I recently decided to do some genealogy research.

My father is Russian, and he was born in China. He was forced, along with thousands of others, to flee to the Philippines (you can read more on that here) until he was able to move to the United States. His father, who had been a colonel in the White Russian Army during the revolution, was too old to enter the country. He moved to Paraguay, where he remained until his death in the 1970s. This was by far the most fascinating aspect of my family’s history, but records from the countries involved are scarce. My dad still has a lot of letters from my grandfather, so I hope he will bring them the next time he visits with my mom.

My mother’s family background is also mostly overseas. Her relatives came to the US from Ireland and England. One interesting person I learned about was George Chainey. He was my mother’s great grandfather. He started out as a minister in the Boston area, then began writing books and lecturing around the country. I am trying to find a first-edition copy of his book “The Unsealed Bible”. He was also very good friends with Walt Whitman, and they mentioned each other numerous times in writing.

I hope to learn more soon. I have been able to look at so many documents, from ship passenger lists to passport applications. Some included the original handwriting and signatures of members of my family.