Welcome to Chaney Family Ancestry
Chaney Family Ancestry is a growing family archive devoted to preserving the people, photographs, research, and stories that connect one generation to the next.
The site brings together restored family photographs, genealogical information, family-history research, and the details that turn names and dates into recognizable lives. Some parts of the archive are well established; others will continue to grow as photographs are identified, records are added, and more of the family story comes into view.
Preserving the Family Archive
Old photographs are at the heart of this site. Many have been scanned, restored, compared with their original versions, and preserved in downloadable form. Just as important is the information attached to them: who the people were, where they lived, how they were related, and what can still be learned from the photographs, records, and memories that remain.
Explore the Family
Generations
Move through the Chaney family by generation and explore the individual family-history pages as they are restored and expanded.
Meet the generationsFamily Tree
Follow the genealogical relationships that connect the people, photographs, and family branches represented throughout the archive.
Browse the family treePhoto Restoration Project
See original and restored photographs side by side, browse restored images, and download high-resolution copies of the photographs currently available.
Explore the restoration projectFeatured Ancestor: William Martin Chaney
William Martin Chaney (1818–1891) now has the first of the newly rebuilt individual family-history pages. It establishes the new pattern for bringing photographs, biographical material, family relationships, documents, and research together in one place.
Visit William Martin Chaney's pageA Site Still Growing
This archive has always been a work in progress. As more photographs are restored and identified, more family history is researched, and more stories and records are gathered, the site will continue to change with them.
The original homepage updates from 2012 have been preserved as part of the history of the project rather than discarded.
Read the original 2012 site journal