I had not bicycled in 25 years, then the director of Georgia Chapter Sierra Club told me about the Great Allegheny Passage trail from Cumberland, MD to Pittsburgh. Her photos were nice but I didn't think I would ever do it until I saw Youghiogheny River on the brochure. My 4th great-grandfather and his parents moved from Winchester, VA to that river in the SW corner of PA in 1770. From there John Gritton served in the Revolutionary War--at least one month each year 1775-1782.
In 2015 at age 69.5 years, I began to do bicycle and genealogy tours starting with the GAP. Then in 2016, I did GAP, Montour Trail west of Pittsburgh, and the C&O Canal Towpath from Cumberland to DC.
Then in May 2017, I became a Find-A-Grave member but lightly until I crossed Illinois from Danville to Carlinville and went to the library to do research on my great-great-grandfather Elijah P. Ford who was in the 88th Illinois Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. One of the gems I found was about his mother-in-law. My bicycle took me across Missouri on the Katy Trail to the solar eclipse in Augusta, MO, ending in Clinton, MO.
When I got home I put Sarah T. (Huse) Lee into GOOGLE and found her Find-A-Grave memorial. She was only linked to her husband Morris Lee, but that was GREAT, for his parents were there, so that was 2 generations I had not known about, then 3, then 4, until it got me back to one 12th great-grandfather. To say the least that turned me on to Find-A-Grave.
But my great-great-grandmother wasn't linked to her mom Sarah T. Soon the site administrator made the connections, and so did the one overseeing my grandmother's site, so she was linked to her father (Elijah's son). Thus from my father to a 12th great, they are linked on Find-A-Grave.
So because Sarah T and Morris Lee were from MA, my summer 2018 was on the bike trails in MA and RI. When in Plymouth I spoke with my nephew Greg, I had missed his E-mail that I might be related to the man who was washed off the Mayflower--John Howland. Find-A-Grave confirmed the E-mail path from my 9th great-grandparents John and Elizabeth (Tilley) Howland to my father. John managed the Aptucxet Trading Post (now Museum) where the docent introduced me to a Howland/Tilley cousin, her brother-in-law, plus the book, "The Boy Who Fell Off the Mayflower, or John Howland's Good Fortune" by award-winning illustrator P.J. Lynch. The Dead of Night Ghost Tour took me to John's grave, but I had to bike 65 miles to see Elizabeth's grave in RI.
The 2019 trip was to the wilds of New Jersey. I saw the graves of Col. Thomas Bloomfield (Pres. Obama and my 9th great), and son John (my 8th great), and some of the other 43 Bloomfields found by Find-A-Grave in the First Presbyterian Churchyard in Woodbridge Township, NJ. I was hit by 3 thunderstorms in Monmouth Battlefield State Park, NJ. John Gritton was there on June 28, 1778, during the largest battle of the Revolutionary War. So was Joseph Bloomfield (4th and 6th governor of NJ--a great-grandson of Thomas Bloomfield).
Find-A-Grave has really helped with genealogy searches. In appreciation, I have added photos to several memories, and I just created my first memorial for a HS friend, two more friends I will add this week.
In 2020, Plymouth celebrated the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Pilgrims--John Lithgow is descended from 8 of them. Covid-19 halted most of those events. So I did most of my 2016 ride--C&O, GAP, Montour, and added Panhandle Trail to WV, then Wheeling Heritage Trail--48 days and 569 miles. I came close to where John Gritton met his wife--I couldn't find the Fort Hoagland site in W PA.

I had not bicycled in 25 years, then the director of Georgia Chapter Sierra Club told me about the Great Allegheny Passage trail from Cumberland, MD to Pittsburgh. Her photos were nice but I didn't think I would ever do it until I saw Youghiogheny River on the brochure. My 4th great-grandfather and his parents moved from Winchester, VA to that river in the SW corner of PA in 1770. From there John Gritton served in the Revolutionary War--at least one month each year 1775-1782.
In 2015 at age 69.5 years, I began to do bicycle and genealogy tours starting with the GAP. Then in 2016, I did GAP, Montour Trail west of Pittsburgh, and the C&O Canal Towpath from Cumberland to DC.
Then in May 2017, I became a Find-A-Grave member but lightly until I crossed Illinois from Danville to Carlinville and went to the library to do research on my great-great-grandfather Elijah P. Ford who was in the 88th Illinois Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. One of the gems I found was about his mother-in-law. My bicycle took me across Missouri on the Katy Trail to the solar eclipse in Augusta, MO, ending in Clinton, MO.
When I got home I put Sarah T. (Huse) Lee into GOOGLE and found her Find-A-Grave memorial. She was only linked to her husband Morris Lee, but that was GREAT, for his parents were there, so that was 2 generations I had not known about, then 3, then 4, until it got me back to one 12th great-grandfather. To say the least that turned me on to Find-A-Grave.
But my great-great-grandmother wasn't linked to her mom Sarah T. Soon the site administrator made the connections, and so did the one overseeing my grandmother's site, so she was linked to her father (Elijah's son). Thus from my father to a 12th great, they are linked on Find-A-Grave.
So because Sarah T and Morris Lee were from MA, my summer 2018 was on the bike trails in MA and RI. When in Plymouth I spoke with my nephew Greg, I had missed his E-mail that I might be related to the man who was washed off the Mayflower--John Howland. Find-A-Grave confirmed the E-mail path from my 9th great-grandparents John and Elizabeth (Tilley) Howland to my father. John managed the Aptucxet Trading Post (now Museum) where the docent introduced me to a Howland/Tilley cousin, her brother-in-law, plus the book, "The Boy Who Fell Off the Mayflower, or John Howland's Good Fortune" by award-winning illustrator P.J. Lynch. The Dead of Night Ghost Tour took me to John's grave, but I had to bike 65 miles to see Elizabeth's grave in RI.
The 2019 trip was to the wilds of New Jersey. I saw the graves of Col. Thomas Bloomfield (Pres. Obama and my 9th great), and son John (my 8th great), and some of the other 43 Bloomfields found by Find-A-Grave in the First Presbyterian Churchyard in Woodbridge Township, NJ. I was hit by 3 thunderstorms in Monmouth Battlefield State Park, NJ. John Gritton was there on June 28, 1778, during the largest battle of the Revolutionary War. So was Joseph Bloomfield (4th and 6th governor of NJ--a great-grandson of Thomas Bloomfield).
Find-A-Grave has really helped with genealogy searches. In appreciation, I have added photos to several memories, and I just created my first memorial for a HS friend, two more friends I will add this week.
In 2020, Plymouth celebrated the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Pilgrims--John Lithgow is descended from 8 of them. Covid-19 halted most of those events. So I did most of my 2016 ride--C&O, GAP, Montour, and added Panhandle Trail to WV, then Wheeling Heritage Trail--48 days and 569 miles. I came close to where John Gritton met his wife--I couldn't find the Fort Hoagland site in W PA.