The Story of Our Ancestors

Our ancestors came to America from England, Scotland, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Holland, and more – the first ones arrived in the 1630’s and the last ancestor immigrants came in the 1870’s. From the founding of Connecticut, through the Revolutionary War and Civil War, to homesteading in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and the Dakotas – and finally to California – the story moves West. Here you can discover family names, connections, and stories that unite us across generations.

Why I built this site, and why it is for you

This website is a labor of love, dedicated to preserving the rich tapestry of our family’s history. From the letters, photos, records, news articles, and stories they left behind – these fragments of the past are woven into a meaningful narrative that preserves our history for future generations. While this started as an archive, it has become a collaborative space where together we make discoveries, solve mysteries, and tell the stories of those who came before us.

How this site is organized – Start Exploring

It is always a challenge to decide how to organize so much information. This site is organized around surnames – so whether you are researching a Laird, Clawson, Ofstedahl, Nash, Christensen, Lavik, Snyder, Kinney, or many more ancestral names, you can browse families by surname to uncover meaningful connections and discover how our histories intertwine. If there is an archival record or series of records, they are posted with the most relevant surname. Each name carries its own story, a journey through time, tradition, and heritage. Together, they form the living map of our shared past.

Interactive Features that Will Serve as a Guide

You will find an interactive map of the United States that shows where family members were, and traces the westward movement of our ancestors. You will also find an ancestral chart naming our ancestors. Each of these pages has links that can take you directly to the research.

More Than Just Who Are Ancestors Are – There are Resources Here About Some Families

In the course of doing research, there are some archival items that provide information for anyone whose families were near ours in long ago times. The North Carolina Archives has a series of letters of our family members from Currituck County, North Carolina to family members in Fountain County, Indiana and beyond from the 1830’s, 1840’s and 1850’s. They contain references to many families around ours and those letters are posted here and indexed for the names mentioned. There is a timeline of our Danish ancestor in records on the Island of Lolland, taking mentions back to the mid-1700’s. There is a photo archive for Civil War officers in the 20th Ohio Regiment, along with a brief biography of each. My grandmother’s cousin Charles Nash wrote his recollections as well as publishing a Nash Genealogy taking the family from the settlement of Connecticut to Dakota Territory – and they are posted here in their entirety. And more . . . you can find it here, and find it near the surname of our family most associated with that place and record.

Latest updates

Here you’ll find the most recent additions to the site – new stories, documents, photos, and updates to our ongoing family research. Check back often to see what’s new and help us continue piecing together our shared history. There is always being something added, whether it’s a correction or addition from a family member, an old record just discovered, or an entire new page as a new research direction is added to the page.

Brick wall projects

As research follows ancestors back into the early 1800’s, 1700’s or 1600’s, there are less avenues of information and eventually we reach that “brick wall” of the farthest away known ancestor. You will find here the research around the last known ancestor – examples are the Sanks, Kinneys, Clawsons, and Snyders – and not only will you find all we know about that last ancestor, but the opportunity is presented to join the research and see if there are suggestions or facts that will take us further back. Each project brings together clues, documents, and shared insights as we work to uncover the missing pieces of our family’s story. You have the chance to participate.

Have Something to Add?

This page has transcriptions of old records, that might not have correctly captured the writing. There are hundreds of photos, some of which need further identification. There might be old records about one particular subject that have been missed, and can be added. Or there might be stories or photos handed down from past generations that only you have – which would be further additions. Whatever it is, your feedback and contributions are very much welcomed. This page is here so that family members can appreciate what has been developed from family members already, and what more might be helpful.