I grew up in North Canton, Ohio. With a few brief stints in Florida, I lived there the first eighteen years of my life. I often reflect on the places, people, and events that help to shape how we self-identify and core beliefs- for good or bad. In fact, I’m[…]
Read moreAuthor: Chris Staats
Welcome to My Old New Site
What seems like eons ago, I decided to learn HTML and make myself some webpages. One of the pages I created, was called Staats Place. I had a cute little Adobe Flash animation that I had made as a header, and it featured posts about my family, dogs, and other[…]
Read moreElijah, Elisha, Let’s Throw The Whole Thing Off, Part 2
Sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes perseverance pays off. And if you can persevere long enough, you might manufacture your own luck. Below is the second in a series of posts about solving a genealogical whodunnit, a whodunnit that at least in part, helps resolve a vexing question about the identity[…]
Read moreElijah, Elisha, Let’s Throw The Whole Thing Off, Part 1
Sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes perseverance pays off. And if you can persevere long enough, you might manufacture your own luck. Below is the first in a series of posts about solving a genealogical whodunnit, a whodunnit that at least in part, helps resolve a vexing question about the identity[…]
Read moreWarrants to Weddings: Margaret Chandler vs. Elijah Staats
Note: Footnotes will be added once I can remember how to use the footnote add-on 🙂 In the November Term of Fayette County, Pennsylvania’s Civil Court, Margaret Chandler had a capias warrant issued for Elijah Staats. Although the case file for this case no longer exists, the information in the[…]
Read moreMy website re-construction is underway!
A few years ago, my website was hacked and nefarious hyperlinks were inserted throughout numerous posts. Upon further review, the affected posts spanned years of content. I learned of this when I got a cease and desist email from a consumer watchdog agency alerting me to the issue. Since I[…]
Read moreThe Misadventures of “Dirty Dog Harry” Staats
Originally published 14 Apr 2017 Among the many Staats photographs I’ve inherited over the years is this photograph labeled “Harry Staats, son of Millison Staats.” That makes Harry my second cousin three times removed. For years, the only record I could find of him was in the 1880 census as a five-year[…]
Read more1800 Federal Census of the Northwest Territory on Ancestry? April Fools!
Thanks to Mary Milne Jamba for asking this great question! Mary was concerned about her citation to an 1800 census image for the Northwest Territory found in Ancestry.com’s “1800 United States Federal Census” database. Ancestry’s source information for this database says: “Ancestry.com. 1800 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com[…]
Read moreOvercome Genealogical Isolation– Attend A Conference!
I’m in my mid-40s. Even now, I don’t quite fit what many people consider the typical genealogical demographic. I certainly didn’t fit it over 15 years ago when I first started researching. Two-thirds of my research career was spent in relative isolation (no pun intended). I had never even thought[…]
Read moreHelp Wanted: Calling All Staats males from the DE, Albany, or NJ Staats families!
Okay, so this gig doesn’t pay much. In fact, if you’re looking for cash, you’ll be sadly disappointed. However, if the satisfaction of helping to sort out the origins of the Staats family in America floats your boat, you’re in luck. Colleague and potential cousin Dottie Staats Kerns has done a[…]
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