I have always had an interest in researching my family history. Not because I hoped I was descended from George Washington or Belle Starr, but because I have always taken great interest in history; so why not my own?
When the Ellis Island website opened up recently, I thought I might be able to find records for part of my family. I hit pay-dirt. On the first day I found a photo of the original manifest for the ship that brought my great-grandma Ivy over from England. This gorgeous manifest included details that I would have never known: her parents' and brother's names and ages, her father's occupation and where they intended to go in the U.S.
After that I was hooked. I knew some names for the Blosser side of my family from my dad's Baby Book and using those I was able to plug right into a very well-researched Blosser tree I found online. I got everything written down and told my dad what I had found out. The conversation that followed was too long and ugly to go into here, but it boiled down to: HE DIDN'T BELIEVE ME!
Since that day I have been on a mission which I will not quit - to verify that my supposed family tree is true and to PROVE MY DAD WRONG. But in a nice way. Anyway, no one (including me) should ever assume anything in genealogy. Always get proof.
