Our Blogs
Dive into our collection of blog pieces focusing on unearthing family history, bridging generations, and embarking on family history research.
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Gleanings From Chinese Folklore – A Daughter Of The Present
It is not uncommon for people to assume that a son is always more valuable than a daughter in China. But yet many daughters throughout China’s history have shown great courage and, in many cases, even saved their families from destruction. A Daughter of the Present is a true folklore story from the book Gleanings…
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Why Are People Interested In Genealogy? 7 Reasons Why
Genealogy is not only fascinating but also exciting. The reasons why people are interested in genealogy are as varied as the people who are fascinated by family history research. People are interested in genealogy because it helps them to discover their roots. Genealogy teaches us a lot about history and where we are from; it…
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Any Good Alternatives To Ancestry.com?
When many people start to do their family history research or genealogy, they ask themselves, is there an alternative to the Ancestry.com program? In other words, is there another genealogy program to use to get started on doing genealogy and family history research? The best alternative to Ancestry.com is FamilySearch. We like the FamilySearch program…
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Why Are There So Many German Illegitimate Children (1700 and 1800s)?
I was doing some genealogy research and was quite surprised to find that a great German grandfather and grandmother had eight children but their first child was born before they were married and the second right after. I know this family was also strongly religious. When doing your German genealogy research, it can be quite…
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The Strecker Family Reunion in Hannover, Germany (1929)
As I was looking over some of the papers from R. Stuart Hummel located at Stanford University collection, I came across a very old German Newspaper clipping. The newspaper clipping talked about a Strecker Family reunion that took place in 1929. The Strecker family held a family reunion that in 1929 was news in the…
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Anne-Marie’s Unintentional Immigration To America (1952)
Would you have the courage to travel alone to America at age 20 when you couldn’t speak much English? My grandmother, Anne Marie, was born in 1931 in Stockholm, Sweden. She lived in Sweden until 1952 when she decided to go to America. In the 1950s, American movies and music were very popular in Europe.…
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Memoirs of Germany – 1952, From R. Stuart Hummel’s Round-The-World Trip
My dad’s cousin R Stuart Hummel (1915-2007) worked for the U.S. Government. He was also a great historian who kept many of his own records plus our family’s records. These records are now part of the Stanford University Collection. 1n 1952, R. Stuart Hummel was on a trip around-the-world for the U.S. State Department; he…
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Are Swedish People Slavic? The Origins of Sweden Explained
A question that many people ask is if Swedish people are of a Slavic origin? Many people assume that Sweden may have some Slavic origins because Sweden is very close to this part of the world. Swedish people do not have Slavic origins but come from Northern Germanic people. Since the beginning of Sweden, Northern…
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What Does Swabia Mean? About Swabian German
We have many German ancestors from Swabia, so I have often wondered what Swabia means? Or where was Swabia? Swabia is a region in southern Germany; the people in this region speak Swabian German. Though the region is today part of modern-day Germany, historically and culturally, it was different. The name Swabia came from the…