It is time for another Ancestral Findings free book giveaway. This month, I am giving away a copy of Mason: A Man with No Beginning by Timothy Mulgrew. This true family story combines genealogy, World War II history, immigration, family secrets, old records, DNA research, and a decades-long search to understand a man's beginnings.
The giveaway is open now and ends at midnight on September 30, 2026.
Enter below for your chance to win a free copy.
The winner will be selected after the giveaway closes.
At the center of the story is Albert Dean Mason. In 1943, Dean was seventeen years old, still in high school, and interested in basketball, friends, dances, and the usual parts of teenage life. World War II soon changed the direction of his future. Dean entered the Army, eventually reached the rank of Staff Sergeant, and served in Germany after the war. He was assigned to the 72nd Quartermaster Base Depot in Bremen, where his work included assisting with the receipt and distribution of food, building materials, and other supplies during the postwar period.
Germany is also where another important part of Dean's life began. He met Ursula, better known as Rosy, a German woman living through the difficult years following the war. Their relationship grew; they married and began a family. Dean, Rosy, and their young child eventually came to the United States, arriving in New Orleans before making the long trip across the country to California.
That story alone would make an interesting family history, but it is only one part of Mason: A Man with No Beginning. Decades later, a family secret came to light, prompting Dean and the rest of the family to question what they thought they knew about his beginnings. Names that had seemed certain were no longer quite so certain, and the family began looking more closely at census records, baptismal records, newspapers, church histories, military documents, and other sources.
One of the important people who appears during the research is Reverend Percival Sargent Smithe. As the family searched for answers about his connection to Dean's family, they had to compare dates, locations, family recollections, and historical records. Some discoveries supported parts of the story that had been passed down, while other evidence raised new questions.
There is even an interesting question surrounding the Mason surname itself. According to the account in the book, Mason may have been an adopted surname rather than one passed down through generations. For genealogists, that is a good reminder that a name found on a census or another official record tells us what a person was using at that time. It does not necessarily tell us when the name was first used or why it was chosen.
The family continued researching for many years. In the 1990s, some of that work required traveling to libraries and searching through large reference books. As newspapers, historical records, and other resources became available online, the family was able to return to questions that had once been much harder to investigate. DNA testing eventually became part of the search as well, but it did not provide a simple answer. Dean had died before his DNA could be tested, and the relationships among the surviving family members made some of the results more difficult to interpret.
That part of the story should be familiar to many genealogists. DNA can be an important research tool, but it cannot answer every question. Sometimes the person we most need to test is no longer living, the necessary family line cannot be located, or the available matches can confirm only part of the story.
The research eventually took the family back to Germany. In 2016, Timothy and Dawn Mulgrew traveled to Bremen carrying documents that had been found among Dean's possessions. Those papers helped connect their research with places and events from Dean and Rosy's earlier lives. It is another good example of why old family papers, photographs, immigration records, military documents, and letters are worth preserving. Something that seems unimportant today may provide an important clue many years from now.
The story is especially personal for author Timothy Mulgrew because his wife, Dawn Mulgrew Mason, is Dean's daughter. Dean also lived with Timothy and Dawn during the later years of his life, so Mulgrew is writing about a man he knew personally and a family mystery that affected people close to him.
There is also a recent program about the book for those who would like to learn more. WW2TV featured "Mason: A Man with No Beginning, a 42nd Infantry Division Story" in September 2026. The program provides another look at the World War II side of Dean's story and the history connected with the book.
You can also find additional information about Timothy Mulgrew and his books on Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/70343619.Timothy_Mulgrew
If you enjoy genealogy, true family mysteries, World War II history, DNA research, and stories about uncovering information hidden for generations, this may be a book you will enjoy.
Good luck, and Happy Searching!
