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Late Bloomer

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  My mother, a late bloomer? I've never thought of her that way until last week, when I heard Melissa Barker's presentation about finding records for our female ancestors. Suddenly I could hear Mom's voice saying that her last job was most important of her life, even more than raising my sister and me. While thanking Melissa for her lecture I tried to say what Mom told me, and choked up with emotion. I was overwhelmed with grief, but also with joy that Mom found a way to heal her own heart while working in a prison! My mother was on her own from about age thirteen when she worked and boarded with a couple with young children before and after school. She wanted to pass the high-stakes test in Canada at the end of grade nine, so she could go to high school. During her time with that family, lots happened, including a burst appendix and time in hospital recovering from the infection and surgery. This all happened miles away from her mother and siblings in Calgary, Alberta, Can...
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Happy Birthday USA

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The Semiquincentennial, the 250th anniversary of the birth of the United States, is being celebrated this year and everywhere you turn, you are being invited to participate. When I think of 1776 and the birth of this nation, I think of my Revolutionary era ancestors and how they were involved in the struggles and successes in their lives.  I suppose I am fortunate to have such ancestors to remind me of the "Spirit of '76" in establishing our country. I have to remind myself that 1776 was only the beginning, the birth. It is the 250 years of growth, exploration, immigration, poverty, riches, turmoil and triumph, that we celebrate today. These are the stories, the moments in our personal and collective histories that we can share with others.   Some of our stories are proud moments; some are humorous; some are of sad times or regrettable situations. But they all must be shared; look around you and find a place where you can contribute your story. National Celebration Americ...
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Love on the Rocks

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 Could YOU resist?   The Hamilton Farmer's Advocate, Hamilton, Missouri, Thursday 21 November 1912, page 1, column , "CALDWELL CIRCUIT COURT: November Term Adjourned Friday Afternoon--Proceedings Since Last Issue," Jennie vs David McBee divorce judgement; Newspapers.com : accessed 13 February 2026.  Wh ile cleaning up some McBee profiles in my Ancestry.com tree (with the aid of ProTools), a Newspapers.com link to this news article popped up as a hint for a different David McBee. I was unable to resist researching this couple, although I was almost sure that they were not "my" McBees.  But I went to bed that night baffled, having had little success in finding either of them. In fact, I intended to drop it, if nothing more turned up. However, I woke up wondering how Jennie and the children survived. $2000 isn't nothing, but even in 1912 it could not have sustained them for long.  Ancestry came through for me Valentines Day morning with a hint to the 1900 Cen...
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Step Up and Make a Difference

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Step Up and Make a Difference: SKCGS Needs YOU as Our Next Secretary! Hello fellow SKCGS members! As my term as Secretary of SKCGS comes to a close, it seems like a good time to reflect a bit. It was yesterday I was just getting familiar with SKCGS and the many excellent benefits they offered members. From the presentations during COVID, to the monthly Genealogy Chats, I came to appreciate how special the SKCGS community was. And when asked to become the Secretary, I was glad to be able to give back and help.   So, I'm writing to encourage one of you to step into this rewarding role. If you've ever thought about getting more involved with SKCGS or wondered what happens behind the scenes, this might be the perfect opportunity for you! Why Consider Being Secretary? It's Perfect for Your Schedule We all have busy lives; attending an in-person meeting may not be something you want to do. SKCGS board meetings are once a month in the evening via Zoom and last about an ho...
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Doubt

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"Doubt" courtesy of Freepik.com Doubt: hidden superpower Doubt and uncertainty are no fun. Our brains prefer confidence. However, listening to doubt can be your superpower IF it helps you stop, evaluate the situation, then  consider alternatives .  As a beginner genealogy researcher, I was not only confident, but ignorant. We don't know what we don't know. I assumed memories of what I had been told about my family were accurate. I've since realized that while no one lied to me, my memories were incomplete and so were the memories of my family members. Unpleasant facts such as divorce and child deaths were never mentioned. No wonder it took me years to untangle even my own recent family, much less more distant relatives and ancestors. The idea of research planning seemed absurd to this beginner. Now I'm looking at doubt and skepticism in a new light as I clean up my sprawling tree. I caused much of the mess years ago by accepting whatever "facts" I f...
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Revisit

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White Goose Flying - Royalty free from pickpic.com Whew! January has flown by.   This month I've been re-visiting old research , led by  Ancestry® Pro Tools  power to find possible duplicate profiles in my huge tree. Along the way, I sometimes do a bit of research or even prune as I go. I hope in 2026 to really make my DNA tree shine. One of my Baysinger branches caught me this week, and I've been taking it all the way down to the 1950 Census, which of course was not available when I began building an online tree 20 years ago.  As a beginner, I allowed far too many duplicate profiles to proliferate. I didn't know how to prevent that happening, or to fix it.* Also I had no clue that downloading a gedcom from MyHeritage and then uploading to Ancestry would give me many worthless "sources" which must be removed to generate Ancestry hints. I use the hints to build a "skeleton" for a profile, finding the person and their family in census and BMD (birth, marri...
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The Hop-Pickers Murders

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Ron Strutt: Hops Garden Syndale Farm, Kent UK   Some things I have never thought to ponder: Hops by Pixnio Hops Hops plant growth Harvesting hops Post World War I economy Low income Londoners These are all things I learned about in The Hop-Pickers Murders , the latest crime mystery featuring forensic  genealogist, Morton Farrier.   Author Nathan Dylan Goodwin once again displays his genius by immersing his readers in a distinctive time and place.  This 11th novel in the Morton Farrier series introduces us to the unique time and place of hop-pickers in Kent, England after WWI before mechanization became the method for mass production.  Morton solves a mystery of theft, disappearance and murder for a client who discovered her aunt's journal. We catch up with Morton's personal life as well; he struggles to concentrate despite his 3-year-old's drum kit "practice" and the unknown menace bent on destroying his career.  Morton always gives a lesson in genealo...
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