Why Family Folio?

The past needs a voice. This website is dedicated to highlighting the stories that have gone silent, to finding that elusive individual leaf of paper or parchment revealing past secrets. Those tales are no longer lost.

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Everything is illuminated in the light of the past. -- Jonathan Safran Foer

Our ancestors shared similar paths. They traveled from the old country to the new. They dealt with hardships in strange cities and homesteads. They made their way through hard and lean times. You're here because of them. This is a resource to celebrate their lives and all that we've found out about them through research and documents.

If your background includes any of our featured surnames, please feel free to check out these links at your leisure. You may find something of interest. Maybe a connection to your family?

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Focus on the documents. -- Elizabeth Shown Mills

Each featured surname has its own history page with as many of the family details as we know. Links to relevant documents are included. Explore, enjoy...and if you have any questions at all, please drop us a line.