About

This site is a work in progress. It is intended to be a place where I can share information about my family history research, where I hope to connect with others with similar interests. – Vicki Albu

I chose the name “History Sifter” for this website because that’s what I love to do: to sort through odds and ends of historical evidence in order to find an unusual story. I’m a genealogist, a historian, and a writer. My ancestry is rich and colorful, with Norwegian, German, Irish, and Romanian forbearers; pre-Revolutionary War settlers; Mormons who followed Joseph Smith as far as Missouri; early Kentucky farmers; and others yet to be found. They lived in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia, Minnesota, and elsewhere.

I’m also interested in the history of Dakota County, Minnesota especially as it relates to women and immigration, and Romanian immigration to the U.S. especially to the Midwestern states. Read about my Romanian immigration research on this site and at A Thousand Dollars and Back (about our documentary film). I co-founded Dakota County (Minnesota) Genealogical Society and Romanian Genealogy Society. For many years, I was the editor of “Born Young Newsletter,” a surname-specific newsletter for people researching Young, Jung, etc.

Click on the tabs above to select a topic of interest.