An Introduction to Selected Stories of My Ancestors

As an amateur genealogist, I have long been fascinated with the stories of my ancestors.  I am motivated not by the size of my family tree, but the depth of stories to understand the fullness of my ancestors’ lives.  I created this blog, Selected Stories of My Ancestors, to share some of these vignettes about the lives of those who came before me, as well as the historic times in which they lived.

The thrill of finding a letter or news story that mentions one of my ancestors continues to energize me after years of sifting through records.  And finding a photo that allows me to see an ancestor – their hair, their eyes, their clothes and maybe something they did or where they lived - is a true delight.  These snippets are a window into the life of an individual or even a family.

In many instances, I’ve hit dead ends in my family tree where the records run out or the links are too tenuous.  Sometimes time and persistence is the only option, and I have spent years collecting enough clues to build a possible scenario. When primary information and records are sparse, imagination and deduction can help identify possible new lines of research.  But in most cases, overcoming dead ends and finding new threads to pull has not happened in a vacuum.  I’ve relied on distant relatives, mostly found with the aid of the internet, to fill in key gaps in information.  

My plan with this blog is to share some Selected Stories of My Ancestors that I’ve discovered during my journey through my own family history in the hopes that this can overcome some roadblocks I’ve faced in my own research and help others fill in missing pieces as well.  This blog aims to link to distant cousins who might find that one of my stories links to individuals in their own family tree, and thus discover something new and interesting in their own genealogy.

That said, if you do see a name or something here that seems familiar …. please contact me and let’s share information!  I may be able to help you with your brick wall, and maybe you know something that can help me break down one of my own brick walls.

- Jane Scribner McCrary