News and Genealogical Research For Byrne & Asimov Lines
Genealogical and family research notes
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”
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”
For many years, my grandparents dedicated a wall in their Santa Cruz home to old family photos. They were mostly run-of-the-mill portraits and snapshots of aunts and uncles, with the notable exception of a blurry image of a dapper man in a white uniform, standing on the deck of a ship, circa 1920…. Read more“Ryland Drennan and the siren song of the sea”
Relaunching this site on New Year’s Day was more coincidence than by design, but the timing is a good excuse for a little self-reflection on why ByrneFamily.net exists. And while there is still a tremendous amount of work to do in the way of content, functionality, and design, having a stable site built… Read more“Rethinking ByrneFamily.net”