Family reunions are a great time to reconnect with family and meet family you didn't even know you had.  Keeping it simple makes it fun and enjoyable for those who organize it and are participating. See what my family did by reading on.

It's hard to believe but now is the time to start planning for next year's family reunion and get a jump start on your family ancestry themed Christmas or winter holiday presents.

So you may be wondering why I'm talking about food. For our ancestors, the hunt and preservation of food stuffs was critical.  It's not like they could go to the grocery store and get peaches out of season. If the family did not obtain and preserve enough food they would go hungry.  Much of the preservation effort fell to the women and children. And if there wasn't enough food, someone went hungry!

Research roadblocks are the nightmare of family ancestry researchers!  Worse than writers block, research roadblocks may mean a dead end for finding you family.  There are many things that you can do however to get around roadblocks.

Visiting the communities where your ancestors lived is invaluable for family ancestry research.  You can find their grave stones (and who is nearby) and visit the local historical society.  I have a few tips for making your trip more productive and memorable.

We're adding new content to the website!  Check out the new Links page for great links to research locations and ancestor reports for projects I've been working on.   Family ancestry research is our passion and these reports are just a fraction of the research available.  If you see a surname that you're researching, contact me and we can see what additional information I have.  My personal tree has nearly 9,000 individuals and many have extensive research and documentation.

The 4th of July is the greatest celebration of American independence we have!  On this date, our fore fathers (with lots of help from the women and children of the day) officially declared independence from Britain.  What a bold and brave statement.  There were 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence.  Do you know if you are related to one of them?

The Daughters of the American Revolution Continental Congress is an extraordinary and inspiring experience.  While back in Washington, D.C., I was able to conduct family ancestry research in the incredible DAR library. 

This week begin's DAR's national conference, the Continental Congress.  I'm so excited to be going for the first time this year and thankful for the prediction of good weather.  Instead of packing, I've been getting my research needs in order.  DAR has an incredible library but they don't let any of the materials out of the library so if you want to do you family ancestry research in their collection you have to take advantage of the time there.  I have been working on my Millsaps family for over 12 years and I am going to use my library time to see if I can't flesh the  last generation out to the Revolution.  I was able to come in under my suspected American Revolution patriot's (William Millsaps) son for the US Daughters of the War of 1812, Reuben Millsap. This is a large Irish family with little inclination to change up the first names so there are tons of Williams, Josephs, Thomas', and the like.

We have so many African American and Native American citizens who have fought for our freedom and the safety of our country throughout our nations history.  I think it's time we put some real energy into family ancestry research to find those "forgotten patriots" and all patriots so that they will be remembered and honored forever.

Historic preservation is one of the many services DAR members take part.  The physical labor of restoring a defaced monument allows you to reflect on the importance of remembering our patriots and ancestors.

Memorial Day is about remembering our veterans and honoring our service members.

I finally got a chance to watch the "Who do you think you are?" episode with Rob Lowe last night (thank you DVR!).

What have you found in your family tree?  Murderers and witches?