About Branch Out Genealogy
Hey there Family Historians! My name is Patrick and I am the founder and genealogist here at Branch Out Genealogy. Would you like to hear an interesting story about how I began my journey in genealogy?
Just like most kids, I wasn’t curious enough to ask my grandparents about their past. But that would one day change. About 20 years ago I started seeking more information from my mother and aunt.
They shared with me all the information they had, including names and estimated dates. It was quite amusing actually.
Some members were simply known by their unique nicknames, such as Bo, Snookie, and Bootsie, plus a couple of vague stories such as “ I heard someone owned a shoe store“ and “I think my grandfather was a bridge tender” Sound familiar?
This was all I had to work with, but it certainly sparked my curiosity.
The real spark that turned me from a curious sleuth to a family historian was the day I received my great-grandmother’s old photos.
By some fate, they ended up in my possession. The photos were quite ancient - tin types and images that date back to the 1800s. But my grandmother was a clever one.
She organized the pictures into an album and labeled them with names, dates, and their place in the family tree. It was obvious she wanted their memories preserved. I felt honored and obligated to continue her legacy.
That was the start of my genealogical adventure. That was 20 years ago and I have been doing this ever since.
As a genealogist and history enthusiast with years of experience, I want to use my resources to ignite that same passion in you too. Let’s take your stories, photos, and curiosity to the next level.
Grandmother’s Little Secret
My grandmother was a saint or at least I thought - Well she still is to me but if she knew what I would come to discover she would be rolling in her grave.
The first thing genealogists tell their clients what to expect when they get their DNA results back is to be prepared for the unexpected and take it with a grain of salt. Not everything parents and grandparents say is actually the truth.
As for Grandmom, she told her youngest two sons a sad story that their father suddenly left them when they were too young to remember. The story goes that their father left abruptly without saying goodbye. The poor lads thought their father deserted them but I would later learn the truth was a bit more grim.
Of course, Grandmom had no clue we would one day have the technology to find historical records with one click. And she had no idea that the truth would eventually come out. It wasn't my intention, it just happened that way.
While coming across the boys’ father’s death certificate, I realized that he passed away before they were born. He didn’t leave them, he wasn’t their father in the first place. So why would Grandmom keep this to herself?
After further investigation, I discovered that within less than a year Grandmom would lose two daughters, her husband, her sister, and her sister’s son, all to whooping cough. So perhaps in her mind, he did leave her, spiritually at least. Can you imagine?
But that’s not the end of the story. Around that time of discovery, my mother got a DNA test. She gave me access to it so I dug deeper. One of the amazing things about a DNA test is discovering relatives you have never met. It could be a father, a long-lost sibling, or in my case the boy’s actual father. (my great grandfather}
In Ancestry, on the DNA results page, you receive a long list of matches. Typically, one would recognize most of the last names but another surname continued to come up in my matches and I had no idea who this line was. What I did know was how closely they matched my mother.
One member came up as a very close match of my mother who I believe was her father’s half-sister which they never knew. She could be that missing link. While not getting too technical, I was able to connect my grandmother to one of three brothers.
One happened to be single at that time so he is a possibility but you never know. I don’t judge, I am just a genealogist. I could take it a step further and learn how close they lived to each other. That too could be a hint.
The boys have both passed away as well as my mother so they never learned the truth. The mystery now lives with me and my descendants. The point is that genealogy is an adventure and there are always new and exciting things to discover. It’s moments like this that keep me researching family history every day.