2024 52 Ancestors: Influencer - The Photographic Dixon Couple

Before the phrase, "But first, let me take a selfie!" reigned supreme in the late 2010s, my 2nd great grandparents, Nathan & Lizzie (Rockwell) Dixon, were already masters of photog culture.

Their heyday was in the first half of the 20th century. Photography had only been invented a couple decades before they were born and had only gone mainstream when they were still in their youth. But it must have been an absolute hobby of theirs (or at least Lizzie's), because my family picture collection is filled with snaps of her and her husband.

The two of them can certainly hold the title of first-ever influencers in our family tree. Here is just a selection of their photos over the years (and I'm positive I have several more hidden amongst my photo albums):

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2025 52 Ancestors: At the Library - First Outing to FamilySearch in Salt Lake City

Every genealogist should eventually make the trek out to SLC to visit the FamilySearch Library (formerly known as the Family History Library). It is open access and free to the public, like a city library, except it is wholly focused on genealogy research materials and managed by the company FamilySearch (founded by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Kira D. Foltz, photo of entrance to FamilySearch Library, Salt Lake City, UT, Mar 2025. One of the genealogy societies I belong to, Ventura County Genealogical Society ( VCGS ), makes an annual pilgrimage to the library on what they have termed the Salt Lake City Safari. I learned about their trip a couple years ago and felt I'd need to tag along when the schedule made sense for me. 2025 was the year! James McAleney, photo of VCGS Safari group at FamilySearch Library, Salt Lake City, UT, Mar 2025. Used with permission. A group of about 35 of us joined together in Utah for a week in March filled with family history resea...

Patient Zero AKA The First Post

All diseases start somewhere, and the genealogy bug is no exception. I’m Kira Dawn Foltz, and you can think of me as Patient Zero. I’m here to help spread this disorder to the masses (or at least through the branches of my own tree)! And what better way to start the infection, than a history in how I caught the illness. My origin story. The year was 1993. I was 8 years old and in the 4th grade at Calvary Baptist School in Gardena, California, where my father had also attended elementary school (later Calvary Christian Academy, and now home to CrossRoad SouthBay). Mrs. Henken was my teacher. She was also my piano tutor’s wife and a very sweet lady to boot. If only she could have spotted the symptoms back then, who knows in what condition I’d be today! Mrs. Henken assigned us an oral presentation about one of our ancestors. My dad helped me reach out to my Aunt Sandra, the family historian, for information on where we came from. I received a letter from her with a fabulous tale of ...

2025 52 Ancestors: Favorite Name - Jesse L. Pitcock

Jesse Pitcock's name might appear fairly average upon first examination, but there's something fun hidden in his middle name. He was my 1st cousin 4x removed on one of my mother's lines. And before a day ago, I didn't even know he existed, let alone would have picked him for this blog's subject line. But due to coincidental timing this week, I happened to discover him and have the perfect opportunity to shine a spotlight on him and his family. Jesse was born in 1890 in Greene County, Pennsylvania to parents John and Sidney Pitcock. John was my 3rd great granduncle. I believe Jesse was their youngest child out of 9 kids! He went on to marry a woman named Lucy John and they had 5 daughters together. Now, I don't have any strong evidence to back up this suspicion, but I believe Jesse's parents had a wonderful sense of humor. Jesse's name only sprung out at me while leafing through my Ancestry.com tree's image hints. His obituary had been uploaded by ano...

Contagious Genealogy: A Pandemic

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