genejourneys

About

Thanks for visiting GeneJourneys.com. My name is Lauren, and I’m a Genealogy Addict!

October 2015, visiting my 4th great grandparents, Aaron and Martha (Tibbetts) Day at the Upper Ferry Cemetery near Milo, Maine

My foray into family history began at the ripe old age of about seven. I’d query my mother persistently about our ancestry, hoping that the more I’d ask, the more information I’d get. She’d repeatedly tell me the same thing: I was English, Irish, Welsh, German and Norwegian (all correct) and Native American (not correct). This obviously didn’t suffice to satisfy my curiosity, so when I became old enough to drive, I’d go to the library and search through old issues of the New England Historic and Genealogical Register as well as other old books. One thing led to another, and before you knew it, I was ordering birth and death certificates, writing to historical societies, interviewing long-forgotten relatives, and going on research trips to Maine, Massachusetts and Minnesota, the native states of my ancestors. A few decades later, I’m still passionate about my family history, and owe a debt of gratitude to my grandmother, who inspired me with stories about my pioneer forebears and salt-of-the-earth ancestors. She told me of Albert Stanwood, the lumberman who braved the brutal winters of Maine and Minnesota, felling trees.

Albert and Lavina (Bursley) Stanwood and family in 1895. Albert and Lavina are my great-great grandparents.

 

Stories of the Mayflower and Revolutionary War ancestors also intrigued me, and unlike the Native American myth, I found really DID have family aboard that famous ship. Yup, my colonial ancestors also fought for our country’s freedom.

My current memberships include:

  • Cooch’s Bridge Chapter, Daughter of the American Revolution
  • The Society of Mayflower Descendants in Delaware
  • New England Historic Genealogical Society
  • National Genealogical Society
  • Kennebec County Historical Society

You can find my family surnames here. Please feel free to leave a comment or email me using the form at the bottom of this page if you find this blog helpful!

Happy Hunting!

Lauren