Ah, the joy of brick walls! Of course, the fun part is smashing them down. Here is one that has plagued me for a long time now:Esther was the wife of Edward Curtis. She was born about 1748. She married Edward about 1780. Edward was born 4 May 1736 in Dudley, Worcester County, Massachusetts ...
Massachusetts
Breaking Down a Brick Wall: Part 3 (finale)
If you've read through Part 1 and Part 2, I'm sure you're wondering what happened next. At least, I hope you are... When I saw the burial record for Margaret Murphy with Emma A. Shaw as the person who'd purchased the plot, I couldn’t contain my excitement. But I would have to over the next 5 ...
Breaking Down a Brick Wall: Part 2
If you started at Part 1, the story continues here! After being told by one genealogical research company that the prognosis for finding my great-great-grandmother, Emma Anna (Murphy) (Reagan) Shaw, was "poor," I thought maybe they were right. However, I had Research Consultation time I had ...
Breaking Down a 26-Year Brick Wall: Part 1
After 26 years of wondering and guessing, digging and hypothesizing, flailing and sometimes giving up, it happened. When I originally posted “2019: The Year I Find Emma” on January 4, 2019, my entire focus was on DNA. Would you believe that, after all these years, DNA was not what led me to ...
2019: The Year I Find Emma
I am confident that 2019 will be my year - the year I find the origin of my great-great grandmother, Emma Anna Murphy. Emma, who married first a Mr. Reagan and then my great-great grandfather, Erastus Bartlett Shaw of Middleborough, Massachusetts in 1888. The first time I tested my DNA was in ...