Roots & Rabbit Holes

I’ve been slacking on the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge . It’s Week 5, and this is my first post of the year. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been writing. I challenged myself to complete one family history book on Storied in 2026, so I’ve been focused on one I’ve told before—the story of my great-great-grandparents, John Laberge and Mary Melanise Marcoux . In 1900, Melanise took John to court for failure to support her and their children. The newspaper published a harrowing

Week 50 of 2025's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is "Family Heirloom" and I have an interesting one to share! This ornate cup...

Week 40 of the 52 Ancestor in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Cemetery.”   Next to the Old Burying Point Cemetery in Salem, Massachusetts where...

"Animals" is the topic for Week 38 of 2025's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge . This is the story of my husband's dog who immigrated...

For Week 36 of 2025's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks , I'm sharing one of my favorite family stories. It's one my Nana often told me. As a...

Week 35 of 2025's 52 Ancestor's Challenge is "Off to Work." My husband's grandfather began working when he was still a child. Naum...

"Playtime" is the topic for Week 34 of 2025's 52 Ancestors in 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge . Davy Crockett hit movie theaters on...

Week 28 of 2025’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge focuses on travel.  As Abram and Sura prove, you don’t need to travel far to have...

Week 25 of 2025's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is "Fan Club." If you’ve done more than dip your toe into genealogy, you’ve likely...

The topic for Week 23 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Wedding Bells.”   We’ll probably never know what prompted...

Week 21 of 2025's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is "Military." Very few people would look at pictures of the youngest Kholmyansky...

Week 18 of the 2025's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks covers institutions. Ralph Owen Turner’s obituary wasn’t remarkable in any obvious way. ...

This week's topic for the 52 Ancestors Challenge is supposed to be "Oldest Story" but I've covered my family's oldest story many times...

Week 15 of 2025’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Big Mistake.”  I was going to write an entirely different mistake story, but...

Week 13 of 2025’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Home Sweet Home.”   The Meloche family was astonished when they learned that...

I promised to do my best to publish something each week, even if it wasn't in keeping with the theme. This week's topic for the 52...

Week 11 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Brick Wall.”   My brick wall ancestor unfortunately hasn’t changed since I first...

Week 10 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Siblings.”   The LaViolet siblings like to joke that they were too poor for toys,...

Week 9 of 2025's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is "Family Secret." I'm not sure whether or not this was a family secret, but when...

It's Week 8 of 2025's 52 Ancestor Challenge . This is a little story my grandfather wrote down about his grandmother coming from Canada...