Tree Tuesday- Obscure branches

I guess researching your family tree is not just for your grandmother or grandfather to do. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal modern technology and dna testing has opened up wide new fields of research. The blogger from Exploring the branches of my tree is definitely not a grandma....and yet she is researching her family tree. Although she is just beginning in the exploration of her family tree, she already has some great ideas for how to go about doing it.

I've found some obscure things as I have climbed my family tree. One thing I discovered recently was an old photograph in my grandmother's suitcase. I've seen the photograph before, but wasn't sure what it was doing in the suitcase. On the reverse side of the picture is inscribed, "From Aram G. Hejinian" ... Who in the world was this man, Aram...and how did his picture happen to appear in my grandmother's suitcase?

I began to research about him, wondering if possibly he had been on my family tree. There was a surprising amount of information about him. I even tried to contact someone on ancestry.com to inform them that I had his photograph- because I could see he was on their family tree. They did not respond at first, so I continued to research...wondering why his picture was in my grandmother's suitcase. It was after I read several 'write ups' about him online, that I made the connection. Aram G. Hejinian left Armenia to come to the States- he later studied to be a dr....however, prior to his medical education, he graduated from Chicago Theological Seminary. Why is this significant? My great-grandfather, Adolph Teuber, graduated from Chicago Theological Seminary the same year as Aram G. Hejinian. Aram's picture was taken at the studio in which my gr-grand uncle (is that what he would be called?) was the photographer. Mystery solved!


Exploring your family tree or roots forces the detective in you to surface. Clues are found on the back of photographs, hints are discovered online and puzzle pieces come together to form a better idea of where you came from. Sometimes you will be very surprised to discover who lurks in the branches of your family tree! I certainly was this week...when I discovered a Colonel from the Revolutionary War...but you'll have to wait until next Tuesday to find out how I unearthed this particular root of my tree!