Family Story Finder

The sweep of family history across the generations

Bradley homestead in Wapello County, Iowa
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Widow Patty Smith Swett and six children by two husbands were among the first settlers who staked claims in Wapello County near Ottumwa in May 1843

In the Signal Corps in New Guinea
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Stan strung transmission wires in the South Pacific during World War II.

Life on the Western Reserve
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Families from Connecticut settled northeastern Ohio in the early 1800s

Mel Brenner
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Mel accomplished many things in life, but his life’s greatest moments happened during the Battle of the Bulge

Rabbi Spektor's true genealogy
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Most of what we discovered about Rabbi Spektor's genealogy was entirely true. All but the myth of our family's connection to it

Ringel vs. Ruby in World War I
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Herman Ringel and Walter Ruby wore opposing uniforms in the Great War

The Meeker Massacre
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Social reformer Nathan Meeker was among nine men killed in an uprising of Ute Indians at the White River reservation where he was serving as U.S. agent. His wife and daughter—Smith family descendants—were held hostage for three weeks

Yichus and our relation to the famous rabbi
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Walter thought he had proved the family legend of descent from the celebrated Kovno Rav, Rabbi Yitchak Elchanon Spektor. Later facts emerged that suggested a more tenuous connection.