Week 3: Nickname (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 2025 Version)

The theme for Week 3 is “Nickname.” Nicknames can hint to a person’s personality, occupation, or appearance. But be careful to not always take them literally! (Think of all the burly guys nicknamed “Tiny!”) Sometimes they have an “origin story” – like “Coco,” a classmate of mine. She got the nickname because her little brother couldn’t pronounce her real name (Colleen). Which of your ancestors had a nickname? Do you know how they got it? You can find all of the 2025 prompts here.

My grandpa Crinion, my dad and his only brother all had the nickname of “Chick”. I googled to see what might it be a nickname for and it reported Charles. However, none of them are called Charles. My grandpa and uncle have the same first name of John. My uncle also had the nick name of “Jack” too. My dad was Robert, and I found a work name tag with “Chick” Crinion on it along with some of his work jackets often had “Chick” Crinion on them too.

I did try asking my dad many years ago where the nickname came from. Either he told me and I forgot or he avoided giving me the correct answer, which was his normal response. I think he didn’t like us kids knowing all his secrets. 

Below is an ad that has my Uncle Jack “Chick” Crinion listed in his ad.

Just remember to have fun and Just Do Genealogy!

Week 52: Resolution (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 2024 Version)

The theme for Week 52 is "Resolution." This time of year, many of us make plans for what we want to accomplish. Do you have a genealogy resolution -- maybe a brick wall you want to break through or a collection of letters you want to digitize? Register for 2025’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

Some people call them “Resolutions”, I like using the term goals. Actually, there isn’t much difference between a resolution and a goal. A resolution is making a firm decision to do something while a goal is the object of a person’s desired result.  So I guess a goal comes first and then we make a resolution to do it?

Anyway, I looked back on what I wrote about my Goals for 2024. I had five basic goals:

·         Participate in the 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks – achieved

·         Do a daily genealogy tip post on my other blog “Out on a Limb Genealogy” – achieved

·         Finish the Jones Book for my sister-in-law’s cousin – achieved

·         Continue the Goodwin Descendant Project – achieved

·         Clean up my paper files – not achieved

I did not achieve my last goal because let’s be honest, it’s boring. However, this past year has been a rough one for my personal life. My sister-in-law was diagnosed with Stage IV Bone Cancer on January 17^th and lost her battle on July 8^th. Also, one of my intellectually disabled sisters was diagnosed with Stage II Pancreatic Cancer in early April.  I am her caregiver in the sense that I manager her finances, pay her bills, buy all her groceries, take her to her appointments.  Thus, I ended up spending many days in the Cancer Center as she received her treatments. She had two surgeries this year and thus I ended up spending my days in the hospital with her. I also have another intellectually disabled sister who I had to make sure was also taken care of. My two sisters are roommates. Anyway, I decided that I would drop the fifth goal for this year.

Thus, looking forward to the new year I have some similar goals as last year:

·         Participate in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – this project gives me a chance to review my research and discover things I might have overlooked.

·         Continue the Goodwin Descendant Project and create a book – I have already ran a first draft of my book and now I am currently reviewing it for big missing gaps of information.

·         Clean up my paper and computer files – I just need to bite the bullet and do this. I am getting up in years and I don’t want to leave an unorganized mess for my children. If I don’t start, it won’t ever get finished. I need to spend at least four hours a week doing this project.

·         OPTIONAL – I also have inherited a huge slide collection from my father. I need to scan the slides. I am hoping to get a new slide scanner that will make the project a little more enjoyable. However, the paper files really have a higher priority, thus only after I have spent four hours doing the file organization project, will I even consider doing the slide project.

·         Continue with DNA identification – I need to slowly go through my DNA matches, using the new Ancestry ProTools to figure out who my matches are and input them into my tree. I can do this project using my laptop at night while watching TV.

How did you do this past year? What are some of your goals or resolutions for 2025?

Remember to have fun and Just Do Genealogy!