Reviewing A Decade In Genealogy Research & Heritage Travel

As we leave another year behind, and a decade which included 9 years blogging about my genealogy research, I review some highlights of the past decade in genealogy.

All of us involved in the genealogy community have enjoyed the heritage programming offered on TV. Shows including "Finding Your Roots", "Who Do You Think You Are", and "Genealogy Roadshow".


Streaming webinars such as those offered by Legacy, Youtube videos, and podcasts have helped has become more skilled researchers. Streaming conferences such as Rootstech and Jamboree has been fun and informative too.

The past decade has seen a rise in the number of conferences and family history events. To keep track a tool was developed during the past decade called Conference Keeper which is a calendar of conferences and events.

Participating in the genealogy community in the virtual world of Second Life has also been very rewarding. I highly recommend joining Second Life Virtual Genealogy Society (SLVGS) and participating in the presentations offered there. It's a nice way to connect with others interested in genealogy research.

The genealogy groups at Facebook have also been very helpful with many new groups popping up over the past decade. Groups I've helped form at Facebook include the Forgey/Forgy & Forgie group,  We're descendant's of John Owens Indian Trader a group which helped me break through a brickwall, and put together a book about our Owens family. I also started the group Irish Genealogy Links.

Familyseach.org digitizing films and making them available for free online has led me to make so many breakthroughs. These films have also added interesting details to my family history. Seeing original records at Family Search is an incredibly rewarding experience.

With so much coming online over the past decade sites like Linkpendium and Cyndi's List have helped us wade through it all.

Bloggers have also helped us discover new products and sites for family history, and explained how to use them.

My wish when I started this blog in 2011 was to use DNA to push my family lines back further in time, and determine the origins of some of my family surnames. My DNA journey began in September 2011 when our Forgey Y Project began at Family Tree DNA. A year later in 2012 I took the atDNA test at Family Tree DNA. I then tested at AncestryDNA, and 23andMe. I tested my late mother at all of those companies too. I also tested other relatives. All of this testing helped to confirm our ancestry. I transferred my my results to MyHeritage and GEDmatch where I was able to make even more connections. So far I haven't found any breaks in my own family lines.

The Forgey DNA project has confirmed that this surname is a variant of the surname Ferguson. It also confirmed what my grandfather thought; we are indeed Scottish on the Forgey line. So far all Forgeys in the United States appear to be related.

The most rewarding outcome of my DNA testing has been the surfacing of photos of my Kappel great-grandparents. I had never seen photos of my Kappel great-grandparents until this year when a DNA match living in Austria contacted me and told me his family had photos of them. My great-grandmother Mary Kurta-Kappel sent photos to her sister living in Austria. I was also contacted by another cousin at Ancestry this year who also had a photo of Mary Kurta-Kappel. I was nearly ready to give up on finding photos of them. This year two different distant cousins came forward with some.

When this decade began DNA testing for genealogy was in its infancy. We've seen many improvements in our results over this past decade. The ethnicity results are definitely much improved from when I tested in 2012. The last decade has been a period of development of new DNA tools such as Chromosome Painter that help us to analyze our DNA results to get more out of them.

In 2015 I began doing Heritage Travel. Travel and genealogy being my favorite pastimes because of that this has been extremely rewarding.

Nicaragua 2015

The first heritage country I visited in 2015 was my mother Edna and Grandmother Graciela Del Castillo-Forgey's birthplace Nicaragua. My grandmother was Nicaraguan and she married my US Marine grandfather Charles Forgey. Nicaragua is at the top of my list of favorite places with beautiful scenery and weather.

I extended my Nicaraguan family back a couple generations doing research in Granada Nicaragua's archives. I also was able to see some documents that my ancestors wrote. The archives has many of Nicasio Del Castillo's handwritten documents. I loved seeing his signature.

England and Scotland 2016

Scotland was the 2nd heritage location I visited. Many of my earliest American ancestors had Scottish and Scots-Irish roots. Another absolutely beautiful place I was sorry I had to leave.

I also visited England which I loved so much I've visited twice. I know I have some English ancestors but I have not been able to trace these early American ancestors to a place in England. Some of my possibly English surnames are  Browning, Thurman, Morris, Hicks, Watkins, Abbot, Marriott, and Adams. I'm also missing some of the surnames of wives. I don't know the surnames of some of the Owens wives?

East Tennessee 2016

In 2016 I also made my first Trip to the Forgey area of East Tennessee. I attended the Tennessee First  Families Reunion during that trip, which included seminars on Tennessee genealogy, and a tour of historical places in East Tennessee. I also met a distant Forgey cousin Kenneth Edmondson after years of collaboration via email and Facebook.

I also applied to become a member of First Families of Tennessee in 2016. I was accepted based on my ancestor Roger Browning.

Historical Highlights Tour of East Coast 2016

In 2016 I also took a Historical Highlights tour of the East Coast with Trafalgar Tours. This tour covered my ancestral areas of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. We also visited the area in Virginia where my German ancestors lived in the Shenandoah Valley. I was able to visit the Christ Church in Philadelphia where my Browning ancestors married.

Nicaragua again Christmas 2016

I returned to Nicaragua again at the end of 2016 to do a little more sightseeing. I was able to see more of Nicaragua on this trip.

France and a 2nd Trip to England 2017

In 2017 I visited France where my French Canadian ancestors originated. Some of my ancestors were from Paris where I spent a week. I loved visiting some of the churches my family was associated with. One of my favorite things to do was sit and look at the Seine River, and the passing boats. One of my ancestral families lived on a bridge spanning the Seine. Happy to have ancestors from this beautiful place.

A 2nd Trip to East Tennessee Summer 2017

I visited Tennessee again in 2017 to do a little research in the McPike's Washington County. I stayed in the lovely little town of Jonesborough. I highly recommend visiting that cute town if you are visiting East Tennessee. I was able to visit the house of the man who made land entries for the county, and the room where he would have recorded the William McPike's land entries.

New York City July 2017

From Tennessee I headed for  New York for my first visit there in early July. I was so excited to visit  the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. My Kappel/Kurta family arrived in America through Ellis Island as did my Irish Mullen/Huvane family.

Indiana Spring 2018

In 2018 I visited Indiana where my grandfather Charles Lynn Forgey was born, for the first time. I stayed in Jackson County where my grandfather and generations of his family lived back to the early 19th Century. I loved Jackson County with it's beautiful farms, and countryside. I felt very much at home there. I was able to meet my Forgey/Roller double cousin Nan Harvey on this trip after years of communicating at Facebook.

Visiting my ancestors graves was very moving.

I did my very first courthouse research at the Jackson County Courthouse in Brownstown on this trip.

Chicago, Illinois September 2017

I visited my father and paternal grandmother's birthplace of Chicago for the first time in 2017. I had been wanting to visit Chicago for so long. It was a thrill to finally visit there. The weather was perfect too! I could definitely move to Chicago, but this California girl may not tolerate the cold winter weather.

Germany, Austrian, & Hungary 2018

I visited ancestral countries of Germany, Austria, and Hungary for the first time in 2018. All of these countries are beautiful. I was saying ooh aah constantly, especially in the mountainous areas of Germany and Austria.

Visiting Burgenland, Austria for the first time in 2018 was so exciting. When I discovered my family was from there in 1999 I was dying to visit someday, and that someday came in 2018.

Visiting Graz was also something I've wanted to do since learning that my grandfather Rudolph Kappel was born on the outskirts of that city. It's a lovely city was an exotic feel.

Ireland May 2019

In 2019 I continued my heritage travels visiting Ireland in May. My great-grandmother mother Helen Mullen-Mason was born in Galway, Ireland. I wondered if I would like Ireland as much as England? I found that I liked it just as much as England. I think Ireland is even a little more interesting than England because of the pub entertainment. Also Ireland has a cozy feel that makes you feel at home. Plus being surround by so much history everywhere is wonderful.

Happily I was able to visit my Mullen family's townland of Pollaturick. Thanks to my cousin Darryl I was able to locate and visit the Mullen family home.

I also visited family cemetery. 

Spain June 2019

From Ireland I flew to Spain for a week. This was also my first trip to Spain. I wondered if I would like Spain as much as Italy? Spain is definitely as history filled and beautiful as Italy. Spain is also special because I have some Spanish heritage. According to research done by another researcher my Del Castillo family came from the Sevilla area. I loved Sevilla and nearby Granada. Spain is amazing!

Quebec, Canada August 2019

My final heritage trip of the year was to Quebec last August, and I fell in love with it just like all of the other places I've been. My ancestor Pierre Masson/Peter Mason was a native of Quebec.

Now I can cross out finding photos of my Kappel great-grandparents from my genealogy to do list.

1. I think my number one priority this year is going to be trying to find out more about the mysterious Alexander Forgey of Washington County, Virginia. We don't know who his children are, and we don't know where or when he died? We lose all track of him in 1807. Still looking
2. While researching the Brower family I saw Brenneman given as Susannah Brower's mother Eve's maiden name. I can't confirm this. I would like some documentation for this? Still looking
3. I've been doing some Browning family research this year. I would like to find more documentation linking the Tennessee Brownings with Maryland. Also need to find documentation that Elizabeth Drane was Edward's wife. I visited Greene County, TN. I've collected up more deeds for the Browning Family in Tennessee. Still only have circumstantial evidence for the Maryland connection
4. I still don't have any photos of Frank Kappel and Mary Kurta, my great-grand parents, so I will be continuing to search for those. Still no photos
5. Another carry over from previous years is finding the death information for Patrick Mullen and Mary Huvane who died in Ireland. I was able to find the death information for both Patrick Mullen. He died 13 Aug 1930 in Pollaturick Co. Galway Ireland. I even found the name of his mother, a detail I never even thought was possible. I was also able to identify the breed of dogs my family owned in Ireland, and what color they were, by using the Dog License register at Findmypast. 
6. This year I would like to focus on my Browning line and maybe find a male to take the Y DNA test for our line.
7. I would like to work on filling in my photo tree also which is at the top of this blog post. I need someone to come forward with these remaining photos. 

This has been a busy decade. I need to rest a bit before beginning some new adventures in family history.

Happy New Year and New Decade!