Blog Posts

There are many little bits of information that arise during research that don't turn up in data searches. Sometimes, information has to be pieced together. For example, I found an obituary for a John Wilburn Elliott who died in 1965 and was...

We can give future generations a valuable gift of our stories. Even mundane stories about a small part of our lives can be those little gems that reveal important facets of our lives. I came across a lovely collection of stories produced by...

As I do research, I often come across references to businesses, clubs, places and other non-person entities that have come and gone. Easy access to details can be difficult. As I need a place to keep this info for my own purposes (other than in...

The Harry G. Poole company was the namesake funeral home business in Atlanta, Georgia. Harry starting working as an undertaker in the late 1800s, continuing with success until his death 8 Jun 1936. The company continued on with his son until...

As I research through hundreds of pages of documents, newspapers and other sources, I often come across unrelated bits of information that catch my eye. These stories are often sad or even tragic, though many are amusing, endearing or just somehow...

I once wrote an obituary for myself as part of a year-long church study group based on the Stephen Levine book, A Year to Live: How to Live This Year as If It Were Your Last. We had to read our obituary to the group. It was only a little bit...

Unless we have sources, genealogical research is reduced to unconfirmed stories and myths. Our memories are wonderful and faulty. People change "facts" to fit their worldview or some idealized perception of the past. Why sources are...

I usually assume that if a man and a woman are memorialized on the same grave marker that they were married. More recently, the same conclusion could also apply with same-sex couples. There's a saying about the danger of "assume"... (it does not ...

James Madison 'Jim' Gooch (1829-1913) Last year, I took a "break" and visited the Gooch Family Reunion for the first time in several years. This reunion is for anyone descended from ol' man Jim Gooch (1829-1913). I suppose anyone descended from ...

Every life has many stories. Wonderful happy stories and sometimes tragic stories. If we look, we see the stories. Here we have the grave marker of two brothers, proclaimed as "World's Greatest Brothers" on the flower vase between the...

With video now as easy as pulling out your phone, it is essential to preserve video as a part of documenting a person's life. Memorial or tribute videos are one of the standard services now offered by funeral homes. These videos are often no...

Genealogy sites such as Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org provide a wealth of information on our ancestors. We, as the descendants, pull together memorial pages to show relationships and to remember those who came before us. These are great...

While most instances of "instant" may be easy to discern the meaning from the context, my first encounter many years ago with this unfamiliar usage was quite befuddling to me. Here's an example from a 19 October 1904 wedding...

An exceptional visit to Rose Hill Cememtery, remembered on the 50th anniversary of Duane Allman's death....

I'm concentrating on many long-overdue tasks related to the family of my Maternal Grandmother. Deadlines have a way of focusing one's attention! My Mother's Mother was Zura Gooch Todd, raised in the North Georgia mountains in a place that came...

On Mount Kenya Road, south of Nanyuki, Kenya, there are two cemeteries, one is about 100 yards north of the equator, the other about 100 yards south of the equator. They are very different cemeteries. South of the equator is the Nanuyuki...

We can often connect family members via newspaper articles. Here's a recent example. A Death Notice and a "Visit" item Here is a Death Notice and a "Visit" item from Dahlonega, Georgia from 1884. It was in The Daily Signal 8 June 1884 ...

This is from the Atlanta newspaper, The Daily Intelligencer, 6 November 1867, page 3. (PDF) To the Honorable Mayor and Council of the City of Atlanta: The committee to whom was referred the petition of many citizens, asking for the...

There are many companies who offer DNA analysis for purposes of discovering family members. Deciding on getting tested is a complex decision. Let me help you decide. As you might infer from the image above, I feel DNA testing is over-rated for...

Paper degrades, photos fade and all physical records are subject to damage from fire or flood. With inexpensive scanners available, it is possible to digitize all old paper records. While it can be time-consuming, it isn't insurmountable (I...

How long ago was 10 generations? I've created a quick-glance reference chart of generations with the numbers of ancestors and rough time frames and year ranges at each generation, for my own use when traversing family trees. Note that the...

When I was an undergrad at GSU, I wrote for the student newspaper, The Signal. While I mostly wrote news bits and a few features on some minor controversies. I was taken aback about a story told to me when I was making my routine stop by the Campus ...

The Family Bible Preservation Project does great work in getting non-standard genealogical sources indexed and connected to the records of the people recorded. They also issue interesting and fun genealogical challenges - usually finding someone...

{compiled from several sources with added entries and updates} altar tomb - A solid, rectangular, raised tomb or grave marker resembling ceremonial altars of classical antiquity and Judeo-Christian ritual.  ashes - the cremated remains of a body...

Jean Byrd Lee Bowen Rollins 1913-2020 While it is best to gather oral histories and document during life, the event of a person's death is a poignant time to gather the story of a person's life. Not only is this a way to honor the person,...