About Erin
I have always been interested in history—through college classes, historical fiction, and my own family’s stories. That interest deepened in the summer of 2018, when I returned from a visit with my parents and grandfather with a small wooden chest filled with letters dating to the nineteenth century.
Reading those letters brought the writers, their friends, and their families to life. They also inspired my blog, Letters from the Box, and strengthened my commitment to doing genealogical research carefully.
I have researched immigrants, emigrants, and multigenerational American families, including families of friends. Although these ancestors were not my own, their stories became personally meaningful to me
Why “Dodona”?
I live on my husband’s family farm - along with two of his sisters, his mother, and two nieces and their families. It has been in his family since 1747 (with the exception of 40 years when it was owned by the Catholic Church). The name of the farm is “Dodon” but the origin of that name is uncertain. There are two prevailing theories: the first, that it comes from the French, “Dieu Donne” - translating roughly to Gift from God; the second theory is that it was named for the Greek Oracle, Dodona - the oldest oracle in Greece. The priests and priestesses at Dodona would interpret the rustling of oak leaves at their sacred grove to determine divine messages.
The sacred oak tree at Dodona played a central role in its divinatory practices, symbolizing continuity and connection with the divine. While I claim absolutely no divinity, I believe everyone has a right to know their own history - the good and the bad. In genealogy, a tree with roots is a powerful symbol representing family lineage and the interconnectedness of generations. It visually conveys the idea of tracing one's ancestry back through time, much like how the oracle sought wisdom from ancient traditions. Both concepts use roots as a metaphor for foundational elements. At the Oracle of Dodona, the roots of the sacred oak were seen as a link to divine wisdom and ancient traditions. At Dodona Genealogy, those roots symbolize one's heritage and the foundational stories that shape family identity symbolized by the tree above the ground.
