We’re closing out August 2025 and soon summer will draw to an end, too. On the positive side, we still have Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenges to look forward to from Randy Seaver.
This week’s challenge has lots of possibilities.
1) If you could go back in time to interview one of your ancestors, what questions would you ask him or her? Tell us your selected ancestor’s name, their birth and death years/locations, and their spouse’s name and marriage date/location. List at least five questions to ask that selected ancestor.
I am going to stick with my very stubborn Carlisle brick wall and focus on Catherine, born c1761, place unknown and died after 1840, when she last collected a pension as the widow of a Loyalist soldier in New Brunswick, Canada.
- Tell me about your life and family growing up – parents, siblings and where you lived before the Revolutionary War began.
- What was it like settling in Parrtown at its beginning in 1785? Life must have been hard in a brand new community.
- What experiences did you have during the Revolutionary War>
- How did the Carlisles decide to settle in Sussex, Kings, New Brunswick?
- Finally, why did you and husband Robert decide to move to Maine in the 1820s? Robert fought against the Patriots and your children all grew up in New Brunswick?
- This is a bit sneaky – Who were some of Robert’s family members?
That’s it. This is probably my perfect set of questions to ask Catherine (MNU) Carlisle. If only it could happen!
Thanks, Randy. This was fun and we can always repeat the activity with a different ancestor.
Different questions apply to people who moved! I did not need to think about that for the ancestor I chose.
I was traveling today and tried commenting from my phone, but it wasn’t allowed. It’s not cheating to ask about the family of one’s spouse. Hopefully they knew them. I can talk all about my spouse’s family.