Brenda Young, Weatherford, Texas: There are no guided tours that would cover places my ancestors lived, so I have planned and completed my own “unguided” tours. My daughter and I visited Plymouth, Massachusetts, and the Connecticut coastal towns of New London and Stonington about twelve years ago. More recently, we visited nine ancestral towns in England and Northern Ireland. My daughter quipped that I had probably seen more of the UK than most Brits!

Teresa Gregory Corso, Erie, Pennsylvania: As my genealogy research has expanded, I have increased the number of ancestral places I want to travel to see. I have been to Scotland and Ireland. Now, for my next trip, I will be visiting six counties in Virginia to search out historical societies, libraries, and actual locations like the Moorman River, which was named after one of my ancestors.

Christine West, Annapolis, Maryland: After learning that my father was descended from Edward Hilton, one of the first settlers of New Hampshire, my parents and I visited the site of Hilton’s early fishing station in Dover as well as the Hilton park and memorial nearby. We also went to Newfields, the site Hilton later established and named. We found the combination town hall/police station/tax office, and my father asked the clerk about any other Hilton sites. Although the clerk knew of none, a woman purchasing a parking sticker told us she had found the remains of a Hilton graveyard in the woods. Following her directions, we located the outline of the Hilton house, a stone memorial and plaque commemorating Hilton’s new home, and an ancient Hilton cemetery with about fifteen gravestones.

E Clark, Glenview, Illinois: My genealogy research has revealed deep family roots in Devonshire, UK. This summer, we have hired a local guide to help us tour several towns where I have identified churchyards with family grave markers, a pottery museum where my great-great-grandmother worked, and a B&B on a farm where family members once worked. I also hope to visit one or two local history organizations.

Grace White, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania: Most of my family research travel has been on my own. However, in March 2016, I went on an American Ancestors research trip to Hartford, Connecticut. It was absolutely wonderful! My main focus was researching my third great-grandmother Ximenia Hart (1785-1856), but I gained knowledge about other ancestors, too (and found a connection to Princess Diana). I discovered that one of my fifth great-grandmothers was an arsonist. She burned someone's barn, which was quite a serious offense. I learned that three of Ximenia Hart’s ancestors were among the 163 original founders of Hartford, including Stephen Hart (1580–1622). I also learned that Ximenia Hart's father, a 1776 Yale graduate, may have had Tourette Syndrome. His frequent cursing was a subject of local lore—and perhaps the reason why his law practice did not prosper.