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“Everything is relative except relatives,
and they are absolute.”

-Alfred Steiglitz

Family history is a way to bring our ancestors to life.

This blog details my journey as a genealogist and is a means to record my notes, recent discoveries, and the stories of my ancestors. The goal of Relatively is to inspire other family historians to preserve and share their own family stories.

RECENT POSTS

Hazel (Knowles) Ewart Rankin, 1982

Just the Facts: Hazel (Knowles) Ewart Rankin

A brief look at the life of my maternal grandmother, Hazel (Knowles) Ewart Rankin (1913–1984), with key facts and photographs.

US Patent Art US1249955

Great-Grandpa’s Big Invention

My great-grandfather, Clarkson Valentine Hendrickson Jr. (1890–1964) was a mechanical engineer or draftsman as I remember my father describing his occupation. But I never had…

James Joseph McKnight

Poppy

On my last trip to New York, I visited a family member whom I hadn’t seen in a long time. Before I left, she handed…

Desiree at Christmas with safari outfit.

On the Hunt for that Holiday Spirit

Now that the holidays are here, it’s hard to shake the feeling that something’s missing. I’m sitting on my patio in sunny Florida, everything’s green,…

tree in a field of grass with overlay of a DNA helix

Y-DNA Mystery: Hendrickson or Henderson?

One mystery that has plagued me over the years is trying to unearth our Hendrickson family origins. Faced with the challenge of tracing our direct…

Ewart's Hotel

John Ewart’s Golden Opportunity

Lured by the excitement of gold discoveries in America, Australia, and in the newly settled colony of New Zealand, my 4x great-uncle, John Ewart, and…

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