Andrea Johnson Beck

Andrea Johnson Beck is a homeschool mama, published author, and a genealogy enthusiast. When she was in her teens she was fortunate enough to meet her extended family who resides in Sweden. They told her stories of where she came from and how her family migrated to United States. As she got older she learned more and more and became intrigued with genealogy. A family tree is passed down through generation to generation, once Andrea was old enough, her parents passed it down to her. It was a precious as gold to her. Reading letters that were exchanged from her great-great grandmother to her sister while they were separated was astounding.

Her son, Logan is also fascinated with genealogy. He has done many homeschool reports on the subject. Between our in house family tree and the one on Ancestory.com, they have discovered that nuts in tree grew many, many years before them.

Andrea published her first novel, Deadly Deception. She writes for two homeschool online

magazines, Homeschool Mosaics and Home Educating Family Blog. She has two websites: Andrea’s Cracked Chronicles and Andrea Johnson Beck: Literary Maven.

She resides in North Carolina with her husband Phil, son Logan, and fuzzy son, Bear. But her Scandinavian heart will always belong in South Dakota.

Andrea Johnson Beck is the author of IDG’s monthly column, Twisted Roots.

Go In-Depth with Andrea:

What is one tip you would give a newbie genealogist?
Patience. When I began I wanted all the information that day and when I would have to wait for a few days, I would become increasingly frustrated. Now, I’m more patient with the digging process.

If you could go to any conference / institute which would it be?
National Genealogical Society

What is your shocking ancestor story?
My great-great grandmother became pregnant, she was shunned from her village in Sweden. The father was sent away, we don’t know who he was. My family may have records somewhere in Sweden but it’s a sensitive topic.

What is your favorite blog post from your personal website?
Bologna Spread: Not the Other White Meat!

What is your social media tool of choice for genealogy?
Facebook and Ancestry.com

What is the most creative way you have shared your ancestor stories?
In a humorous way on my blog.

What is your one tip for transitional genealogists?
Embrace the stories, take it all in.

What are your feelings about adding non-blood related lines into your research? (ie…adoptive, step families, etc…)
There is adoption on my husband’s side so we discuss that quite a bit. It makes it challenging at times but we eventually figure it out. It’s fascinating.

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