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Research + Documentation

Rookie Reminder: Circle Back (Newspaper Articles and Photos)

Posted on March 20, 2025March 20, 2025 by Melissa Willis

Last Spring I reached out to the Marion (Indiana) Public Library about some research I was doing about two young siblings, Leah and Dale, who passed away tragically in separate incidences. I was trying to untangle the threads of oral history from fact and thought there might be a newspaper article or two about the…

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A to Z 2025 Challenge Theme Reveal: Kin

Posted on March 15, 2025March 15, 2025 by Melissa

In order to kick start my new site and find my genealogy groove again after a few months of focusing on a single ancestor in my free time, I’ve decided to challenge myself by participating in the 2025 A to Z Challenge. This will be my first time participating in such a challenge and I…

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DNA Testing & Sibling Season

Posted on February 15, 2025March 15, 2025 by Melissa Willis

Sibling Season falls in the space between Winter and Spring and is roughly eight weeks long. It is the space between one gifting a DNA test to someone, that person taking and submitting that test, and their results being published to the site.

No matter why the test was given or taken, statistics show that surprises are more common than many of us would like to believe.

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Scottie’s Cause of Death

Posted on February 4, 2025March 15, 2025 by Melissa Willis

Today marks the birth date for my maternal Great Grandpa, Scottie, born in 1883, but today we’re going to talk about his death.

William Oscar AKA Scottie, is still quite an enigma to me and has been hard to find definitive documentation for except for a few tidbits and a very tragic train crash we’ll have to talk about another day.

That being said, I recently found his Death Certificate, and with the help of the internet Hive Mind, I’ve gained deeper insight into Scottie’s cause of death.

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Family History Pocket Notebook

Posted on January 15, 2025March 15, 2025 by Melissa Willis

You might recall the little family history pocket notebook I started carrying around last year to keep my notes, to-do lists, and general questions in. I started it as an experiment based on a memory of a pocket notebook my Uncle Kent pulled out when I visited that contained my great grandpa Dutch’s Oatmeal Cookie recipe. I figured that big ideas and important documentation doesn’t always need to be fancy or flashy and if I could easily carry it around, then I might be more apt to use and reference it on my family history wanderings as I made my way through 2024.

Guess what?

It worked.

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HELLO & WELCOME!

I'm Melissa :-)

Ghost Chaser | Kin Seeker | NPE Survivor

As the Family Historian and Genetic Genealogist, I find great joy in folding time with the Ancestors in an effort to best honor them while documenting their legacies for future generations. Thanks for coming along on this journey with me!

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