genealogy

The AI Gold Rush

By Hazel Thornton | May 14, 2024 |

The storm clouds are clearing. (It’s a reference to my previous post, The rainbow after the storm.) I’ve been able to start spending less time doing what I have to do, and more time doing what I want to do. And what I want to do is to continue my genealogy research, write more stories…

Gifts I Got from Mom

By Hazel Thornton | May 7, 2022 |

I grew up in a family of six, with my parents and three younger brothers. We had few relatives. Certainly none who lived nearby. My parents did not share family stories or photos. Not really. We enjoyed slide shows of our own family…

Are we all descended from royalty?

By Hazel Thornton | August 2, 2020 |

Are we all descended from royalty? Short answer: Probably! Long answer: Most of us are distantly related to rulers such as Charlemagne, Genghis Kahn, and other historical figures with an abundance of descendants. But can we prove it? And is it important?

What’s a photo without the story?

By Hazel Thornton | July 19, 2020 |

UPDATE #1: Mystery solved! (scroll down) UPDATE #2: I was so taken by my grandmother’s “bathing beauty” photograph that I used it on the cover of my 2021 book — What’s a Photo Without the Story? How to Create Your Family Legacy (click to learn more). The book is not about my family, per se,…

Mom’s Boxes Part 8: The Gangster Hideout

By Hazel Thornton | May 23, 2019 |

READERS: This is the sort of story I intend to write more of over the next few years to share with my family. It’s also the sort of story I encourage you to write about your own family! It doesn’t have to be fancy, with links to articles and such. Just capture the memories for…

Climbing your never-ending family tree

By Hazel Thornton | April 29, 2019 |

Your family tree is never really finished! It is forever growing on both ends. New descendants of your ancestors are continually being born (even if not to you, personally), and no matter how many branches and leaves you’ve added in the past, there are always more for you to discover.

Thornton Family History Lost & Found

By Hazel Thornton | June 17, 2016 |

Have you ever lost part of your family history and found it again? Do you still have unsolved mysteries that intrigue you? In Puzzling Out Your Family History I talked about the joys and challenges of doing one’s own genealogy research. In The Gift of an Organized Family Tree I describe one of the several…