I discovered I had a lot of census records in my paper files for the McGinnis family that I had never uploaded to this site.  I think I uploaded over 40 censuses, mostly for Thomas and Bridget McGinnis and their children and Pete and Christine and their sons. But if I found other related families that were on the same page they got linked also. Dec. 1, 2024

Dan Hickey sent me photos from Ireland of the churches he visited in August searching for our Hickey relatives.  He learned that William and Patrick came over to NY with his mother but then she went back to Ireland and married a Daniel __?  Patrick and Sue Hickey have a letter from her to Patrick in 1894 mentioning Daniel and his son Daniel.  I have uploaded the photos he sent from his trip. Nov. 25, 2024

 I received from NARA Jacob Fritz Military Pension 1891 and Sarah Collins Widow's Pension application 1898 after Jacob's death.  It is uploaded on his page and her application is on both their pages. Nov. 26, 2024

In honor of Veterans Day and the fact that Fold3 was allowing you to see their WWI and WWII records for free that day, I have uploaded many of my close relatives Registration Cards with info on where they were living, where they were working, the next of kin and their height and weight along with eye and hair color.  I am making the background color green in honor of Army soldiers. Nov. 11 2024

Went to Rochester and did some research at the main library's genealogy and local history dept.  Also went to Big Springs Museum in Caledonia, NY and copied many pages of the Caledonia Era newspaper from 1916 and took photos of the school photos they had in their files.  I have added them to individuals who may have gone to school there in the late 1800s and early 1900s (except Helen Kregal-she was in high school and kept busy in the 1920s). Nov. 2024 

Fultonhistory.com has lots of NY newspapers online and I spent a day searching for Joseph Kregal articles.  Because they lived in the small town of Mumford, there were lots of casual mentions of family visits but also operations and sickness.  In obits he is mentioned as a family member or a pallbearer.  His father in law, Patrick Hickey, is mentioned in some of those same articles.  In his own obit I found he had been a sales rep for a fertilizer company and was a past fire commissioner of Mumford (the fire dept sits on or near where his blacksmith shop was). Oct 5, 2024

Thanks to everyone who has added to this website with facts and/or photos. Most recently, thanks to Susan at the Buffalo library's genealogy dept. who found the articles about Peter Dukelow and his backyard telescope. That gave me info about his mom leaving him with his grandma when his mom emigrated to USA and also that his dad died when he was 2 years old. Then I went down the rabbit hole looking at bicycling articles on him and his son John.  That led me to find out that John was also a boxer and mentioned in the newspapers quite often as an amateur and was still being quoted decades later when he was a gentleman farmer in Richmond, NY. Sept. 29, 2024

A long article about the history of St. Marys, PA and it's earlier homes, businesses and people can be found at 
https://www.livingplaces.com/PA/Elk_County/St_Marys_City/St_Marys_Historic_District.html
April 2024

I've uploaded some ledger pages for the Carlton Permanent Society with secretaries Wolfgang Weigel Jr. and later his son Fred Weigel writing weekly reports.  Written in German so I'm still looking for someone to translate those pages.  The names I was able to see and look up online are all people who lived in the Fruit District neighborhood of Buffalo.  I am guessing it was a group that paid a weekly dues and when they needed cash because of a fire or illness, the group would give them some money.  Some totals are quite large for the time. At the back of the ledger are pages written by Martha and Fred (Jr.) Weigel, list of words, multiplication tables, letters to Santa and to friends-all these are in English. March 2024

I found on ancestry.com the probate records for Jacob Fritz who died in Oregon in 1898 without a Will.  I uploaded the photos of most of the probate packet on his page. At his death he owned land next to Fort Dalles, but a few years later taxes were not paid on the land and it may have been sold at that point. Also found a Pension index 1861-1934 for him to receive invalid pay in 1890 and Sarah to receive a widow's pension in 1898. Feb. 2024

Merritt Men Family Tree is for Joe's line on ancestry.com.  Fritz and Kregal Family Tree is my line on ancestry.com.  I also started a tree at Familysearch.org for the Kregal/Fritz side of the Family.  Both places come up with documentation hints and I hope to find some names/connections farther back by doing this. 

If you copy a PHOTO I have on my webpage of your ancestor and put it on another website, like ancestry.com, please say that the photo came from www.fritzmerritt.tribalpages.com.

Check out the calendar when you log in as it shows people's birthdays and anniversaries. 

If you'd like to add a FAMILY STORY, please sign in and tell us a family story.  Include date, place, time, names of attendants.  Describe the church, reception, honeymoon, etc. by clicking on "PEOPLE" and then "STORIES".  

IF ANYONE HAVING RELATIVES ON THIS WEBSITE HAS THEIR OWN FAMILY TREE WEBSITE THAT YOU WOULD LIKE LISTED HERE, PLEASE EMAIL ME.

The Ydna haplogroups for the following male and mtDNA female family lines are:

E. Fritz mtDNA group H Her mother's maiden name was KREGAL, next generation KNAPP, then WILKES. Her  gedmatch.com is T193009
T. FRITZ yDNA is R-M269 and on gedmatch.com his kit T785704
P. HICKEY yDNA is R-M269 and on gedmatch.com his kit HQ1297504 
G. KNAPP Ydna group is E-L117 and on gedmatch.com his kit is #T121275
M. KUITEMS mtDNA group is T1 and her gedmatch.com kit is #T466416. Her mother's maiden name is FRITZ and next generation is FREY, then NEITMANN
W. McGINNIS yDNA group is I-M223 and on gedmatch.com his kit is T610990 
J. MERRITT Ydna group is I-M253 from FamilyTreeDNA and on gedmatch.com his kit is T320466.  He was also tested through Ancestry.comDNA
M. Urso (Merritt) mtDNA haplogroup is HV.  Her mom's maiden name is LaMONICA and they are from Sicily.  The test was done for the Genographic Project in 2006 and that is all I have from her files.

I do have source material in my files to back up 95% of the information I post here myself. I'm  happy to share my documentation.  If you ever want me to scan a birth, marriage or death certificate, just email me. 

As I get farther back in the family history sometimes I worry that the person named in a document over 100 years ago isn't the one related to us.  Names are a lot more common than I first thought.   Please let me know if you notice something blatantly wrong, because as much as I try to line up all the facts, I still may overlook something that is right in front of my eyes.   I've had questions myself about John T. Merritt military records and Henry Hankey and how he fits into my family tree after he was mentioned in my 4x great grandfather's Will in 1863.  
 
Thank you to any of you who have added your family's information.  I love to see the number of people in our family grow.  IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS UPLOADING PHOTOS OR B-M-D CERTIFICATES OF A RELATIVE, PLEASE CONTACT ME FOR HELP.  If you want to mail me good quality copies or email them to me, I will do the work for you. 

There is an inherited blood-clotting disorder, which appears to be related to the WEIGEL gene pool. The disorder is called "FVL Factor V Leiden" and has the potential to be deadly when not known about. One of my cousins discovered 13 years ago he has it when he had a blood clot.  He now takes blood thinner to discourage clots from forming. I tested negative. Please, take a little time to research "FVL Factor V Leiden", and ask your family physician to be tested for it, particularly if you've ever developed unexplained blood clots. Or, at the very least, keep the name of this inheritable disorder in mind if you develop a blood clot in the future. It may save your life to know about this disorder and be able to share it with your doctor(s).