Part of my genealogy education has been writing proof arguments. I was able to determine my brick wall ancestor George W. West’s birthdate using a really cool document known informally as “The Joe Brown Census” and some intense documentary research. Here’s what I came up with. Proving George W. West’s Birthdate Question: What was the
One of the great southern authors, Dorothy Allison, once said that we Southerners like to tell “evil mean stories.” For example, when I was very small, and my sister even smaller, a family member told us a tale out of our family tree. As the story went, our ancient ol’ many times great-grandpa (let’s call
I’ve been working on an African-American ancestry case for a good while now, attempting to discover a friend’s ancestor’s whereabouts before Emancipation. Unsurprisingly, this has been a tough one. But I’m chipping away, one research project at a time! Because of that project, I invariably disappear down the rabbit hole when I discover a new-to-me
Because I get that I need to know a lot more about DNA, I’m currently in the Research Like a Pro with DNA 6 Study group. The other day my fabulous peer group leader, Claire DeLeo brought up an interesting question. Have my DNA ethnicity estimates changed since I first took a test? I was
Psst! If the land records in this post interest you, sign up for my upcoming “Land Records: The Cornerstone of Georgia Genealogy” presentation for the Georgia Genealogical Society on August 8, 2024. As a Cherokee County, Georgia-based genealogist who loves to get out of the house and go bother other people about history, I’ve spent
Y’all, every once in a while this meme makes the rounds. Like most Southerners, I had this awakening. I was probably twenty or so before I realized the tall clothes-holder in your bedroom that doesn’t have a mirror is not called a “chester drawers.” On that note, I had older relatives called Iler, Eller, Emmer,
My secret goal for this year is to write a blog post every week. This week my blog post got away from me due to client work (more about that soon!) and finishing up a research report on one of my own projects. So instead of a full blog post, I made a meme for
You’re invited! Sign up for my free presentation Tap Into Tax Records to Enrich Your Genealogy Research via the Allen County Public Library. The live event takes place Thursday April 25, 2024 from 6:30-7:30pm. Now I may be showing my biases here, but I think this totally free, online event is especially relevant to two groups:
Last fall, the “situation” was hurtling violently toward “emergency.” I really needed a website for my genealogy business. I’d done a project with a local cemetery preservation committee and had a speaking engagement coming up with some opportunities for more. Now, I’d been self-employed for 18 years by that point. One of the lessons I
One part of getting my history degree involved an oral history class where I interviewed several elderly relatives. Recently I went back to my handwritten research notes from that day and discovered something unexpected. First off, I’m going to keep things a little vague here since this was in the 20th century, took place in