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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.

RMSHesperian

The Unsinkable Harold Parker Ewart

My great–grandfather Harold Parker Ewart was a Merchant Mariner. His job took him all over the world and was extremely dangerous, particularly during wartime. Harold…

David R. Caywood and Susan Hendrickson

Photo Friday: My great-great-great-great-great aunt, Susan Emily Hendrickson and her husband in 1909.

Sometimes you find things when you’re not even looking. Imagine my surprise when I stumbled across this photo of an ancestor going back six generations.…

countdown to certification

I’m on the Clock!

The countdown has begun — I’m officially on the clock! I submitted my preliminary application to the Board for Certification of Genealogists, kicking off the…

photo of McKnight Family

Love and Victory: Photo of the McKnight Family

About the photo: The first thing that caught my eye in this photo of my great-grandmother Matilda (Goettisheim) McKnight and the first five of her…

Brooklyn Navy Yard, 1911

Clarkson V. Hendrickson vs. the United States

My great-great-grandfather Clarkson V. Hendrickson, Sr., and Jasper Chisholm, a coworker, filed a claim against the United States in 1912 for payment of overtime work…

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