How Genealogy Saved (or Significantly Changed) My Life

I've been quiet on my blog recently.  I've been a bit preoccupied with some other things that I'll explain below--all of which started with my genealogy addiction.

I wrote earlier how I found another whole branch of my family via DNA testing.  This was so exciting that I decided to test with the other large companies in case other lost cousins had tested with those.  One of those companies, 23AndMe, offered health information in addition to identifying potential cousins.  I viewed the health benefits as a side feature, but I checked my account daily to see if my results were back and if there would be more clues to help with my genealogy search.

And then the results came.  And my life changed forever.

Ancestor Deep Dive: Shmuel Moshe Rutner

(NOTE:  This post has been updated with much new information.  Read the updated version here.)

Shmuel Moshe Rutner was my great-great grandfather.  He was born in 1855 in the town of Kolodne (also called Darva) which was then in the Austria-Hungarian Empire and is now in Subcarpathian Ukraine.

Extract from Shmuel Moshe "Mosko" Rutner's birth Record--Extract from 1922, Birth in 1855

Shmuel Moshe (legal name Mosko) Rutner (also Ruttner)'s parents were Mendel and Yita (nee Farkas) Rutner.  So far as I know, he lived in Kolodne his entire life.