Month: April 2026
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The OGS 2026 Keynote, Four Sessions, and One Big Lesson
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Day 1 of OGS 2026 is in the books. Sandra Rumble’s keynote opened the conference with a message I cannot unsee: most of us are telling ancestor stories with too few sources. Four sessions followed, covering ChatGPT for genealogy, beginning AI tools, methodology timelines, and digital research tools. Some sessions…
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OGS 2026 Workshop Day: A Powerful Reminder to Think First
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The Ohio Genealogical Society 2026 Conference opened today at the Sharonville Convention Center, and I am already glad I planned ahead. OGS 2026 is my only in-person conference of the year, so I prepared the way any methodical genealogist would: with a spreadsheet, a stack of cross-references, and comfortable shoes.…
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40 Years: A Lifelong Genealogist in Disguise
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This week’s #52Ancestors prompt asks me to write about an ancestor’s livelihood. I am writing about my own instead. Somewhere along the way, I realized I had been doing the same job my entire career. I just kept changing what I called it. Thirteen years in estates and probate. Ten…
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He Stayed: One Man’s Quiet Life in Sweden
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Not every ancestor chased adventure. Some stayed. Sven Svensson lived a quiet life in rural Sweden for ninety-two years, and without it, none of the dramatic stories in my family tree exist. Born illegitimate in 1867 in Näsum parish, he spent decades as a farmhand and stone worker, moving between…
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A Box, Two Extracts, One Unexpected Discovery
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I inherited a box of family papers from my uncle, Eva Marcisak Dubinsky’s son, and set it aside for two years. In early April 2026, I finally went through it. What I found was an unexpected discovery I wasn’t prepared for: two formal church-issued baptismal extracts for children of my…
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A Brick Wall Revisited: Ten Hours, Seven Suspects, One Direction
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The mystery of Clifford Max’s father has been one of my most stubborn brick wall revisited genealogy cases for years. Clifford was born June 18, 1929, to Myrtle June Thompson in Edwardsville, Illinois. His father was never named on any record. DNA testing points clearly to the Pitts family of…
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The Family Pattern I Didn’t See Until Now
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The theme for Week 13 of the #52Ancestors challenge is “A Family Pattern.” I have been turning that phrase over since I first read it. Naming patterns are everywhere in my family tree. Occupations repeat. Migration routes repeat. But none of that is what has been on my mind. What…