The Illegitimate Baby of Rosalie Rist

We've been exploring my Alsatian heritage rather extensively in recent weeks.  (See blog posts here, here, here, and here.)  While reviewing one last time all the parish and civil vital records for Dannemarie, France, I discovered an intriguing…
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Articles Published on 2GG Fred A. King

In 2016, I wrote three articles that were published in consecutive editions of the Minnesota Genealogist.  All three articles were about my ancestor Fred A. King (1857-1920): Searching for the Parents of Fred A. King of Saginaw, Michigan((Steven…

Pushing the Line Back in Alsace

I finally received the pre-1793 parish records for Dannemarie in Alsace, France.  I mentioned this previously (here).  I ordered them from the Centre de Recherches sur l'Histoire des Families in Guebwiller, Alsace. The package took a month…

Photo Discovery: 3GG Berthe Mikkelsdatter Vikheim

Boy, do I love finding new photographs of ancestors! A DNA match reached out to me last week.  It turned out she is one of our many Albertson cousins in Minnesota and has several 19th century images she was kind enough to share.  The key…
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My Alsatian Ancestors Crossed the Atlantic in 1827

Oh my goodness ... when it rains it pours.  Without really expecting to, I found the ship passenger record for Lawrence & Rose Whaley when they immigrated from France! As the previous two blog posts have discussed here and here, I've…

1823 Alsatian Marriage Record Is Translated

In my previous post, I revealed a major discovery about my Whaley-Rist ancestry, which is up-line from my Miller ancestors.  I found the marriage record for 4GGs Lawrence Whaley (1796-1870) and Rose Whaley (1801-1890) in the French civil registration…
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Discovery: Alsatian Marriage Record for Whaley Ancestors

In prepping for the Europe trip we're probably not going on, I started reviewing the information I had collected in the past about my Alsatian ancestors.  In doing so, I made a major discovery!  I found the original French marriage record…
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John K. Vermilyea was neither Danish nor Lutheran

I've always been saddened by the way John Knickerbocker Vermilyea (1851-1925) died.  He is a 2nd great-grandfather (2GG) and one of very few direct ancestors who died in an accident. I happened to be looking at him again recently and was…

Norwegian Death Song Circa 1880

In going through my Mother's file boxes and papers, my brother came across a carton of stuff left by her uncle Jack Bonn (1896-1985).  Jack was an interesting character whom I will write more about in the future.  Growing up, I always heard…

Berthe Mikkelsdatter Vikheim Emigrated from Norway in 1866

  We've talked a lot about Bertha Bonn, my great-grandmother, who immigrated to America in 1883 at the age of 17 and became a milliner in Montevideo, Minnesota.  (See blog posts here and here.)  In the family chart shown above, she…