A Shared Family Archive
MyCousins.org exists to preserve the records, stories, photographs, places, and relationships that connect our families across generations.
Why This Project Exists
Every family has stories worth preserving. Some are written in old letters. Some are hidden in census lines, church records, obituaries, photographs, land records, and newspaper clippings. Some live only in memory until someone takes the time to write them down.
MyCousins.org was created so those pieces would have a home.
This site preserves the histories of the Elcik, McClanahan, Skillin, Gamache, Lucas, Strand, DeRosa, and Adams families, along with the related branches, places, documents, and stories that help explain how those families connect.
This is a shared heritage project built by cousins, for cousins, across generations.
Our Mission
The mission of MyCousins.org is simple: preserve what we know, explain how we know it, and make room for future discoveries.
- Preserve documents, photographs, and family records.
- Connect scattered family lines and related branches.
- Provide context for names, dates, places, and migrations.
- Document uncertainty honestly when evidence is incomplete.
- Leave a lasting archive for future generations.
What Makes This Archive Different
MyCousins.org is not only a family tree. A tree shows relationships, but family history also needs context. It needs places, work, faith traditions, migrations, photographs, documents, memories, corrections, and unanswered questions.
This archive tries to hold those things together. It respects records, but it also remembers that records point to real lives.
The goal is not to make the past look simpler than it was. The goal is to preserve it carefully enough that others can continue the work.
Our Family Branches
The archive includes several major family lines. Each branch has its own history, but the larger story comes from seeing how those branches meet, move, and continue through later generations.
Elcik Family
Czech and Slovak heritage, New England roots, and generations shaped by faith, service, education, and family continuity.
McClanahan Family
Scots-Irish and early American roots, westward movement, and family lines shaped by perseverance, labor, and place.
Skillin Family
Coastal Maine origins, early American settlement, maritime settings, and regional family memory.
Gamache Family
French-Canadian heritage, migration, craftsmanship, and the movement of families across borders and generations.
Lucas Family
Maritime history, resilience, local roots, and the marks left by family life in coastal communities.
Strand Family
Scandinavian origins, frontier journeys, and family traditions carried across distance and time.
DeRosa Family
Italian family legacy, cultural memory, migration, and the stories carried through new places and generations.
Adams Family
Early American history, multi-state branches, and the long work of connecting records across time.
What You Can Find Here
The archive includes more than names and dates. Visitors may find records, photographs, family pages, topical essays, evidence notes, obituaries, exhibits, and stories that place family lives in context.
- Family hubs and surname branches
- Photo galleries and visual records
- Document archives and exhibits
- Obituaries and newspaper clippings
- Records and evidence notes
- Places, migrations, work, and daily life
- Personal stories, memories, and reflections
How You Can Contribute
This site grows stronger when family members participate. You may have a photograph, letter, document, newspaper clipping, family Bible entry, cemetery record, oral history, correction, or memory that helps fill in a missing piece.
Even small details matter. A date on the back of a photograph, a remembered nickname, a place name, or a story told at a kitchen table may help future researchers understand something that would otherwise be lost.
Make Contact
Send a note, ask a question, offer a correction, or begin a family connection.
Contact UsFamily Connections
Use the directory to help cousins find one another and understand how families connect.
Open the DirectoryFirst Contacts
Learn about early outreach and collaboration that helped shape the project.
Visit First ContactsA Living Family Record
MyCousins.org is not finished. It is a living archive. New information may be added, interpretations may change, and unanswered questions may remain open until better evidence appears.
The work continues because family history is never only about the past. It is also about what we choose to preserve for those who come next.
Explore Our Families