This was a formative visit for 11 year old me, capturing my imagination for history and travel. I later minored in History and Classics in college. This week National Geographic released a three part docu-drama, Pompeii Out of Time, with Tom Hiddleston (see trailer on YouTube).

The Nat Geo program focuses on the story of three Romans during the disaster, interwoven with Tom consulting various experts to understand how these people might have reacted and survived. I like that it tries to tell the stories of these people and the locations of Pompeii and Herculaneum in an interesting way. Yes, there's some cheesy bits with Tom freezing and rewinding time, but just watch.

Me & my sister in Pompeii. Oct 1985.

"History gives us facts - names, dates, places - and while all of this evidence is critical, it will never give us the full picture. How people felt, how people lived, how people loved...I hope that by combining these two things - evidence and empathy, history and story...I hope I've told their historia." Tom Hiddleston, episode 3.

NewspaperFinder

 

NewspaperFinder.com. July 2026.

In April 2026, a small team launched NewspaperFinder, a database for every digitized newspaper available online. At the beginning of July, they kicked off a catalog feature. You still search across newspapers by year and location, but new features are being added. It would be really cool to search by topic across all of these newspaper databases.

I'm partly adding this as a reminder to myself to check NewspaperFinder on a regular schedule.

Nostalgia

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Turoni's Pizza, Evansville. 19 July 2026.

We're now all back from reunion weekend, after picking up the family from a series of flights. Part of this trip in addition to seeing family was returning to old familiar places in the town my wife grew up in. "It's about the nostalgia" she said.

One of the locations was the country club house (now renovated and completely changed) for lunch with her uncle and aunt on her Dad's side. This is where we had our wedding reception back in 1999, and it is a place we haven't seen since.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Oak Meadow. 19 July 2026.

On this visit we stayed in a new part of town, one that was very unfamiliar from the memories of her youth. This is an observation as it is really her story to tell, but places change and evolve. I could sense her frustration not remembering the town in the same way. I probably could not drive around southside or Downtown Indy without navigation helping me get there now. It was that way on this trip, needing navigation to cross town. Some of the roads we recognized, some were completely new.

We played in the family softball game, put up some shots on the barn basketball hoop and enjoyed the time with cousins, aunts, uncles, grands and greats. We held some puppies, surveyed the corn, and generated some new memories among our four.

Travel delays

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. SDF, Louisville. 21 July 2026.

Yesterday's storms forced a overnight stay next to Louisville's Muhammad Ali International Airport, rerouting me on a very early flight this morning back home. I have a lot to catch up on, with further posts from the reunion weekend to follow.

Reunions

This weekend we have a family reunion on Allison's side. It's been a few years since we've been back to the farm, and we're looking forward to seeing cousins, nieces, grands and greats. We have some catching up to do. 

Roberta

In both recollections on the "California or Bust" 1937 road trip story, told from the perspective of my Gumpy, and then by his brother Bob, they mention the kindness of Roberta Elliott during their stop in San Francisco. Roberta was from Thorntown, Indiana, and was an older classmate of Bob's from Sugar Plains school. When my Gumpy, Bob, and cousins Tom and Guy stopped in San Francisco, Roberta put them up at her apartment with her first husband Archie Monson. She cooked them a shrimp dinner from Fishermans Wharf and guided them on a tour through the city. This memory stood out in both their stories and they remembered her fondly.

When I shared Bob's version of the road trip in 2024 (self-published in his book in 1994), I had intended to follow-up with more information about Roberta. Unfortunately I forgot to come back to her story, so I'm doing that with this post.

Roberta lived to be 102, and died in August 2016. Her obituary captures a fascinating set of achievements, including a medical school now named for her at California Pacific Medical Center.

San Francisco Chronicle, 7 Aug 2016.

Indianapolis News. 22 Apr 1937.

It looks like Roberta did not have children of her own. In 1959, Roberta traveled with second husband Newt Neustadter on a trip to South America, visiting Rio de Janeiro, Brasil and Lima, Peru. An interview with Roberta published after her 100th birthday includes further recollections of her time in Thorntown and journey to California.

Casa Dos Amados

Photo by Patrick Jones. Casa Dos Amados.

Yesterday before the Norway v England World Cup match, I went to our neighborhood wine shop to pick up something for a game viewing party at a friends' house. The local wine shop was tasting a quartet of wines from Casa Dos Amados in Portugal. The label caught my attention as I'm pursuing our Amado line back to Portugal. My Aunt Linda has 5% Portugal in her Ancestral Regions on Ancestry, and 23&Me's latest update shows me as 6.7% Portuguese and Galician.

A portion of my composition from 23&Me.

Back to Casa Dos Amados, they are located in Saima, between Lisbon and Porto. The wines were tasty. Now this place is on my list for a future visit.

Google Maps. Saima, PT.

Workers on Strike in Vizcaya

Museo del Prado. Painting by Cutanda y Toraya, 1892.

This large scale work titled Workers on Strike in Vizcaya by Vicente Cutanda y Toraya is on display at the amazing Museo del Prado in Madrid. I've visited many times and was able to walk through the museum before connecting home last month. The painting is 9 feet tall by over 17 feet wide, so the scale of the painting draws you into the scene of the Basque workers going on strike in 1890. The part of the painting that really caught my attention is in the lower left corner, showing a girl, holding back possibly a little brother, while carrying a basket and a bottle of wine.