Amy Johnson Crow has challenged us this week with – “Favorite Place: What has been your favorite place to research? Which ancestor came from there?” Well this is another tough assignment for me. While my relatives came from lots of ho hum places, some have been interesting in the challenges they presented for research. Take for example Pike county Pennsylvania for the Dougherty’s and Westfall’s this was difficult because of the lack of records available, but when we visited the area In the fall of 1994 it brought me an appreciation of the beauty in the area of Milford and Lackawaxen. I am finding more records all the time for the Westfall’s & Dougherty’s, but it still lacks on the usual county records available elsewhere.

England was probably hands down the best research trip, two weeks doing everything from the usual tourist attractions ( Westminster Abby, Parliament, Tower of London, etc.) to being able to look at the actual church records at St. Michael and All Angels in Ashton under lyne, Lancashire, England for the Heap, Woolley and Lee families.

Also that trip we found the ancestral manor church in Buckshire for the Putnam family back when the name was de Puttenham along with a genealogy chart on the church wall.

While Ireland for the Dougherty’s and Ferguson’s was a fun trip the research was not successful. It was an opportunity to learn as much about Ireland in 14 days as possible, but alas nothing new was discovered that directly related to our Irish roots.

So really my favorite place to do family research is the Salt Lake Family History Library where I am always sure to find more information. While saying that, I love traveling to any location where my ancestors lived and exploring the area and seeing for myself what their environment was like.  Note to my fairy godmother: Book me that next trip anywhere!