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Writer's pictureMaria Vandenburg

Becoming an Ancestor Seeker

Updated: Sep 6

Becoming a "Baby Geneologist"


I have been in a bit of a dark hole of my own undoing for the a minute now, so I was beyond touched for the opportunity to join a group of geneologists for a week of research on my mothers side of the family. The organization I will always be grateful for is called Ancestor Seekers.





For months now, I have been telling myself that if learning about my ancestors can't get me out of my own head, I don't know what will. 🤔


I arrived in Salt Lake City this past Monday and am currently writing to you from airport. My heart full of gratitude for an experience that exceeded my expectations. It provided the foundation for a life long deep dive into my ancestry.


Three Things I Discovered:


I have been in isolation mode, so this particular trip has been a light at the end of the tunnel for me. But also a profound lesson of you will always be where you are. Meaning, life did not miraculously change... I was not suddenly out of my tunnel. I was in Salt Lake... Dealing with the same anxiety. 🙊


To Bring Us Outside of my Mental Health and back to SLC 🎬



✨My family has done A TON of research on our Western roots, I am just beginning my journey. I said near the end of the trip that I honestly could not have imagined a better introduction to learning about my roots, being with Ancestor Seekers and their researchers and consultants was truly like getting a Masters degree in Genealogy in one week. 🎓


Each day we woke and met to head over to the library.


🤷 At first I thought, how the heck am I going to spend 8 hours the day looking into my lineage? The crazy part is, once you dive in, time seems to disappear, at least that's how it was with my own experience.





The researchers stood by and I had three really cool experiences happen


  1. Bronson/Silas 🧱

For proper context, my family (as in distant lineage I have yet to meet on my Mother's side) have done EXTENSIVE research. So much so that the Bronson side (my grandmother's father, so my great grandfather who passed before I was born) is documented going back to England all the way to the 1500s.


The cool part was when, working Malia and Tom, (two of the amazing researching consultants) we were able to break through a brick wall🧱. Brick wall means what you think it does, something that blocks you from being able to dig deeper.


Anyway, with Malia and Tom's help, we broke through one. But it didn't happen in the 1500!s!


It happened with my Great-Grand Fathers, mother. Had been identified as "Edith Crispin" 🙏


What we discovered is that her husbands name was "Silas Bronson." We were all ecstatic, my mother included to finally decipher this


2. My Very First Discovery 💡

I found out that on the Earle Merkle side (my mother's father, my grandmather) we have Irish Ancestry. We knew of Askenzai as well as German, but the Irish was new. and I FOUND that my great grandmothers father, John Roe, came over from Ireland. My VERY FIRST discovery and I was over the moon 🌓 that it happened during this trip, which I have already stated sets the foundation for years to come





3. Knowing that this is JUST the Beginning ✨

In terms of beginning to document my ancestorsand well so much more.

I have started exploring my own creation of digital art and this is what integration felt like:


DISCOVERING


AND Documenting


I will forever be grateful for Cynthia, Malia, Tom, Collette, Lori and the whole team AS WELL as all of the Ancestor Seekers with me. The trip would not have been the same without each and every single one of them


Interested in learning more about my personal journey?




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