Roots & Rabbit Holes
My Family History

Roots & Rabbit Holes
My Family History
I started this blog to participate in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks genealogy challenge, and to share other genealogy information and anecdotes.
Week 13, Light a Candle: Grampy's Holiday Prayers
Week 13’s theme for the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is “Light a Candle.” My mother-in-law very kindly remembered my grandfather...
Week 9, Gone Too Soon: The Forgotten Children of Marie Louise St. Andre Laviolette
Week 9 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is Gone Too Soon. My favorite census is the 1900 United States Census because of two...
Week 6, Social Media: Old School Social Media
It’s week 6 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge, and this week’s topic is Social Media. People often have a love-hate relationship...
Week 2, Favorite Photo: Welcome Home, Judy!
Week 2 for 2023’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge is Favorite Photo, which is always a fun theme, though it’s hard to narrow it down...
Week 50, Traditions: Pony Boy
Week 50 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge is Traditions. One of my favorite family memories and traditions is “Pony Boy” with...
Week 47, Wrong Side Of The Law: Uncle "Bootlegger Joe" Laviolette
Grampy Phil relished sharing the tale of his Uncle Joe Laviolette, who was a bootlegger. Uncle Joe was my great-grandfather William’s...
Week 44, Shadows: The Grisly Death of Theophile Laviolette
Finding a topic for Week 44 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge was a struggle. The topic is Shadows, so we were supposed to write...
Week 42, Lost: Grampy Phil's WWII Diary
My Grampy Phil rarely spoke about his time in WWII, and I was taught from a fairly young age not to ask him about it. It was therefore a...
Week 35, Free Space: Doppelgangers
This week – week 35 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge -- we get to go wild and write about whatever we want (Free Space!). I...
Week 33, Service: Philip LaViolet, WWII Veteran
Service is the theme for week 33 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge. My kiddos leave for freshman year at their respective...
Week 28, Character: Crazy Connie
Week 28 of 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks covers the topic of Character. There's no shortage of characters in my family tree, but the first...
Week 21, Yearbook: Grampy Phil's Senior Year
It’s Week 21 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, and the topic is Yearbook. Although my Grampy Phil grew up in Westbrook, Maine, his mother sent...
Week 19, Food & Drink: Nana Connie's Meat Pie
It’s week 19 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks and this week’s topic is Food & Drink. During our LaViolet family Christmases, we could be...
Week 18, Social: A Neighborhood on the Hill
Week 18 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is Social. There are few things more social than a close-knit neighborhood filled with people who...
Week 12, Joined Together: My Grandparents' Wedding
Week 12 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is Joined Together. My grandparents, Phil LaViolet and Connie Meloche, were joined together in...
Week 11, Flowers: The Origins of the LaViolet Surname
It’s week 11 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge, and the topic is Flowers. I decided to take a slightly different approach and...
Week 9, Females: Georgiana Duchesne
The topic for week 9 of 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is Females, and I’ve been looking forward to sharing my great-great grandmother's story,...
Week 8, Courting: Laura & Exalapha
Courting is one of those 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks prompts that was easy. How could I pass up the opportunity to share this lovely...
Week 6, Maps: A Tale of Two Railroad Ancestors
I don’t know how the rest of you approach the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge, but I wrote the list of weekly themes in the back of my...



















