The search for lost and missing ancestors is commonplace for family historians and genealogists. Today, we are able to utilize technology to our advantage to cast a wider net in hopes of catching these elusive members of our tree, and even then, we aren’t always successful. But what about one hundred or two hundred years ago? How did friends and family members find missing loved ones?

Before the end of February, a news article came across my feed. The article's title stated that there is now a Human Family Tree with over 231 million lineages. The statement reminded me of a quote I had read some time ago in college by Pope John XXIII, "The family is the first essential cell of human society." In fact, it our cells that are the basis of human society according to all the years and time science has devoted to studying where we come from and how we connect.

Hi!  My name is Audrey Stetson.  I started doing genealogy almost 45 years ago. I have always had an interest in my whole family, but, when my first son was born, I had trouble completing the family member names in his baby book.  That’s when I started researching, and, finding out as much about my family history as possible. At that time, there were no reference books, or how to books, to tell you where and how to look.

Happy New Year everyone! 2021 is in the rearview but a lot of our family genealogy research goals and plans lay ahead of us. Normally, on New Year's Day, I try to formulate how and when I plan to tackle certain portions of a family tree. 

Patriot Ancestor - Paternal G4 Grandfather Lieutenant Colonel John Branch,  Halifax County, North Carolina