Ancestry.com's Shoebox

One of my favorite movies of all time is "The Princess Bride".  It has action, humor, romance and a little bit of mystery.  It is rather cheeky but still fun.  It also has a "pit of despair".  While Wesley and Buttercup run into the fire swamp to hide, they find rodents of unusual size, quick sand, and fire.  They successfully navigate the fire swamp but not without getting their feathers ruffled a bit or rather charred.  Once they exit the fire swamp, they are captured and Wesley is then taken to the "pit of dispair" for some torture and later escape. 

So why do I bring this up?  I relate the Ancestry.com Shoebox to the "pit of despair".  Not only does it present itself as great place to save or hide those documents that you think might match your family tree down the line, it gives one hope that you won't have to recreate the wheel of research to find them again.  I've been adding items to the Shoebox for months and now am up to 119.  I have not yet found rodents, quick sand, fire, or torture devices, but I have yet to navigate through and sort out my shoebox.  I started calling it a pit and then the name just rang so true from the movie.

I guess I need some motivation to go through and see if I have any treasures or just taunts.  Maybe some of those possible matching documents will escape.  As Nike used to say (and I just can't help this with a name like 'Shoebox'), JUST DO IT!.............ok maybe when i find time...

Mine, Yours', and the Other Guy's Genealogy

Mine, Yours', and the Other Guy's Genealogy has kind of morphed into a blog about my Flanagan's and McLaughlin's for the most part these days.  I am hoping that more of my other family lines produce some successful research in the near future.  It is true that I have a fair amount of information about my Maxwell's too.  My other Irish family lines have either come to a stop or definitely a slow crawl.

It would appear that my initial destiny on my family tree journey is with my Mom's side of the family.  The more I look, the more I find.  The information can actually be rather overwhelming at times.  So what should I do about about my Dad's side of the family?  I have limited resources to even ask about my relatives.  My father passed away in 2004.  To be honest, he knew only limited information.  He did know his Hickey grandparents though.  He lived with them when he attended first grade in New York City.  I need to start writing down the stories that he told about Patrick and Johanna (Coughlin) Hickey.  I do have my Dad's siblings too as living resources.

McGuire has proven to be a hard name to trace.  It is a pretty common last name in NYC back in the late 1800s.  I am ever hopeful that the marriage certificates that I ordered in June from the State of New York actually show up before Christmas.  I'd probably have more luck at this point researching my Maguire line in Ireland.  Yes, I am both a McGuire and a Maguire.  Funny how that works sometimes.