52 Ancestors Challenge: Week 52 Recap – We Made It!

Posted in 52 Ancestors Challenge on by .

52ancestors-week52It hardly seems possible that it’s been a year since we started this journey of chronicling 52 ancestors in 52 weeks. In some ways it seems like yesterday, yet it also seems like forever ago! I’m going to share my thoughts later today on what I’ve learned this year, but for now, I want to say

THANK YOU!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the 52 Ancestors Challenge this year and supported this crazy idea. I also want to say

CONGRATULATIONS!

Whether you did 1 post or all 52, you did something to record, preserve, and share the story of your ancestors. That is worth celebrating!

I played a mean game of “catch up” at the end of the year. My extended absence in June put me behind, and I seemed to get “behind-er” as the year went on. But, I made it through all 52. Here are my posts from this past week:

As always, leave a comment with a link to your 52 Ancestors post from this past week. Also, while you’re waiting for midnight to strike, take a look at the posts from Week 51. Lots of good reading there!

Ready for some more? We’re doing it all again in 2015!

2015

63 thoughts on “52 Ancestors Challenge: Week 52 Recap – We Made It!”

  7. Pam Schaffner

    MORSE – #50 Benjamin Morse (1809-1890) at Digging Down East

    http://diggingdowneast.blogspot.com/2014/12/52-ancestors-50-benjamin-morse-1809-1890.html

    SKILLINGS – #51 Josiah Skilling (1734-1745) at Digging Down East

    http://diggingdowneast.blogspot.com/2014/12/52-ancestors-51-josiah-skillings-1734.html

    BUSTIN – Leslie Thomas Bustin (1915-2000) at Digging Down East

    http://diggingdowneast.blogspot.com/2014/12/52-ancestors-52-leslie-thomas-bustin.html

    Reply ↓
  8. Schalene Dagutis

    Amy, thank you so much for the wonderful challenge. Each Saturday or Sunday throughout 2014 I managed to tell the story of at least a part of one ancestor’s life. Sometimes I wrote about the same ancestor more than once, which was my favorite part of the challenge. Examining all the information I had before writing, made me realize the research was incomplete. Often as I worked to fill the gaps, I discovered fascinating things.

    For my last post of 2014, I did something a bit different. I didn’t write about an ancestor but rather a disease — tuberculosis. It created havoc and tragedy all over my family tree.

    Tuberculosis — Greatest Killer in History
    http://tangledrootsandtrees.blogspot.com/2014/12/52-ancestors-52-tuberculosis-greatest.html

    Reply ↓
    1. Amy Johnson Crow Post author

      The same thing happened to me, Schalene. As I started writing, I was often found more things I wanted to explore or records to dive into. My to-do list for 2015 definitely got longer! Have a great New Year!

      Reply ↓
  9. Jo Henn

    Thank you Amy, it has been a fascinating and challenging year. I’m very glad I partici. I didn’t quite make it but since I took 4 or 5 weeks off in the summer to move and caught up all but one, I still feel good about it. I’m just a beginning family historian and blogger (and have a stressful full time job still) and I accomplished and learned a lot!

    BENNETT, Anna Mae (1898-1977) #50 and
    HENN, Owen Carl (1906 – 1988) #51

    My grandparents – they moved to Dayton Ohio (from Michigan) on the flip of a coin at the start of the Great Depression

    http://jahcmft.blogspot.com/2014/12/50-anna-mae-bennett-1898-1977-and-51.html?m=1

    Reply ↓
    1. Amy Johnson Crow Post author

      That is so cool, Jo — both the story about your grandparents and that you enjoyed the challenge. Keep up the good work!

      Reply ↓
  10. Cathy Meder-Dempsey

    DOSS – 52 Ancestors: #52 Levina DOSS – Another Unmarried Mother and How She Helped Me Bring This Challenge Finale to an End with a Bang!
    by Cathy Meder-Dempsey at Opening Doors in Brick Walls

    http://wp.me/p4hjwJ-t5

    A Thank You Note to Amy Johnson Crow
    http://openingdoorsinbrickwalls.wordpress.com/2014/12/24/a-thank-you-note-to-amy-johnson-crow/

    My Plans for the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2015 Edition
    http://openingdoorsinbrickwalls.wordpress.com/2014/12/26/my-plans-for-the-52-ancestors-in-52-weeks-2015-edition/

    Reply ↓
  13. robertajestes

    MUNCY – Agnes Muncy (1803-after 1880), A Grieved Mother
    http://dna-explained.com/2014/12/28/agnes-muncy-1803-after1880-a-grieved-mother-52-ancestors-52/

    Woohooo – we made it. All 52. Thanks so much Amy for the inspiration and coordination of this project. I received a wonderful note from someone this past week telling me that a piece of the testimony in the Clarkson court case in one of my articles is the first solid identification he has ever had of his ancestor. Made it all worthwhile. Looking forward to 2015!!!

    Reply ↓
    1. Amy Johnson Crow Post author

      That’s great that you made some cousin connections! And congratulations on making it to post #52!

      Reply ↓
  15. Helen Holshouser

    Jamestowne Colony Ancestors–20 Grandparents ! — 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, #52

    http://heart2heartstories.com/2014/12/30/jamestowne-colony-ancestors-20-grandparents-including-capt-christopher-newport-52-ancestors-in-52-weeks-52/

    What a change one year can make in a life! This challenge has been eyeopening in more ways than I could ever have imagined! Sixty-five years old, and who would know what an adventure awaited! Thank you Amy Jonson Crow for issuing and maintaining this challenge! I’ll never forget it, and it will continue to lead me to amazing discoveries! I am thrilled by all the new friendships and connections I have made, as well as all the family I have learned about. It has been an adventure! Helen

    Reply ↓
    1. Amy Johnson Crow Post author

      It certainly has been an adventure! I’m happy that you enjoyed it. Best wishes for a great 2015!

      Reply ↓
  16. Denise Hibsch Richmond

    CRESAP, Thomas, Maryland Frontiersman, Pathfinder and Patriot (52 Ancestors #52)

    http://denisedigsroots.blogspot.com/2014/12/thomas-cresap-maryland-frontiersman.html

    Whew! I did it Amy. Thanks for the challenge and it really was at times along the way. Alas, i won’t be participating in the 2015 challenge but will continue writing and following up on all of the “future research” mentioned in each post. Happy New Year to you and all the participants.

    Reply ↓
  17. Karen BA

    Thanks Amy – I am so pleased to have participated and completed the challenge of 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks! I look forward to next year (I think!) – I have some ideas for themes (if you are interested) which I know will help me look more closely at the branches of my tree that have been neglected. I am so grateful for the idea and the motivation – it really helped me to focus on my ancestors’ stories and not just the facts. All the best everyone for 2015!

    DAVIDSON, Andrew and EADIE, Catherine – my maternal 4th great-grandparents
    52 Ancestors #52! Hooray!
    http://www.karenskin.com

    Reply ↓
  18. oldbonesgenealogy

    52 Ancestors: #52 Mildred Bianchi (Tombstone Tuesday) by Eileen A. Souza at Old Bones Genealogy
    I thought I would celebrate the last of my 52 Ancestors posts in 2014 with the only other female veteran of the US Army that I’ve found (the other one being myself). I just discovered this information recently and I am very proud of my 1st cousin 1x removed, Mildred Bianchi.

    http://www.oldbonesgenealogy.com/52-ancestors-52-mildred-bianchi-tombstone-tuesday/

    Amy, thank you so much for this wonderful challenge. Without you, I would never have achieved my goal of one blog post a week in 2014. I plan on accepting your challenge for 2015. Overall, this has been great fun and I’ve discovered many new blogs to read.

    Happy New Year, Amy and all my fellow bloggers. Hope you have a glorious 2015.

    Reply ↓
    1. Amy Johnson Crow Post author

      Thanks for the kind words, Eileen. I’m so glad that you and others found the 52 Ancestors challenge to be worthwhile — and fun! Have a wonderful New Year!

      Reply ↓
  23. Cheryl Biermann Hartley

    Here is my last post of the challenge! I, too, had to play catch up, but I am glad that I didn’t give up. Having to write out the stories made me more diligent about making sure I had all the facts. It was a year of big surprises, too. The first was that my great-grandmother’s first husband was probably a bigamist; the second was that my grandfather’s grandmother was not his dad’s biological mother; the third is that my maiden name was not Beermann until 1829 – and that is the subject of my final post!

    BEERMANN – Johann Christian Beermann – How the Word “Genannt” Shakes up Everything – 52 Ancestors #52 http://wp.me/p4ioO6-8u

    I would like to add my name to the list of people offering their thanks, Amy, and I would like to congratulate you and everyone else who completed the challenge! We really have accomplished something, haven’t we?

    Reply ↓
    1. Amy Johnson Crow Post author

      Thanks, Cheryl. Yes, we have all accomplished something! Whether we did 1 or 52, it was more than what we had when we started :)

      Reply ↓
  26. Gail Pullyblank

    Amy – what an adventure this has been – a wonderful learning experience and it showed where the holes were in my research and what i need to find. I got behind but did manage to catch up and finally completed 52 – thanks for the inspiration.
    COXON, HALL, BOLAM, MORRIS, SPAIN, GROUBE, ROBERTS, WRIGHT, MILLS, SHARP, LEA, MOGRIDGE
    Wishing you a wonderful 2015!
    Gail
    http://pullyblank.com/wp/

    Reply ↓
    1. Amy Johnson Crow Post author

      I think a lot of us were trying to get in “one more post” before the clock struck midnight :)

      Reply ↓

  31. Pingback: Twenty-Five Genealogical Things That I Know Today Which I Did Not Know on 01 January 2014 | Diggin' Up Graves

  37. tammy

    SKJØDT- #39 Kirstine Marie Pedersen Skjødt (1892-?) http://thestoriesfoundamongtheleaves.blogspot.com/2014/12/52-ancestors-week-39-searching-for-my.html

    SKJØDT – #40 Peder Christian Pedersen Skjødt (1894-?) http://thestoriesfoundamongtheleaves.blogspot.com/2015/01/52-ancestors-week-40-searching-for-my.html

    SKJØDT – #41 Jens Christian Pedersen Skjødt (1898-?) http://thestoriesfoundamongtheleaves.blogspot.com/2015/01/52-ancestors-week-41-searching-for-my.html

    Reply ↓
  40. Jeanne Bryan Insalaco

    Amy did I miss it or is there a 52 Week 52 Ancestore 2014 clip? I see you added one for 2015, if you have time I’d love to see one to add to our 2014 stories. Thanks for the great year of stories and I hopefully look forward to tackling again.

    Reply ↓
  43. tammy

    OLESDATTER – #47 Mariane Olesdatter (1832-1879) http://thestoriesfoundamongtheleaves.blogspot.com/2015/01/52-ancestors-week-47-searching-for-my.html

    OLESDATTER – #48 Ane Kjerstine Olesdatter (1817-1876) http://thestoriesfoundamongtheleaves.blogspot.com/2015/01/52-ancestors-week-48-searching-for-my.html

    OLESDATTER – #49 Mette Kirstine Olesdatter (1824-?) http://thestoriesfoundamongtheleaves.blogspot.com/2015/01/52-ancestors-week-49-searching-for-my.html

    ** I will finish my last three later today.

    Reply ↓
  44. tammy

    Here there are…my final three!

    OLESDATTER – #50 Christiane Olesdatter (1828-?) http://thestoriesfoundamongtheleaves.blogspot.com/2015/01/52-ancestors-week-50-searching-for-my.html

    OLESDATTER- #51 Johanne Christiane Katrine Olesdatter (1820-1850) http://thestoriesfoundamongtheleaves.blogspot.com/2015/01/52-ancestors-week-51-searching-for-my.html

    and finally….

    OLESDATTER – #52 Ane Cathrine Olesdatter (1826-?) http://thestoriesfoundamongtheleaves.blogspot.com/2015/01/52-ancestors-week-52-searching-for-my.html

    Amy,
    Thank you so much for this opportunity. I really enjoyed writing the blog each week, even though my schedule changed mid-challenge and I missed many weekly writings. I hope, though my schedule will remain the same, that I will be able to continue the blog this year and look forward to working with the weekly themes.

    Thank you again for all of your work on the challenge!
    -Tammy

    Reply ↓

Leave a Reply