The following excerpt is from an article posted in the July 29, 2016 edition of the New York Times. Written by Amy Zipkin, the article delves into the experiences of those of us who are motivated to travel in search of our ancestor’s residences. It’s a great read.
In April, Sheila Albert, 78, a retired psychotherapist from Santa Rosa, Calif., and her niece, Terry Pew, who is 60, found themselves standing in front of the ruins of a stone house in Ireland where Ms. Albert believes her great-great-grandmother once lived.
“I felt like I came home,” she said.
Ms. Albert, whose ancestors emigrated to the United States during the potato famine of the late 1840s, found the house with the help of a genealogy and touring company called My Ireland Family Heritage, which arranged a two-day tour. It was not the first time the two women had pursued their roots: In 2014, they took a weeklong car trip through Minnesota and Wisconsin, where they toured cemeteries researching their family tree.
America is a nation of immigrants, and as many people age they grow interested in tracing their family heritage and group traditions back to their origins.
