Category Archives: Daily Journal

Genealogists love family heirlooms. Whether it’s the trunk that grandmother brought over from the old country, a quilt that’s been handed down for generations, or an old photo album, most genealogists dream of documenting and preserving these mementos of our family history. While we may not have the space to store everything that our ancestors accumulated throughout their lifetimes, there certainly are some items that we would like to preserve, document, and pass on to further generations. Sometimes family bibles, photos, and heirlooms end up in antique stores and flea markets, where they may be salvaged by people like Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak (yes, that’s two Smolenyaks there!) who try to reunite these orphan heirlooms with their families. Continue reading →

The terms genealogy and family history are generally used interchangably, although the terms can mean quite different things .  Genealogy uses facts such as births, marriages, and deaths to define family relationships and documents these facts with source materials such as vital records … Continue reading →