Roots Trip

I'm getting ready for a family research trip! A trip, a long time in the making. Since I moved to the US at the age of thirteen, every time I drove past Laconia, the same a thought crosses my mind: "My grandmother was born in Laconia. I should see the place where she was born, and where she lived." Even when I stopped in Laconia and visited friends, it's never been about my grandmother. For years, the thought was only a fleeting thought. In and out. Yet, when I became interested in genealogy, the idea has taken on a different meaning. Since I moved back to New England I have been trying to make quality time for this kind of trip. A trip up north, to New Hampshire, focused on my roots. I'm not going to see the foliage, or enjoy Squam lake or worry about making sure everyone else in the family has something to do. I'm going to revisit the past.

I've written in the past about the Bloomfield branch of the family (See my guest blog on Geni.com: How I Met The Bloomfields). This trip is about digging deeper into the Bloomfield family history. Luckily, I have two wonderful collaborators, interested in the very same family history. So tomorrow, my mother and a Bloomfield cousin and I are heading out to NH and Vermont to retrace our Bloomfield ancestors. We set out, armed with a flip scanner (as recommended by a colleagues Jacqi Stevens at A Family Tapestry Blog Spot, and Lorine McGinnis Schulze at Olive Tree Genealogy ), extra batteries, camera, smart phone, a trowel (for planting a plant at family graves), Billions Grave app, gps and my great-grandmother's memoirs. We plan to retrace the steps our ancestors took since 1903 when they arrived in the United States from the Pruzhney area in Russia, now Belarus. We will be visiting cemeteries, historical societies and known addresses of places they lived. My cousins has meticulously planned out almost every minute of our trip.  We hope some of the old buildings will be standing, and if not, we will enjoy and absorb their surrounding of where they lived.

One of the addresses we plan to track down is 9 Park Street in Springfield Vermont. My second great-grandmother Freida Toby Bloomfield owned a men's clothing store there in 1928. We knew they owned a grocery store, but found an add (on ancestry.com) in the City Directory for her clothing store. There is a photo of her seated with her son Aaron and his family in front of their house (The home and the store are listed in the same address in the City Directory). These are the examples of the clues we will be using to guide us on this journey.

Add for Freida Bloomfield's Store in Springfield Vermont. (Top right) (Freida was my second great -grand-mother. 

Freida Toby Bloomfield with Aaron and Alice Bloomfield and family, Windsor Vermont. c1924

We will be departing tomorrow for this long awaited trip.  I know many family members who could not join us, are looking forward to updates so I will be posting some as we advance. I also look forward to hearing my genealogy followers who are in the NH and Vermont area with tips and advice.


More about the Bloomfields:
Roots Trips Series: read the full reports from a Vermont and New Hampshire road trip to research the Bloomfield family history:
Part I: Roots Trip Road-trip planning!
Part II: Three Tips for Genealogy Road Trips
Part III: Roots Trip Gem of the Day, Looking for Moses Bloomfield
Part IV: Why in the World New Hampshire
Part V: Springfield Vermont Home of the Simpsons and the Bloomfields
Part VI: Which Ancestors to Research?
Where Was This Picture Taken?- Legacy Roots
Friday's Faces From the Past: Mystery Man
Hot Off The Press

Guest blog on Geni.com: How I Met The Bloomfields