Genealogy Helps and Lookups

September 14, 2026

The People I Almost Walked Past in the Family Tree

When I am working on the Moneymaker side of my family in Virginia, there is always a pull to keep going backward. Find the parents, then their parents, then see whether another generation is waiting in an older record. That part of genealogy can be hard to resist. But sometimes, while following that line, I notice someone sitting just off to the side: a sister who never married, a brother who moved away, a child who died young, or a relative living in the household whose connection is not immediately clear. I have learned that these are often the people I should stop and look at before moving on...

Podcast Notes: https://ancestralfindings.com/the-people-i-almost-walked-past-in-the-family-tree/

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Check out this episode!

September 12, 2026

I Know Their Names, But Do I Really Know Them?

Every once in a while, I look at someone in a family tree and realize I have done a pretty good job documenting them. I have birth, marriage, and census records, children, an occupation, and a death date. There may be land records, military records, an obituary, or a few other pieces as well. From a research perspective, the person appears complete. Then I sit there, looking at all of it, and realize I still know very little about the life that took place between those dates.

I think this is easy to do in genealogy because records train us to look for facts. We want the correct date, the correct place, and the right parents. We compare records, sort through conflicting information, and work until we are confident we have identified the right person. That work is necessary because a good family history needs good evidence. Once the basic facts are in place, though, another question starts to interest me: What was it actually like to be this person?

Podcast Notes: https://ancestralfindings.com/understanding-your-ancestors-lives/