Digging History

10/24/2026

Genealogically Speaking: It’s Time to Rake the Leaves

It's Time to Rake the Leaves Several years ago I wrote an article for the October 2018 issue of Digging History Magazine, entitled “Genealogically Speaking: It’s Time to Rake the Leaves”. I thought it might be a good reminder to share excerpts from that article, plus some updates since some of the information now appears to be obsolete. Having now officially passed into the autumnal equinox, it’s time to think about raking up leaves – in our yards and, metaphorically, our family trees....

10/17/2026

Untangling the Web of Twisted History: Mysterious Parentage

One of my favorite maxims – “genealogy is not for the faint of heart” – is the underlying premise of this multi-part article, a collection of challenges I’ve run across in my “research adventures” in pursuit of my own family history or that of my clients. Genealogy is fraught with challenges and the all-too-often need to untangle twisted history, but untangle I must (or at least try!) – whether it’s a client with family lore they wish to prove (or disprove) to scaling brick walls built on years of misleading information via either genealogical fraud, inheritance scams or Internet speculation. ...

One of my favorite maxims – “genealogy is not for the faint of heart” – is the underlying premise of this multi-part article, a collection of challenges I’ve run across in my “research adventures” …

10/10/2026

Untangling the Web of Twisted History: We've Always Been Told (Family Lore - Part 2)

One of my favorite maxims – “genealogy is not for the faint of heart” – is the underlying premise of this multi-part article, a collection of challenges I’ve run across in my “research adventures” …

10/03/2026

October is Family History Month.... here's the story of one of my "research adventures" for a client seeking membership in a heritage society (Spoiler Alert: as is often the case with "family lore", it didn't end well) . . .

One of my favorite maxims – “genealogy is not for the faint of heart” – is the underlying premise of this multi-part article, a collection of challenges I’ve run across in my “research adventures” …

10/03/2026

Untangling the Web of Twisted History: We’ve Always Been Told (Family Lore – Part 1)

One of my favorite maxims – “genealogy is not for the faint of heart” – is the underlying premise of this multi-part article, a collection of challenges I’ve run across in my “research adventures” in pursuit of my own family history or that of my clients. Genealogy is fraught with challenges and the all-too-often need to untangle twisted history, but untangle I must (or at least try!) – whether it’s a client with family lore they wish to prove (or disprove) to scaling brick walls built on years of misleading information via either genealogical fraud, inheritance scams or Internet speculation. ...

One of my favorite maxims – “genealogy is not for the faint of heart” – is the underlying premise of this multi-part article, a collection of challenges I’ve run across in my “research adventures” …

09/26/2026

It Was a Victorian Thing: Get Me Out of Here (I’m Not Dead Yet!) – Part 2

In case you missed it, here's Part 1 of this short series. Part 2 highlights how Victorians addressed their fear of being buried alive -- as the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention! Necessity: The Mother of Invention One of the hallmarks of the 1800s – the “century of acceleration” – was an explosion of innovation, invention and medical advancements....

In case you missed it, here’s Part 1 of this short series. Part 2 highlights how Victorians addressed their fear of being buried alive — as the saying goes, necessity is the mother of …

09/19/2026

Buried alive? For Victorians, it was quite a fearful thing . . .

      Merriam-Webster defines fear as “an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation of awareness of danger.” When fear becomes exaggerated, inexplicable and illogical i…

09/19/2026

It Was a Victorian Thing: Get Me Out of Here (I'm Not Dead Yet!) - Part I

      Merriam-Webster defines fear as “an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation of awareness of danger.” When fear becomes exaggerated, inexplicable and illogical i…

09/12/2026

The latest blog article . . . it was a Victorian thing . . .

Today it might sound creepy, but post-mortem pictures were not uncommon, especially during the Victorian era. I’m not talking about taking pictures of the dearly departed in their casket – that is …

09/12/2026

It Was a Victorian Thing: Memento Mori

Today it might sound creepy, but post-mortem pictures were not uncommon, especially during the Victorian era. I’m not talking about taking pictures of the dearly departed in their casket – that is …