I discovered the 17-year-old spinster first. I was doing some basic genealogy research on old family pictures that had been scanned with FOREVER Box. I discovered the passenger list for my great-great grandmother’s voyage from England (although she was from Ireland) to Philadelphia in 1874. Her age – 17, occupation: spinster. I imagine it was a way for a 17-year-old girl (same age as my twin daughters) to travel at that time unaccompanied.

My first batch of old family photos had been scanned and kept in Historian for over 10 years. I was working on moving them and organizing them in FOREVER and wanted a better understanding of who was who. It turned into gathering all the photos my family could find filling a FOREVER box. My plan was to turn the photos into a family history album in Artisan. But first, more research on who they were, when did they come to America and where did they come from.

That led to the discovery that my 10th great grandmother was hung in Boston Common in 1660 as one of four Quaker martyrs in the puritan town! I do not have a picture of her but was able to find a picture of the statue that has been erected of her in Boston. That picture, along with her story in Wikipedia, are all going into my album and my FOREVER account.

After generations of farmers, I discovered the Druids! Turns out my mother’s maiden name is a Scottish/English name that came about when the Druid priests formed a clan to protect themselves after the Roman conquest of the area. They became known as “an unruly clan of the western marshes”. This was about 75 years before my 9th great grandfather was sent to the colonies in servitude for being on the wrong side of the battle with Cromwell.

I am so grateful that thanks to FOREVER, these stories, pictures, and my digital album pages will all be preserved for my lifetime plus 100 years. My 17-year-olds are only mildly interested in the stories I find. My sisters and cousin are excited, and I have shared the FOREVER Albums with them. I have a feeling that someday future generations will find a little ‘unruly martyrdom’ in their family line quite fascinating.