Some of the bijoux I discovered this week. Blog postsScotlandsPeople adds 290,000 new records in annual update by Chris Paton on Scottish GENES. A second chance with a second surname by John Grenham o...

Whether you're using Ancestry's new Custom Cluster tool or have simply identified an important DNA match, determining how a match fits into your family tree is

Introduction Some family stories are long and winding, stretching across decades. Others are brief, but no less meaningful. Marion Richmond Crawford’s life falls into the latter category—a story rooted in Dodge City, shaped by service during World War I, and marked by a strong connection to family and community. Born and raised in Dodge City, Marion came of age during a time when young men were called to step quickly from everyday life into global events.

A Marriage Record, Then and Now Today’s Friday Find comes from my paper files and carries a reminder of just how much genealogical research has changed over the years. The document was originally shared with me by a fellow genealogist in Michigan—someone who clearly had access to a Family History Center long before online access was commonplace. She didn’t just send a photocopy of the marriage record; she thoughtfully included a full citation with the microfilm number.

For this week's family history project, I turned to a pair of AI tools to help bring the story of Pauline Edith (Mentzer) Briles to life in a new and engaging way. Using the narrative details compiled in an earlier ChatGPT session, Google Notebook LM generated a clear and moving audio overview of Pauline’s life—her Kansas childhood, her marriage to Edward Osmond Briles, her devotion to family, and the many moments that shaped her long journey.

In the summer of 1932, an airplane circled over Emporia, Kansas, drawing the attention of nearly everyone below. Aviation was still new, exciting, and just a little daring—and on this particular day, Pauline Edith (Mentzer) Briles intended to be part of it. With three children at home and a life grounded in family and work, Pauline chose to take a ten-minute airplane ride that offered far more than entertainment.

Are you an avid user of AI to assist with your genealogy research? If so, do you have a collection of carefully crafted prompts—or do you, like me, tend to approach AI as a conversational partner? While I do rely on a consistent prompt when creating narrative reports, most of my interactions with ChatGPT feel more like ongoing conversations than scripted instructions.

Scores of genealogy and family history bloggers write hundreds of posts every week about their research, their families, and their interes...

This week’s Monday’s Diggings takes me back once again to Randolph County, North Carolina, and to another land record involving Adam Broils. This deed documents the sale of 100 acres on Coatley’s Creek to Benjamin Rush, a transaction that is notable not just for the land itself, but for the family relationship behind it. Benjamin Rush was the son of…

As the United States prepares to mark the 250th anniversary of Independence on July 4, 2026, it is a fitting moment to look even further back, to the

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: It’s Saturday Night again— Time for some more Genealogy Fun!! Come on, everybody, join in and accept the mission and execute it with precision. This Week’s Mission What are your genealogy goals for 2026?Consider genealogy research, education, organizing, service, writing, or anything else you’d like to share. Thinking that Randy Seaver’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun…

One of my favorite uses of the Perplexity Comet Browser Assistant is to create biographies from my Ancestry Member Tree profiles and add th...

Some of the bijoux I discovered this week. Blog postsNewly available online: County of Peel minutes, by-laws, and reports, 1853-1973 by Kyle Neill on Peeling the Past. 2025 Alfred Gilpin Jones Volunte...

Judson Foster Crawford (1866–1949) lived a life that quietly mirrored the growth and stability of Dodge City as it transitioned from frontier town to established community. Born in Indiana and drawn west as a young man, Judson built his adult life in Kansas through steady railroad work, civic involvement, and deep family roots. Over nearly six decades in Dodge City, he worked for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, served his community in local offices, raised a large family with his wife Josie Winifred Hammond, and became a familiar and respected presence in town.

It’s that time of year again—time not only to think about goals for 2026, but also to look back and honestly assess how well I met the goals I set for 2025. Rather than creating a formal set of SMART goals last year, I opted for broader, more flexible objectives that reflected how my genealogy work actually unfolds. Those 2025 goals were:

Genealogy Research Insights Have you ever used SMART goals? If so, you know the “M” stands for measurable. In genealogy, progress is often measured in simple terms—Was the record found or not? Over the years, I’ve relied on a variety of statistics to help answer that question and to track the direction of my research. As I noted in my…

I asked five LLMs to provide information about the technology innovations that might be available over the next five years for genealogy res...

For me, 2025 was a year of learning how to work alongside Artificial Intelligence. While I haven’t explored AI as deeply as some of the leaders in the Genealogy and Artificial Intelligence community, I’ve benefited greatly from watching others—especially Randy Seaver—experiment, test boundaries, and share their results. What began as occasional use for tasks like transcribing newspaper articles gradually evolved into something much more integrated in my research and storytelling.

Today’s post brings together two very different—yet beautifully complementary—ways of sharing the story of my grandfather, Edward Osmund Briles. His life stretched from the wheat fields of Coffey and Woodson Counties to the bright lights of small-town movie theaters, and thanks to a combination of AI tools, I’m able to present his story in new and engaging ways. The first video features an…

Scores of genealogy and family history bloggers write hundreds of posts every week about their research, their families, and their interests...

As we approach the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States in July 2026, it’s a great time to explore how our families’ stories connect to

Adam Broils Deed – Randolph County, North Carolina (1787) While digging through my BRILES folder, I uncovered a photocopy and handwritten notes for a 1787 Randolph County, North Carolina deed in which Adam Broils sold land to Benjamin Rush. According to my notes, this land had been willed to Adam by Conrad Broiles, making the deed an important link between two generations of the Broiles family.

Author’s Note: I want to be transparent that this article – New Year New Research Skills: Start 2026 by Mastering FamilySearch with Ultimate Guide to