Have you ever found out something and there’s really no one with whom you can share the story? I’m not talking about some deep, dark secret whose revelation would result in the immediate death of thousands or launch a political scandal. Just something that no one in your immediate circle of friends and family would understand or that would require entirely too much back story for them to completely grasp. I’ve run across some papers recently that seem to have that feel. No one’s alive who went through the events referenced in the materials. Those who are alive are not going to want to listen to the amount of backstory necessary to lay the groundwork and set the scene for the big reveal. Even a well-written and edited […]
Registration for my trip to the Midwest Genealogy Center in Independence, Missouri, ends on 9 September. We are looking forward to this trip and would love to have you join us.
From a while back… Years ago after a presentation, a gentleman came up and told me that I should not suggest people rely on census records or other “secondary records” for information. While census records can be incorrect and information that’s secondary can be suspect, sometimes it is all that we have. My ancestor, Ellen Butler was born in Missouri in the 1850s. Her family moved frequently, did not attend any church that kept records, there is no family bible that I can find, and she died before there was vital registration of deaths as well. While I keep looking for a “better source” of information, there’s probably never going to be anything other than a few of census enumerations to estimate her year of birth. Of course […]
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