ROOTS & BRANCHES

There’s been much talk in the world of genealogy programming for a decade or more that has run in parallel with the Internet-inspired growth of the hobby: Are in-person conferences still a worthwhile endeavor? Some national conferences have turned into financial failures for both their sponsors and vendors attending them. More societies, genealogy-related businesses and …

Your columnist rarely steers “Roots & Branches” into territory that might be considered political. Rarely but not never. I’ve watched U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s claims of Native American ancestry from a distance over the last decade or so. My opinion – shaped by some 30 years of doing genealogy and having many people find their …

When people say “There are no second acts in American lives,” they’re shortening an F. Scott Fitzgerald quotation and turning it on its head in the process. That’s because the full quotation is: “I once thought that there were no second acts in American lives, but there was certainly to be a second act to …

I met Mike Staab at a recent genealogy conference in York County and an e-mail conversation developed about his ancestor George Badders of Fawn Township in that county. “George died intestate, and his son Levi was his eventual heir,” Staab wrote. He sent along the few documents from George’s estate and asked: “Does Levi’s signature …

Original records are messy. Original records are often difficult to read. Original records still sometimes have errors. But accessing original records makes the difference. What kind of difference? Just ask Gary Mauchmar, a Michigan descendant of the same Machmer / Machemer / Magemer family of Berks County from which I hail, too. Mauchmar for years …