Friday Find
Two newspapers, one 1907 wedding—and different details in each. Discover what the accounts of Cora Adams and Nelson Crawford’s Dodge City marriage reveal about their work, honeymoon, and connection to Nelson’s widowed mother.
When ThruLines Numbers Don’t Make Sense
Why do Ancestry ThruLines match numbers sometimes drop as you move back a generation? A look at my Hutchinson DNA puzzle, what ThruLines numbers really mean, and why documented descendant research matters more than the red numbers. #genealogy #geneticgenealogy #AncestryDNA #ThruLines
FOIA Disappointing
When I mailed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Department of Veterans Affairs in December 2024, I knew I might be waiting… Read More »FOIA Disappointing
Discovering Google Gemini: How I Started Creating Custom “Gems”
Ever tried building a custom “Gem” in Google Gemini? 💎
I went from hesitant to hooked after realizing how much AI can streamline a research workflow. In my latest blog post, I share the exact prompts I developed to handle everything from clear board member updates to generating chronological family histories directly from RootsMagic narrative reports (complete with source citations!).
Check out the prompts and see how you can start building your own custom AI assistants:
Monday’s Diggings
What looked like a routine 1899 Kansas deed turned out to preserve part of a decades-long friendship. A family biography explains why George W. Allen of Massachusetts sold 160 acres in Woodson County to Fred Mentzer—and connects the transaction to a covered-wagon journey, a Kansas homestead, and the Mentzer family’s early years on the prairie.
Saturday Night Genealogy Fun
This week’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge asked about names that run in the family. I thought the answer would be Noah, Nelson, or John—but my pedigree revealed a different story. Four generations of Hirams made the strongest case.
Sharing AI-Assisted Genealogical Biographies on Ancestry
For years, my Ancestry tree has contained the records documenting my ancestors’ lives—census records, marriage records, deeds, military files, and obituaries. Those records are invaluable,… Read More »Sharing AI-Assisted Genealogical Biographies on Ancestry
FAN Club and yDNA
Sorting Out the Crawfords of Early Kentucky Do you have a FAN Club for your brick wall ancestor? Have you mapped the Friends, Associates, and… Read More »FAN Club and yDNA
Mapping the Heirs of Lewis N. Hutchinson
A Probate Notice Reveals a Family Network One of the most valuable genealogical records is often not a census, a will, or a deed. Sometimes… Read More »Mapping the Heirs of Lewis N. Hutchinson
Piecing Together the Rupert Family
One of the most rewarding aspects of genealogy research is discovering how records from different places and time periods fit together to reveal a family’s… Read More »Piecing Together the Rupert Family