Vecteezy image October 20, 2024 What kind of reader are you? Do you become involved with the characters in the book, locating their setting on a map even though the main town is fictional?  Do you enjoy books that have historical settings, either time period or location so you are immersing yourself in a favorite environment or are learning something new?  Do you look forward to the next adventure that a main character may experience, thus following them through a series of books? If any of these traits describes you, you will probably greatly enjoy reading genealogical crime stories.  And you will find several authors to satisfy your hunger. Vecteezy October 20, 2024 Genealogical Mysteries are like lessons in Genealogy The authors take their characters through the trials and tribulations that most of us experience when we are researching.  We can identify with the frustration of a brick wall and rejoice with a character's successful discovery. Good authors keep thei...

Generated with AI (Microsoft Bing Image Creator) ∙ January 7, 2024 at 12:54 PM Jones Family Tree: Sanford Talbert Jones and Ethelyn Stephens At the end of 2023, I had a wonderful surprise and wrote about it here: Piggy-back . Antoinette has been generous, sharing family photos and history, which really led to breakthroughs in my son-in-law Jason's tree. Researching families outside of my "own" has been enriching, and I learned so much researching the family of  Ethelyn Stephens, Jason's great-grandmother. She married Sanford Talbert Jones the first, who was a laborer for the City of Los Angeles at the end of his life. To the right is a part of a photo of their son Sanford II (in the middle) in an old fire truck, from a great article about Black firefighters in Los Angeles. [1]  Sanford Talbert Jones II and Ruby Alexander Sanford carried on his father's experience in working for LA city. He  married Ruby Alexander who was born in Louisiana, possibly in New Orlea...

freepik.com/free-photo/daily-planner-dream-big-concept_ How have you learned to do genealogy? Some of us began with basic classes that introduced us to census records, land records, military records and other basic resources. Some of us did wide open internet searches and got lucky on our first or second attempt; others had piles of material handed to them by older relatives. No matter how we started, if we have stayed with our quest, we have refined our methodology in order to get to more accurate or obscure information. If you have subscribed to SKCGS.groups.io you may have seen messages between people who are in the current study group working on the book, Research Like a Pro.  I admire the work these people are putting in on their projects, knowing they are developing strong research habits. Another Way To Learn But I don't have the time or inclination to put out that sort of effort. I have found another source for learning methodology--genealogical crime mysteries! Give me th...

"All work and no play make Jack a dull boy." I don't mean the technical volumes we rely on to keep us current in our genealogical craft. I mean works of fiction that take us to another time or another world. Some may be biographical or historic fiction; others may be cleverly written mysteries. I may be generalizing too much but I think that genealogists enjoy mysteries; why else do we seek answers for our own family history? Historical fiction and mysteries A relatively new twist in the mystery genre is the genealogist as a main character. Several authors are writing series of books with these story lines. Nathan Dylan Goodwin My introduction to this genre was a few years ago when, as SKCGS newsletter editor, I was offered a complimentary copy of Nathan Dylan Goodwin's   The America Ground .  Since it was his third book, I thought it would be a good idea to read his first two books as well.  I was hooked not only on his books but similar books by other authors. Mort...