Heartland Genealogy

One of the benefits of my ABC Biography project is that it encourages me to take the dry facts from a narrative report and turn them into a story about a real person’s life. Today’s biography features  Hiram M. Currey (1835–1901) , my 3rd great-grandfather. Hiram spent much of his life farming in Leavenworth County, Kansas, after beginning his adult life during the turbulent years leading up to the Civil War. His story includes frontier farming, land purchases, militia service during the Civil War era, legal disputes involving family land, and the challenges of raising a large family in nineteenth-century Kansas. Like many of these ABC Biography projects, the narrative report provides the framework, but transforming those facts into a readable biography helps me better understand the person behind the dates and places. What was it like to establish a farm in early Kansas? How did national events such as the Civil War and railroad expansion affect everyday families like the...

Have you ever sat in front of a microfilm reader, hand on the crank, slowly scrolling through page after page of newspapers in hopes of finding a single mention of your family? Before digitized newspapers and searchable databases, that was simply part of genealogy research. Hours could be spent turning that crank, scanning headlines and columns, hoping to spot a familiar name. Today, many of us are spoiled by the convenience of online newspapers. A quick search can locate an obituary or article in seconds. But when I first began researching my family history, newspapers were not digitized. If I wanted to find something, I had to do it the old-fashioned way — one frame of microfilm at a time. Today’s “Friday Find” is one of the handwritten notes I made during those hours at the microfilm reader. The note preserves a brief death notice for Lida Anita Lighter, daughter of Washington Marion Crawford and Mary (Foster) Crawford. Lida was my great-grandaunt and had lived in Dodge Cit...

When researching family history, some of the most valuable records can be found in unexpected places. In Kansas, military veterans often filed copies of their discharge papers with the county Register of Deeds. These records provided a safe local copy of their military service information and could later be used to help prove eligibility for veterans’ benefits. Today, access to many of these records is restricted for privacy reasons. However, when I first began researching my family history years ago, these records were still accessible to researchers. Thanks to that earlier access, I was able to view the discharge records for both my father, who served during World War II, and my grandfather, Leon Crawford, who served during World War I. Unfortunately, this was long before smartphones and digital cameras made it easy to capture images at the courthouse. Instead of photographs, I came home with handwritten notes copied from the original record book. While not as visually strik...

Have you seen the news that MyHeritage has introduced a new feature: Family Infographics? After seeing the announcement and reading Randy Seaver’s post about it, I decided to try it for myself. For my first experiment, I created an infographic for my 2nd great-grandfather, Washington Marion Crawford. Although I already had information about him in my family tree, I did not have any photos attached to his profile. When I first attempted to generate the infographic, it failed. However, after uploading the only photograph I have of him, the infographic was successfully created. One thing immediately stood out: the tool did not use the original photograph directly. Instead, it generated an AI-enhanced version of the image. Original Photo Infographic For my second experiment, I chose my grandmother. Again, I had to upload at least one photo before the infographic could be created. I selected a picture from my grandparents’ 50th anniversary celebration and asked ...

One of the challenges of genealogy is deciding what to do with information that has been copied from tree to tree for decades — especially when the evidence begins to conflict. In the case of my 2nd great-grandfather, Richmond F. Hammond, I’m beginning to question whether I have the correct family structure attached to him. Like many online trees, my database has long included nine children for Richmond Hammond. However, the first three children raise significant questions. The three oldest children commonly attached to Richmond F. Hammond are: William R. R. Hammond, born 1 January 1864 Homer L. Hammond, born 25 July 1865 Judson F. E. Hammond, born 15 April 1866 So where did these names and birth dates originate? In my case — and likely in many other trees — the information came from the book History and Genealogies of the Hammond Families in America by Frederick Stam Hammond, published in 1902. Richmond F. Hammond’s family appears as family #3327 beginn...

Today's find from my WELLS notebook is a Bible record for the David Hutchinson family. Below are the images from the Bible along with a transcription. D. W. Hutchinson Presented by his Mother December 25th 1850 FAMILY RECORD. David W. Hutchinson born June 21st 1830 died Jan. 19th 1894 at 5 P.M. Mary J Kaiser born August 15th 184[4] d. April 18th 1928 were married on the 25th day of Nov. 1861. Infant Daughter born Feb. 9th 1863 died Feb. 22nd 1863 Lydia Eliza born April 7th 1864 died Aug. 15th 1867 Miron W born April 15 1867 (over) FAMILY RECORD. Jessie Born on 4th of May 1870 [1874] Frank J. born on 14th of Feb. 1874 died March 1958 James Monreo born on the 25th of September 1876 F. L. Hutchinson — born April [illegible] married Frances Glidden [July] 24 1937 Roderick Hutchinson — born Sept. 22[illegible] James Lo[uis] Hutchinson — Sept. 2, 194[3] Robert Ronald Hutchinson born Aug. 10, 194...

What Automobiles Did Your Ancestors Own? Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: It’s Saturday Night again — time for some more Genealogy Fun!! Here is your assignment, if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!): 1) What automobile models did your ancestors have? Pick an ancestor and share something about their cars. When I was young, I didn’t pay much attention to the cars my family owned. I simply knew that my parents had a car—usually a station wagon—and that my Crawford grandparents had a car that my grandmother drove while my grandfather rode along. My Briles grandmother was widowed, did not drive, and thus did not own a car. As a young adult, however, I started paying closer attention to automobiles—mainly because I occasionally got to drive one of them! Since I rode the school bus to and from high school, and later commuted to college with my father (who was also a teacher), I didn’t drive very often. Around my junior year of hi...