Crista Cowan

10/06/2025

🕵️‍♀️ The Hunt is ON!

October is National Family History Month, and we’re celebrating inside pajamas & pedigrees™ with something brand new.
Introducing:

The Great Family History Hunt! 🎉

It’s a 4-week, members-only adventure packed with daily genealogy challenges, discoveries, and prizes. And the prizes? You’re going to want in on these. AncestryDNA kits, brick wall buster coaching, Ancestry memberships, and custom Family Chartmasters charts.

Each weekday, members get a quick clue to chase. They will uncover fascinating records, learn new research skills, and rediscover the joy of family history.

Here’s the catch: 🕰️
You can only join The Hunt if you’re part of the pajamas & pedigrees™ community.

But before I send you the details… let’s have some fun right here!

👇 Mini-Challenge:
Comment below with the funniest or most unique name you’ve ever found in your family tree. Just for fun. Let’s laugh together at the names our ancestors left us! 😆

And while we're at it here's the link to The Great Family History Hunt so you can see what we’re up to this October (and how to join the fun all month long).

https://www.cristacowan.com/the-great-family-history-hunt-2025

09/25/2025

Guess what's coming? Mark your calendars for October 9th. Then, listen in to get the update on the coming update. 😉

09/02/2025

I've watched this story unfold over the course of the last several years. Lisa has done a masterful job putting together the pieces and a beautiful job telling the story.

If you want to hear more you can listen to these two episodes of my podcast:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMG1jDGJDyY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8RLigJpdQU

07/17/2025

What if I told you that the bedtime stories you thought were fairy tales... were actually TRUE? 🏰

This is exactly what happened to my latest podcast guest, Hopwood DePree.

Picture this: You're a kid growing up in Michigan with an unusual name that gets you bullied on the playground. Your grandfather tells you bedtime stories about a Hopwood castle in England, but you think he's just trying to make you feel better about your embarrassing name. You spend years going by "Tod" instead, trying to escape the name that causes you so much grief.

Fast forward to adulthood. Your grandfather and father have both passed away, and you're doing some genealogy research on Ancestry, looking for that sense of connection to something constant. To the past. One night, you come across a black and white photograph of a massive estate in England. The name? Hopwood Hall.

In that moment, everything clicked. Those weren't fairy tales. They were breadcrumbs to your family's 600-year-old legacy.

That discovery didn't just change Hopwood's understanding of his past. It completely reshaped his future. He left his entertainment career in Los Angeles, moved permanently to England, and has spent the last 12 years restoring his ancestral home. He's discovered secret priest holes, hidden tabernacles, and countless stories that were literally waiting centuries for him to find them.

But here's what really gets me: Hopwood says one of his biggest regrets is not listening more carefully to his grandfather's stories. Sound familiar? How many of us have family "tales" we've dismissed as just stories?

As I was talking with Hopwood, I kept thinking about all the family stories that might actually be family HISTORY. What if our grandparents weren't just entertaining us? What if they were trying to lead us home?

The link to episode 68 of Stories That Live In Us is in the first comment. Listen in to hear Hopwood's full incredible journey. I promise it will change how you think about the stories your own family has told you.

What "fairy tales" did your grandparents tell you? I'd love to hear them in the comments below. You never know. Your story might inspire someone else to dig a little deeper into their own family history.

07/11/2025

As someone who grew up surrounded by family, I was fascinated by Diana’s experience of growing up with virtually none. But, after decades of dead ends and false leads, one $27 payment to a county archive changed everything for her. She didn’t just get a record. She got a photograph that made her weep with recognition.

"In his face, I saw my dad and his three brothers," Diana told me through tears. "I knew it was him."

Diana's journey from knowing virtually nothing about her family to standing in Irish cemeteries surrounded by her ancestors' graves is one of the most moving stories I've ever heard. Sometimes the smallest actions lead to the biggest discoveries.

🧱 Have you been stuck at a genealogy brick wall for years? Diana's story shows what's possible when you don't give up. Even after 40 years of searching!

Listen or watch here:
https://www.cristacowan.com/blog/a-life-changing-experience-from-orphaned-roots-to-irish-abundance

07/01/2025

Matches by Cluster is finally being released.

Read more about it here:
https://www.ancestry.com/c/ancestry-blog/dna/dna-matches-by-cluster

06/22/2025

I'm still a little emotional from Friday night. 💕

I hosted a Storytelling Workshop, and afterwards, reading the comments from participants just moved me to tears. Two favorites:

👉🏻 "My nieces & nephews will be so happy I attended this workshop. Hopefully I won't bore them now."
👉🏻 "This is such a great workshop to prepare me to be [the storyteller] grandmother someday!"

This is exactly WHY I do what I do. There's something so powerful about helping people realize their family stories matter and that they have the ability to share them in ways that will deeply connect their families for generations.

As I've been working on rebranding and relaunching the Family Chartmasters website, I keep coming back to this truth: children who grow up in homes with strong family narratives are more resilient, more confident, and more connected. We're not just preserving the past. We’re actively shaping our family's future.

Part of what gave me the courage to step into this work more boldly - starting my podcast, buying Family Chartmasters - came from my mentors AJ and Rory Vaden. They've spent years helping mission-driven people like me get their message out into the world.

Now, they’ve written a book called "Wealthy and Well-Known" sharing their process. And right now they're giving away the audiobook for free.

I just finished it, and honestly, it's gold for anyone wanting to create a movement with their message.

Plus (and I'm being totally transparent here 😊) - there's a friendly contest among their community members for audiobook downloads. The winner gets to be a guest on their podcast, which would be an amazing opportunity for me to share the power of family history with an even bigger audience! 🙌

If you've ever thought about turning your passion into purpose (or if you just want to support me in this little contest) grab your free copy. Link in comments!

And tell me: What's one story from your family that you think the next generation needs to hear? 👇

06/19/2025

✨ This is your sign. ✨

If you’ve been thinking about diving deeper into your family history, this is your moment.

📚 I’m hosting a 3-part live workshop series this summer to help you:
✔️ Tell better family stories that actually get remembered and shared
✔️ Turn your AncestryDNA matches into real discoveries
✔️ Explore what it takes to go pro (or build a side gig) in genealogy

Join just one session. Or go all in and get the full series with bonuses and extended replays.

🎟️ Early bird pricing ends soon.
🚨 Seats are limited and filling fast.

👉 Grab your spot now: https://www.cristacowan.com/summer

Let’s make this the summer your family stories come to life. 💜

Join Crista Cowan for a 3-part workshop series to tell family stories, decode your DNA matches, and explore genealogy as a profession.

06/11/2025

🕵️‍♀️ STUCK in your search? Or just getting started with your family tree?

Join me LIVE on Wednesday (11 Jun) for a free Ancestry® Search Tips and Tricks virtual event. It will be packed with the practical tools you need to break through brick walls and find those elusive ancestors.

📅 When: 11 Jun 2025, 11am (MDT)
📍 Where: Zoom (it's free — but you must register!)

We'll cover:
🔍 Simple search strategies that actually work
📑 How to find census records, birth certificates, immigration documents, and more
🧩 Advanced tips to dig deeper and get better results faster

👉 Register here: Ancestry.com/education

✨ I also want to make this time as helpful as possible for YOU — so drop a comment below and tell me:

What’s your biggest question about searching on Ancestry?

Can’t wait to see you there! 😘

05/15/2025

Robert Prevost became Pope Leo XIV. Turns out he's not the first member of his family to change his name.

As the white smoke cleared and the world met the first-ever U.S.-born Pope, my colleagues at Ancestry (and genealogists everywhere) raced to uncover his family story. But on the Prevost side? Dead ends. Mismatched records. A name that didn’t seem to go anywhere.

Until it did.

Turns out, the story behind Pope Leo XIV reads like a historical novel—full of name changes, immigration journeys, and generations of grit, scholarship, and transformation. 🧳📜✝️

Through incredible sleuthing (and more than a few “Aha!” moments), the team traced his paternal line back to Milazzo, Sicily—to a man born Salvatore Giovanni Gaetano Riggitano, who immigrated to the U.S. and later became known as John R. Prevost.

His story is a masterclass in reinvention. His ancestors? Hardworking merchants, respected civic servants, even a bottaro (barrel maker!)—each leaving behind clues just waiting to be discovered.

This research isn’t just about the Pope. It’s a reminder that our stories—your stories—are right there, hidden in records. Because when we uncover the lives of those who came before us, we gain a deeper understanding of our own.

👏 Bravo to my colleagues at Ancestry who pieced this remarkable story together. I’m in awe. You can read the full journey here 👉 https://www.ancestry.com/c/ancestry-blog/entertainment-and-culture/pope-leo-xiv-sicilian-roots

And if you’ve ever wondered whether your family has a story worth uncovering? The answer is YES. Always yes.

Learn more about some of the interesting discoveries Ancestry genealogists discovered about Pope Leo XIV's family history.

04/05/2025

📅 APRIL IS HERE – and it's packed with family history opportunities!

Spring is the perfect time to breathe new life into your family tree! This month I'm hosting:

🌷 Weekly podcast episodes featuring surprising family discoveries

🌷Free Ancestry webinars on finding female ancestors, building your tree, and spring cleaning your research

🌷 Facebook LIVE sessions including a special DNA Day event

🌷 And for our p&p community members: special sessions on Ancestry Networks, research adventures & more!

I've created a downloadable calendar so you won't miss a thing.

➡️ Get all the details and download your April calendar here: https://www.cristacowan.com/blog/april-2025-your-guide-to-family-history-events-opportunities

Spring is the perfect time to work on a few little family history projects. I'm using the new Ancestry Networks feature to help me uncover stories about my grandfather's WWII service!

What family history projects are YOU working on this spring? Let me know in the comments!

02/11/2025

Join Crista Cowan to hear what Ancestry will be up to at RootsTech 2025!