Use History to Fill In Your Ancestor's Story

In 2017 when this blog was brand new, I saw the power of historical context. I'd been thinking about my grandfather who died in 1986. I knew he was a prisoner of war in World War I. But the only detail I'd ever heard was that he had to eat rats to stay alive.

My aunt gave me a photo of my grandfather in an Italian Army uniform. So I started researching Italian World War I battles. I wrote about this in "POW: My Grandfather's World War I Experience". I assumed from what I read that the Germans captured him during the Battle of Caporetto. The Italian prisoners went to either Mauthausen in Austria, or Milovice in the Czech Republic.

In 2018 I went to the archives building in the city of Benevento to see his military record. His date of capture coincides with the Battle of Caporetto. They held him prisoner for one full year at Mauthausen. I wrote about his military record in "Taking a Do-It-Yourself Genealogy Vacation, Part 1".

Filling in My Uncle's Story

Online historical research helped me better understand my grandfather's experience. What other family mysteries can I explore by researching the history at the time?

With few facts to go on, historical research adds life to the relatives in your family tree.

My first thought was that same grandfather's son—my Uncle Johnny. Johnny was killed in action in July 1944. During a free access weekend on Fold3.com, I found the flight record detailing Johnny's death.

He was a Staff Sergeant in the United States Army Air Force. Johnny's flight record told me several details, including:

• The names of all 10 men on his airplane.
• Their intended bombing target in Germany.
• That they were part of the 15th Air Force, 463rd Bomb Group, 773rd Bomb Squadron.
• That they flew a B-17G bomber out of the Celone Airfield.
• Where the plane was last seen after artillery fire hit it.
• That there were no survivors.
• That no parachutes opened.
• That Johnny was the tail gunner.

A few years ago my mother gave me a letter Johnny wrote home in 1944. In the letter he talks about visiting the city of Foggia, Italy. I'm sure he knew some Italian because my grandfather never stopped speaking it.

Today I'm using Microsoft Copilot to learn some historical context. I like Copilot because it gives you a well-organized response with links to its sources. Copilot reminded me there was no United States Air Force in 1944, so Johnny was in the United States Army Air Force. Copilot went on to tell me:

• Johnny was most likely based in the Foggia Airfield Complex.
• The complex contained about 30 separate airfields spread across the region.
• This complex was home to heavy bomber groups flying B-17s and B-24s with the 15th Air Force.
• The service members likely lived in six-man tents with a dirt floor.
• The complex was also used for Allied armies and naval forces, making it a bustling command center.

Bing Maps has a historical marker for the Celone/San Nicola d'Arpi Airfield. It's in the middle of a farming community in northern Foggia. A link to Wikipedia shows me an overhead view of the airfield in 1945, the year after Johnny's plane crash. This image and more detailed maps are available on forgottenairfields.com. Wikipedia says the major tenant of the airfield was Johnny's Fifteenth Air Force, 463rd Bombardment Group, including his 773rd Bombardment Squadron.

This same field housed the famous "Swoose Group". Stationed there was the father of actress Swoosie Kurtz who flew the "Swoose Goose". I learned that from a Facebook group called "Kids of the 463rd Bomb Group".

Now let's look at Johnny's last letter home. He wrote it six days before he died. He tells his parents he became a staff sergeant and got a raise. He got an $18 increase in base pay, a $9 increase in flying pay, and an increase in overseas pay. In a P.S. he says he now has 7 missions.

The last paragraph of the letter is the only glimpse of his free time.

"My buddy and I visited Foggia the other day. We didn't do anything interesting. I stayed at the Red Cross hoping to see someone from the neighborhood, but no such luck. Love to all, Johnny"

Looking at the map, I can see that the Red Cross in Foggia is about 10 miles from the airfield. I can use Google Street View to "walk" the streets and see what Johnny might have seen. I would love to add Foggia as a stop on my next trip to Italy.

Digging Further into Historical Facts

By clicking Copilot's suggested follow-up questions, I found out:

• As tail gunner, Johnny was one of 4 gunners on the B-17G. They had a top-turret gunner, ball-turret gunner, waist gunner, and tail gunner.
• The rest of the crew included a pilot, co-pilot, navigator, bombardier, and radio operator. The top-turret gunner doubled as the flight engineer. Johnny's flight report refers to RW and LW (presumably Right Wing and Left Wing), which may mean there were 5 gunners.
• As a Staff Sergeant, Johnny was a non-commissioned officer "bridging junior enlisted ranks and the commissioned officers above". Johnny drew a picture of his new insignia in his last letter to his parents. He must have been proud.
• His new position came with added responsibilities, which is why he mentions his pay raise.

What are some of the more interesting stories from your family tree that are lacking detail? Historical research can help you flesh out those stories and give your ancestors new life.

5 Must-Do's for Building Your Family Tree from Vital Records

If your ancestors lived in certain countries, you can find lots of records for your family tree. You may find census records, city directories, military records, ship manifests, and more. But what if your ancestors' countries don't have those records available? How can you build your family tree using only an incomplete set of vital records?

Welcome to my world. I have two sets of 1st great grandparents who emigrated to the U.S., and one set of 2nd great grandparents who came here. Everyone else stayed in Italy for centuries.

Commit to these 5 rules and you can build your family tree from vital records alone.

With access to Italian vital records, I have documented facts for 415 of my direct ancestors. They're the ones with Ahnentafel numbers. My tree is still growing because I'm obsessed with my ancestral hometowns. I'm using vital records to find every relative of my direct ancestors. And I continue to expand each family because of all the intermarriage in their towns.

Let's take a look at 5 "must-do's" for building your family tree from vital records alone. These tips are not confined to Italian vital records!

1. You Must Start Close to Home

When I learned I could view Italian vital records at a Family History Center, I jumped at the chance. This was many years ago before these vital records came online at the Antenati Portal.

I started with the town of Baselice. I knew the names of my grandfather's parents, but nothing more. I had to start with them and begin putting families together. By the time I finished viewing all the vital records between 1809 and 1860, I'd added 15,000 people to my family tree. For complete details of this process, see "5 Steps to Grow Your Italian Family Tree".

2. You Must Understand the Local Marriage Customs

My 4th great grandparents, Gregorio and Apollonia, came from the town of Circello. In 1814 Gregorio and two of their young children died. My 3rd great grandfather Francesco, still a baby, was the only surviving child. What happened to Apollonia? I couldn't find a death record for her in Circello.

I thought about all I'd learned from viewing tons of Italian marriage records. If a spouse died and there were young children in the family, the surviving spouse needed to remarry. Apollonia was widow with a one-year-old baby. She had to remarry, right away.

To find out how I found Apollonia and learned her parents names, see "How I Tracked Down My 4th Great Grandmother's Parents".

3. You Must Look in the Margins

I hate that most of my ancestral hometowns have no available marriage or death records from 1861 to 1930. But there is one saving grace that can make up for this lack of records. Margin notes! Sometimes you'll find a note in the margin of your person's birth record that can tell you:

• Who they married, where and when
• Where and when they died
• That their father died in World War I, and more!

To learn about these and other facts to fill in the gaps, see "3 Types of Bonus Details on Italian Vital Records".

4. You Must Scan for More Details

I have lots of cases in my family tree where a baby is born shortly after their father died. Early on, I was overlooking one incredible detail on that birth record. The father's death record isn't available. But his date of death is often written at the bottom of his child's birth record.

In one of my towns, I don't have access to the matrimoni processetti (see "The Italian Genealogy Goldmine: Wedding Packets"). I was so upset when I realized they were missing. But there is a substitute! In this town, the marriage documents themselves contain tons of detail, including:

• the bride and groom's exact date of birth
• when and where their parents died
• when and where their grandfathers died

Don't miss out on these and other important information on vital records. See "10 Details Not to Miss on Italian Vital Records".

5. You Must See Past the Clerical Errors

I've found glaring errors in a set of marriage records many times. Those glorious wedding packets have birth records for the bride and groom. But then you go to your family tree and see the mistake. The birth record isn't for the bride. It's for her same-named older sister who died as a child. Or the grandfather's death record is for a completely different man with the same name.

You've got to consider each document with care and make sure everything adds up. You'll avoid all these errors if your family tree contains all the siblings in every family.

What other common errors must you look for? Read the details in "5 Common Mistakes on Vital Records".

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Old-country vital records have more accurate details than a U.S. vital record for an immigrant. That can be because the family was in one place for centuries. Everyone in town knows who this person's parents were.

Keep your eyes open for the many nuances of vital records as described in this article. Then you'll be ready to squeeze out every last detail for your family tree.

New Feature Sets MyHeritage Apart

New in March 2025, the MyHeritage Cousin Finder™ is a robust alternative to Ancestry's ThruLines^®. You can use Cousin Finder even if you have a free account on MyHeritage like I do. (Read on to see the roadblock I hit.)

Now it has a new and big advantage over the competition. And that makes Cousin Finder a remarkable asset for your genealogy research. You can use it to find cousins for Any Person in Your Family Tree, as long as they have ancestors in your family tree. On Ancestry, you can only view ThruLines for the AncestryDNA tests you manage.

My sons have not taken a DNA test, but I can view their Cousin Finder results. I see cousins from their father's side of the family. (I've gone deep, but not wide, on my ex's family.) I can see two cousins in Canada who seem to be brothers, one in the United Arab Emirates, and one in Ireland. And it names the common ancestors they share with my sons. I found even more of my boys' relatives when I viewed my ex-husband's Cousin Finder.

No DNA test? No problem. Follow these steps to use the unique capabilities of the MyHeritage Cousin Finder™.

The results page tells you each relative's expected relationship to the subject. Plus it breaks that relationship down to one of 6 categories:

• Father's side
• Mother's side
• Father's father's side
• Father's mother's side
• Mother's father's side
• Mother's mother's side

This means I can see that my sons' cousins in Canada are:

• their father's mother's 4th cousin
• related through common ancestors Patrick Egan and Mary Hickey. Patrick and Mary are my sons' 5th great grandparents. They're the Canadians' 3rd great grandparents.

The cousin in the UAE is my sons' 5th cousin on their father's father's side. Their common ancestors belong to my sons' paternal grandfather's mother. (She's the lady who swore she was the niece of the captain of the Titanic, but she wasn't.) The cousin in Ireland is the boys' 6th cousin on their father's mother's side. Their common ancestors are, again, Patrick Egan and Mary Hickey.

Give It a Try!

Using this new, expanded feature is simple.

• Create a MyHeritage account if you don't have one. It can be a free account.
• Build or import your family tree. It's easy to import a GEDCOM file using the Family Tree menu.
• Choose a person as your subject and click their name.
• In the panel that opens, click their Profile button. This opens up a detailed page with the person's facts and immediate family.
• Scroll down and look for the "Additional actions" box. Click the person's Cousin Finder in that box.

I ran into a new roadblock when viewing anyone's Cousin Finder, including my own. I can't click to view a diagram of the relationship. And I can't view their family tree. I used to be able to do this on my free account, and it was a huge benefit. I wrote all about it 4 months ago. Now it seems to be behind a paywall. Take a look at "5 Super-Cool Features of MyHeritage" and you may decide it's worth paying a little money for. (It is available with the lowest paid subscription level.)

Even with the roadblock, you can use this feature to your advantage. The relatives you find using Cousin Finder may be on other DNA websites and social media. You may be able to use the Cousin Finder hints to learn how they fit into your family tree.

The names I'm seeing in Cousin Finder are all new to me, so I'd say it's well worth a try.