The Ancient World had city states. Sometimes they became empires. And then when the empires collapsed they sometimes became nations. (Although–the modern ethnic nation state is more or less a late European invention.) When I was a kid, I used to imagine, particularly on car trips, that the cities around me were like ancient city…
Curly Bear
A bit of silliness tonight. We know from yDNA testing the Swanstroms might descend from a German Kruse family settled in Sweden. They, the Svanströms, lived relatively near a noble family named Crusebjörn. The Crusebjörn family’s original name was Kruse. They came from Lübeck in Schleswig-Holstein to Sweden. When they were ennobled their name was…
Bush Cemetery
I’ve been lucky to meet Matt Barnes online. He’s the project guru for maintaining and restoring Bush Cemetery in Rock Port, Missouri. My Horn ancestors are buried in this cemetery. When Grandma Miller was first telling me about her ancestors, this cemetery is where they were buried. Matt sent me a note night before last…
Bure Tree Redrawn
I’m surprised we don’t hear more DNA stories like this, particularly in Scandinavia where the widespread use of patronymics would channel research along these lines. The Bure family in Sweden, a prominent family since medieval times, has a project devoted to using yDNA to investigate the early origins of their patrilineage. They recently found a…
Preservation Societies
Is there anything that needs preserving that someone somewhere isn’t doing already? I’m in the mood.