Join us as we explore land as both place and proof—an enduring record that anchors families to time, geography, and history. From federal patents and county deeds to contested inheritances and forced removals, the articles that follow demonstrate how land records do far more than describe property: they reveal relationships, expose social and legal realities, … Read more
The death of an ancestor often leaves behind a paper trail—obituaries, death certificates, funeral cards, tombstone inscriptions, and more. Each record helps genealogists document that final footprint. Yet these essential sources can be elusive or difficult to interpret. This issue of Stirpes explores the many ways death is recorded and remembered, offering insight, tools, and … Read more
Genealogy facts are important, but they are only part of the puzzle. It’s just as important, if not more so, to incorporate storytelling into our genealogy efforts, transforming the facts we’ve discovered into vibrant narratives of our family history. To help our readers embrace the storytelling process, the March 2025 issue of Stirpes includes articles … Read more
Ladies–half our family trees–require well over 50 percent of our genealogical effort. Sometimes it seems more like 99 percent. We all know it’s not their fault–the records are stacked against them. In spite of the challenges and brick walls, we still want to know more about these women, what their lives were like, who they … Read more
Solving genealogy problems requires a multi-pronged approach of seeking out new records, understanding the context of those records, and analyzing the information collected to illuminate new connections. As we move through those steps—seeking, understanding, and analyzing—we often discover that we need to gain deeper insights and improve our skills to solve the research challenge we’re … Read more