News and Genealogical Research For Byrne & Asimov Lines
I’ve been spending more time with a camera this past year, and less time doing genealogy research and website additions. This wasn’t a conscious decision, more a byproduct my professional time in 2013 and 2014 being consumed by development of a new website and CMS for my firm, GreenBiz, making ByrneFamily site additions… Read more“A photograph of my ancestors (and me)”
Dead and long forgotten. I have a soft spot for those who led interesting, meaningful lives, but for one reason or another never got much attention from other researchers. Often it’s because they fall into the category of d.s.p. (descessit sine prole; died without issue). With no descendants to carry their stories, they… Read more“Levi Austin’s fleeting wealth quickly washed away”
Gathering data online is my primary research activity these days, but there’s something special about holding a historic book, letter or photograph in your hands. This was brought home to me recently when I revisited a stash of letters from my grandparents and great grandparents. I had glanced at them several years ago, but… Read more“Henry Felix Kloman’s WWI battlefield letters”
There’s a long tradition of crappy photographers in my family. Great grandmother Edna was a pioneer of bad photography with her 1900 box camera mirror photo, presaging the selfie by over a century. Her son, Valentine (Coles), inherited the bad photographer gene, and proceeded to marry my grandmother, who was possibly the worst… Read more“Keziah Whitson Coles’ 1870 photo album brought back to life”
I keep this blog focused on personal topics and hobbies, primarily genealogy, with only the occasional mention of matters related to my professional life. But the demise of social media site Digg has me straying off topic a bit, if only because Digg insidiously crept into my personal life during the course of… Read more“A farewell to Digg”
An afternoon of downtime in Washington DC a few weeks back afforded me an opportunity to visit Arlington Cemetery, and the grave of my great grandfather, Major Thomas Tidball Trapnell. It was a chance to get a few moments of peace in an otherwise hectic week, and to forge a connection with a… Read more“Thomas Tidball Trapnell: Finding my lost great grandfather”
Did you happen to find this site while searching for your Byrne ancestors? I’m glad you visited, but want to warn you up front there are very few Byrnes here. In fact, of the 4,500+ genealogical records on the site, only about 100 or so are Byrnes. The reason for the dearth of… Read more“Byrnes: Where you can find your Byrne ancestors”
One of the pleasures of hosting a website filled with genealogical records is connecting with family members I might not otherwise know. Neither of my parents were diligent about maintaining family connections, save for periodic trips to Santa Cruz or Los Angeles to visit my grandparents. On very rare occasions, we would go… Read more“Ryland Drennan photos lost no more, and a found cousin”
A highlight from a recent New England trip was getting to spend some time in and around Portsmouth, NH. The town has a rich history for shipbuilding, fishing, and as an important port for the region. More recently, Portsmouth has become a popular tourist destination, and like most of coastal Maine, the town… Read more“Renald Fernald: Early Settler of Portsmouth”
Probably the ugliest and more boring highway in California is Interstate 5. And it’s also a road I travel on a regular basis. So the prospect this past summer of another jaunt to LA via that well-traveled corridor populated by truck convoys and manic Lincoln Navigators was more than I could bear. Instead,… Read more“SR 33: California’s highway of solitude and adventure”