My Research Threads
I am actively researching the following family lines. If you share any of these ancestors, please reach out — I’d love to compare notes, share documents, and find family. Use the [Contact page] to get in touch.
Colonial Virginia Ancestors
Several of my family lines trace back to colonial Virginia, making it one of my richest and most active research areas. My primary focus is Samuel Young, who appears in Amelia County, Virginia records beginning in 1738 and left a 1777 will naming his children. I am working to push his origins further back and to establish that Capt. Stephen Young of the 14th Virginia Regiment is his son and my direct ancestor. But the Young family is not the only Virginia thread — other lines including King and additional surnames also have their roots there before descendants spread into Kentucky, Tennessee, and beyond.
If you have ancestors from Amelia County or surrounding Virginia counties in the 18th century, or if you follow any of these families into the 19th-century South and Midwest, I want to hear from you.
→ [See all Colonial Virginia posts]
Romanian Heritage — Moisescu and Related Families
My Moisescu ancestors immigrated to the United States in the early 1900s, part of the wave of Romanian immigrants who came before World War I. Ilie “Eli” Moisesku (Moisescu) came from Sânnicolau Mare, Romania when it was part of Hungary. He and wife Gizella Bartuschek from Budapest settled in Minnesota, as part of the broader Romanian immigrant community that took root in the Twin Cities and across the Midwest.
Romanian genealogical research presents unique challenges, and it is an area where I have spent many years developing expertise. If you are researching Romanian roots — whether or not you share my specific family lines — I may be able to point you toward resources and strategies.
→ [See all Romanian Heritage posts]
Norwegian Ancestry — Hagen & Dybdal
The Hagen and Dybdal families originated in the Toten region of Norway and immigrated to the United States, with my branch settling in Minnesota and Washington State and family connections spreading to North Dakota and elsewhere. I have made research trips to Norway in pursuit of this line and have connected with Norwegian cousins who are also active researchers. I organized the last major U.S. reunion in Minnesota in 1994.
→ [See all Norwegian posts]
Other Lines
My research extends well beyond the three threads above. I have ancestors who arrived in Pennsylvania as early as 1776 (the Derr family), and many other lines I follow across the U.S. and Europe. If you share a surname with me and don’t see your family listed, please still reach out — there’s a good chance I’ve encountered your line somewhere in my research.
→ [See all posts] · [Contact me]
History Sifter 