Category Archives: Thoughts and Musings

Corbit v. Corbit: Oh, the Family Stories Court Records Tell

Posted on May 12, 2013 by

While looking for case law to sort out an entirely different issue related to recording of deeds, I came across this fascinating story.1 It did nothing to help me in my particular dilemma, but illustrates what an underutilized source court reporters really are. … Continue reading →

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The Osborne Family: A St. Patty’s Day Tribute

Posted on March 16, 2013 by

Rather than indulging in green beer and other St. Patty’s Day shenanigans, I thought it better instead to briefly thank at least one of my many Irish families that left their homes, made it to America, and managed to survive … Continue reading →

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Tough Choices, Goals, and Dreams

Posted on January 21, 2013 by

For the first time since starting this blog, I didn’t post at the beginning of the new year- reviewing my successes (or lack thereof) in meeting the previous years goals, and then laying out new ones for the twelve months … Continue reading →

Posted in Misc., Thoughts and Musings | 1 Comment

Q&A with Judy Russell: A Conversation About The Upcoming WRHS Seminar, “Genealogy And The Law”

Posted on January 10, 2013 by

Disclaimer: I am the seminar chairperson for the Western Reserve Historical Society and also chapter representative for the Great Lakes APG chapter. I also think Judy is pretty awesome.   In anticipation of Judy Russell’s upcoming Cleveland, Ohio appearances on April 12 … Continue reading →

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New Presentation Topic Added: ” Where Does It Say That? Learning to Love Indirect Evidence”

Posted on December 8, 2012 by

Where Does It Say That? Learning to Love Indirect Evidence Direct evidence, the sort of evidence that completely answers a research question by itself, is often scarce. It can also be wrong, or we may discover two pieces of direct evidence … Continue reading →

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“Because I Know He Is”: Edith Staats vs. Jesse Pickering, 1838

Posted on December 7, 2012 by

Each time I post about this subject, I wrestle with whether or not I should be airing the family laundry here in cyberspace. However, as genealogists, we are most interested in the truth. Sometimes the truth is not what we … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Findings, Thoughts and Musings | 11 Comments

City Directories: Addressing Identities

Posted on November 20, 2012 by

*Note: Since I’ve not a had a chance to explicitly clear the use of his ancestor’s names, I will avoid anything that might identify the client’s family (including the source citations)* City directory research can be a lot like tax … Continue reading →

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Facebook Increases Awareness of the East Cuyahoga County Genealogical Society

Posted on November 9, 2012 by

I have to admit, having pressed our board to let me create a page for the East Cuyahoga County Genealogical Society, I dropped the ball at first. I made a few initial posts, and no one really responded. I made a … Continue reading →

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A Better Way To Set Up Your Genealogy Society’s Email

Posted on November 7, 2012 by

In the course, of doing publicity for various genealogy events, I’ve run into this problem many times: After compiling a distribution list of all the chapters in the area, I send an announcement about a particular event. Inevitably, several of them bounce as they … Continue reading →

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A Whodunit: The Curious Case of Benoni Staats And His Disappearing Children

Posted on October 21, 2012 by

Benoni Staats would lose six children in the ten years between the 1850 and 1860 Washington County, Ohio censuses. How could this happen? Who did this? Poor Benoni, right? Not really. Unlike most whodunits, this one starts off with the … Continue reading →

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