ROOTS & BRANCHES

It’s Memorial Day weekend. Begun as a holiday to remember the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers, it’s morphed into the unofficial start of summer and a time to remember soldiers of all wars. And in less strict terms, I’ve always looked at as an opportunity to memorialize all those who have died. What are my …

Genealogists sometimes find that they don’t need to have an ancestral connection to a family to help out another genealogist. They just need to know someone who does. A few weeks ago I helped coordinate a workshop at the Ohio Genealogical Society’s conference called “Nuts & Bolts, Bells & Whistles: Pennsylvania Genealogy Boot Camp” along …

I’ll tell you the honest truth: I never really wondered too much about how people wanted information on Beidler families find me.Even I don’t advertise per se, I do have a website and the activities in which I’ve engaged (such as lecturing and authoring commercially published books) leave enough internet breadcrumbs for people to find …

I’ve been a longtime speaker at the Ohio Genealogical Society’s annual conference and have made the circuit several times of its major host cities of Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, and Toledo. It had become a rite of spring for to be scheduled for a couple of lectures and on several occasions came to the rescue by …

It was a true “back to the future” moment for me earlier this month when I attended a kickoff party for the 50th anniversary of the organization now known simply as PA Humanities. My own association with the group dates back more than two decades to when it was known as the Pennsylvania Humanities Council …