Remember when I said I wanted to highlight some hints, tricks, and collections that are specific to Mississippi? Well, let's return to the topic. And let's choose something for those of us who like doing our genealogical research in our pajamas!

In my opinion, one of the best resources for those who love to research from the comfort of their own home is the Mississippi Digital Library. This website, described as a "collaborative digital library for the state of Mississippi," [1] is an excellent resource. The site partners with numerous Mississippi Institutions in order to provide digital access (and other services) of its collections to researchers everywhere. 

Basically, how it works is that Mississippi institutions such as libraries, universities, historical societies, and genealogical societies upload their content in various collections. On the backend, the various partners work like crazy to make the information findable, searchable. And then they provide it to the public. Free.

I say free, but there's the typical caveats. If you use their information, you should cite it. If you want to publish their information in a book (especially if you're going to sell the book), you need to contact the institution that owns the material. There may be a publication fee.

Anyway, as a researcher you can search specific institutions, collections, or even search the entire site. All you need to know is how to navigate library search engines and you are good to go. (If all you can do is a basic keyword search that'll work fine). As a librarian and archivist, I often complain that library websites are often too dense, unruly, and too difficult to navigate. That's not the case here. The Mississippi Digital Library is clean, easy to read, and easily accessible, especially to those new to research. 

Overall, the Mississippi Digital Library is a great place for searching for your kin. There's all kinds of items to look for, from University publications, yearbooks and more, to photos from historic events like hurricanes and other natural disasters. There's correspondence and letters from Mississippians and even genealogical information. It's all there. I know some of you will find your family if you search the site. You just have to use it. Better yet, you can use it while wearing your pajamas. 

1. "About," Mississippi Digital Library, Mississippi Digital Library, 2015; accessed 29 July 2025: https://msdiglib.org/). 

Out of all the times I broke my ankles, the story of how it happened never made it to the newspapers. And I broke them both. Luckily, I broke them on different occasions. But my great-grandmother? You probably don’t know this, but she stepped on a stick, fell off a porch and dislocated her ankle. See the image below [1].

After reading that story, I’m wondering how they treated a dislocated ankle in 1906. And did her dad say, “Yeah, all you need is a little ice and you’ll be okay,”? Did her friends read the thrilling tale of her fall and drop by for a visit to console her?

All these questions about my great-grandmother’s injury reminds me of the time when my mom stepped off the porch to turn off the water to the hose. One step and she broke her ankle in two places. It took the entire neighborhood to carry her into the house. (And what I mean when I say neighborhood is our friends Ed and Scott from down the street.)

My dad had left for an afternoon round of golf he never got to play. When he arrived to check in for his tee time the golf course sent him back home to care for my mom. She got a cast. I’d like to think I signed it and drew something cool on it. Too bad my mom’s story never made it to the papers either. The Daily Republic in Fairfield, California just didn’t know what they were missing with that story. Neither did my dad, who was kind of disappointed. He thought my mom should have done something cooler than taking one step off the porch if she was going to break her ankle.

I mention my dad’s disappointment for a purpose. You see, some folks gloss over small stories like the one I found for my grandmother. They feel as if the information is too mundane, or not on a large enough scale to be worth collecting. I think otherwise. Reading and collecting the small factoids, tales, stories helps you to know and connect with your ancestors if you take the time to think and ask questions about the circumstances surrounding them. I may not know more about the dislocated ankle. How bad was it? How long did it put her out of action? Did she receive any cuts and bruises from the fall? Since the injury happened in November in Missouri, was it snowy or icy out? Did snow or ice contribute to the fall?

However, I can learn about how they might have treated the injury in 1906. Or if they even considered a dislocated ankle the same thing as they do in 2025. I can learn a few other details that might help me understand her life better or how teenagers might have responded to an incident like an ankle injury. So I am grateful for the story.

And I am a bit jealous my ankle brakes never made it to the paper. Not jealous because of my ego. But jealous that my descendants won’t be able to discover those stories in the paper and feel closer to me. If we’re lucky though, maybe this story about my mom’s ankle will still be floating around for them to find.

[1]. "Miss Maud Hoover," Monett Daily Record, (Monett, Missouri), p. 1, col. 3. 20 November 1906. Newspapers.com. (https://www.newspapers.com/image/1201120467/ : accessed 22 July 2025).  

The other night I traded in genealogy for mowing the lawn. Traded in might not be the proper way to describe it. It was more like I had to postpone the genealogy for cutting the grass. Unfortunately for me, I don’t have a great lawn mower, plus I live on a corner lot, so there is a lot of grass to cut, and the heat sweltered. Here in Mississippi we cut lawns in the sauna.

When I finished the task, I had to bag and blow the clippings, put the tools away, and finish some edging too. Needless to say, I would have preferred to spend my time climbing the family tree. I mean, I did think about it most of the time I pushed that lawn mower back and forth across the grass.

Eventually, I finished, right about the time the sun was setting. I showered, got dressed, sat down at my desk intending to work on genealogy, but played with Lego instead. You see, I’m building this really cool Haunted House. It’s got ghosts and skeletons and creepy clowns. And while I was building, guess what? I still thought about genealogy.

Unfortunately, my body refused to do it. I was tuckered out, as they say. I had already spent the day at work only to come home and work outside. I wanted to do other things, but I needed a rest.

For those of you who are passing genealogists, please remember, genealogy is work. Creating timelines and tables and citations and family trees and books and case studies takes time and effort. My body knew this and directed me to do other things. Once I realized what was going on, I went with it. No matter how much there is to work on when it comes to genealogy, there is never anything wrong with taking care of the mind and body first.

I mention this because I believe it is important to let the good things in life come to you. To let them happen in their proper time. Take these blogs I write. If I stress out over topic and ideas, if I try forcing a blog to be “good,” I will most likely not produce anything at all. But if I take care of the mind and body, I tend to produce better work.

The same can be said of many pursuits including athletics, academics, work, play. Our minds and bodies frequently need a reset. Anyway, I played with Lego for the night. I allowed myself to get some rest.

I know this concept worked for me because after I rested up and went back to genealogy the next day, I found a treasure trove of documents concerning my dad’s family. I found so much stuff I have never seen that it will take me weeks to sort through it all.

I am convinced that I found the information because I was rested and allowed myself to take some downtime when I needed it. I came back to my projects with a clarity of mind I wouldn’t have had I worked on the project tired, sluggish, and bleary eyed. The rest allowed me to think, ask questions, and plan some research activities. So please, take this as your friendly reminder to allow yourself a little rest and relaxation when necessary. I mean, life can’t all be the fun and games genealogy brings us. If you need to, relax a bit and then come back to the topic excited and willing to get the job done.

It will work wonders. I promise.

Yesterday, I planned to create a genealogy post for my social media feeds. I opened my phone and scrolled to an interesting newspaper headline I gathered about 10 years ago. It reads: Girl, 16, Slugged by Attacker Near Home [1]. I will drop a photo below.

The article centered on the night my dad’s aunt Eleanor was attacked near her Oakland, California home. Short, easy to read, and interesting, I decided to share the article with my friends and family.

But one thing held me back—I wanted a better image of the article for the post. Technology has improved in the decade since I originally found the article, so I hopped on Newspaper.com and searched for it again, knowing I should easily find a better image. Not only did I find it, but I found something better. I came across the same story in a different paper. While much of the text reads the same, the second article contained additional headlines and even a photo [2]!

These were new details for me. I greedily snatched the second article so I could post the one with the picture instead.

The entire scenario was that sweet genealogical serendipity that often happens when searching our ancestors. Plus it reminded me of that age old adage—check back later. Experienced researchers will often revisit their searches in various repositories. That’s because record collections are constantly changing, updated, and new materials are added, processed, and made available that weren’t available before. In this instance, I don't know why I didn't find the second article at the same time I found the first. The collections might not have contained that particular newspaper, I might have been searching a different name, who knows? However, I do know that going back again lead me to some important additional details previously unknown to me. 

Besides, in this case the new article was superior. The extra headlines, the photo with Aunt Eleanor looking chic, and even the story came across rather Hollywood to me. It gave the story an additional element of fun. (As far as a story of your family member being attacked by a stranger can be considered "fun.") Plus I loved the slight difference in detail here and there. Overall, I really loved stumbling across the new (to me) article and am happy I went out of my way to find a better image for the first one. It totally made my day.

So please, remember to check back later. You never know what you might find.

• 1.    "Girl, 16, Slugged by Attacker Near Home," The Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California), p. 3, col. 7. 1 June 1936. Newspapers.com. (https://www.newspapers.com/image/128119289/ : accessed 7 July 2025).  
• 2.    "Mystery Attacker Slugs Oakland Girl," The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California), p. 15. 1 June 1936. Newspapers.com. (https://www.newspapers.com/image/457843386/ : accessed 7 July 2025).  

The 4^th of July is this week, and my thoughts have turned to my family who have served in the armed forces. Not just the Revolutionary War, but other conflicts as well. They’ve also turned to those family members who served in times of peace.

Most prominently, I’ve thought of my grandfather, who served in World War II. And though I have so many more questions about him than I will ever have answers, today I’d like to share a small discovery I made about Warren Hoover, my great granduncle. Warren was my grandfather’s uncle, and he served our nation during the First World War.

One day I was searching the local papers of the small Missouri town where my grandfather was born. I was hoping to find a birth announcement or some other mention of the family. Instead, I found a treasure trove of letters from Warren to my great-great grandmother. He wrote these letters home from France, where he was stationed during much of the conflict.

There are so many entries in those papers. Week after week they published his letters home. It’s amazing how much I’ve learned by reading these gems. Sometimes I’m struck by the things Warren says, but at other times I wonder at the things he doesn’t say.

If you want to read one of his letters, I’ve included one here for your perusal below [1].

I’m not here today to recount any specifics of Warren’s story, but rather to encourage those who are searching for family with military service to not only search for their ancestors in military records, but in letters, journal entries, newspapers and more. These are great sources to find mentions of those who have gone before.

I also want to say that if you don’t find any specific hits on your ancestor, don’t be afraid to read the local paper of where your ancestor lived at the time of these events. You’ll find yourself learning more about the conditions of life surrounding your ancestors’ time and place and feel more of a connection with them.

For me, these kinds of nuggets have done just that—helped me to view the world from a different perspective and to maybe learn what holidays like the 4^th might have meant to them, for good or for bad. Personally, I’m a fan of the 4^th of July and this weekend, I hope those of you who are celebrating will enjoy your holiday safely. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll find some cool stories about your family too.

1.    “Monett Soldier Boy Receives Foreign Medal,” The Monett Times, (Monett, Missouri), p. 3, col. 1. 5 April 1918. Newspapers.com. (https://www.newspapers.com/image/174383191/ : accessed 1 July 2025).

You know, with all my talk about ax murderers and rat poison the last couple of weeks, I wouldn’t be surprised if you were scared to get involved with genealogy. But all jokes aside, I know plenty of people are scared they might uncover a family secret that upsets the balance of their current family dynamic.

It is a very real possibility.

If you research your family, you very well could uncover an extramarital affair, a secret identity, or you might even find out that one of your siblings isn’t your blood kin after all. There are other possibilities too.

Yesterday, I took my children to the public library. As it tends to happen, I got caught up talking to a lady about genealogy shortly after we arrived. She told me she was scared to start searching for her family because she was sure she would find out some nefarious family secret. Especially one she didn’t want to know.

At the same time, she told me she wished she knew more about her parents, both of whom have passed. In that moment, standing in the library with all kinds of folks milling about, I wanted to tell her that she would find small nuggets of priceless information about her parents and family if she would only start the search. I wanted to tell her that she would feel closer to her parents and grandparents and that it would be a meaningful experience. I wanted to tell her how much fun she would have and how many new friends she would find and cousins she would discover.

Unfortunately, we were interrupted. I didn’t get the chance to tell her any of that.

I’ve already resolved to tell her how amazing genealogy can be, and I will the next time I visit her branch. I’ve already resolved to tell her that ax murderers, rat poison, and family secrets aside, there’s not really anything to be afraid of when searching for your ancestors.

I’ve resolved to tell her that despite my jokes, if she takes the first step, she’ll soon find herself on a truly profound and rewarding journey. If you’ve been on your path for a while now. Keep it up. Share your stories with us. If you’re new, then please, keep at it. Learn new things and discover all the wonder you can find in this amazing field.

Until next time . . . Don’t be afraid to start. Jump in and experience all the wonders of genealogy.

Last Week, I confessed that I don't always talk ax murders and murderers. This is true. 

Because sometimes I talk about poison too. 

So, I think I will drop this little nugget right here. [1]

And while I am at it, this little newspaper article sent me down the rabbit hole, where I found a lot of other records about this case. Or more specifically, records about Mark Curry, who is a distant uncle to me. (I'm too lazy to count the generations for this short post.)

Like it would for a lot of people studying their family, this story caught my attention. It caught my attention enough to keep digging. In fact, that digging yielded enough records and stories that I might have enough about Mark Curry to write a book. Okay, maybe not a book, but at least a pamphlet. 

But the pamphlet isn't the point. I am just here to show you--I don't always talk ax murders and murderers, sometimes I talk poison too. 

P. S. if you're interested in your family, your family's stories, or doing genealogy research, please come join us here in the Mississippi Genealogical Society. We're a much safer bunch than some of our stories might suggest. 

1. "Death by Suicide," Cassville Republican (Cassville, Missouri), p. 4, col. 3. 23 February 1893. Newspapers.com. (https://www.newspapers.com/image/334977025/ : accessed 17 June 2025). 

I don't always talk ax murders and murderers, but when I do, genealogy is involved. Let me explain, lest you think me crazy. Recently a friend took me to lunch for my birthday. During the course of our meal, I recounted a family history project I am working on involving a bank robbery. 

When I was done spouting the family tale, he said, "Cool. My introduction to family history was when my mom sent me journal entries about a relative. Some guy broke into his house, grabbed a hatchet and attacked his wife. She survived, but one of their children died. Then he followed the ax guy and shot him. Apparently the authorities just said," and waved his hand to show me the authorities let his ancestor off scot-free. 

Later, after lunch, and being a fan of research, I looked it up. Here's a photo of one newspaper entry about the event. [1] I found a few others. Chatted with my friend again and he told me he likes to see genealogical photos of the inmates in prison. 

This kind of conversation and stories are the reason why I gravitated to genealogy in the first place--to learn the sordid history and drama of my family's past. Just kidding. I like to know about my ancestors and their stories. The tales don't always have to be about ax murders and murderers. They could be about rat poison . . . oops, that's an entirely different story.

What I meant to say is that the stories don't have to be about the sordid and dramatic tales people went through. They could be heroic, or even downright domestic and boring. Anything to give me a glimpse into the lives of our ancestors. 

So, if you like swapping stories about bank robberies, ax murders, and rat poison, while at the same time outing your ancestors in the process, come join us at the Mississippi Genealogical Society. We'd love to get to know you.

And not in some creepy ax murderer kind of way. 

Sources:

1. "Speedy Justice," The Deseret News (Salt Lake City), p. 8, col. 2. 7 April 1869. digitalnewspapers.org (https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s66t1g52 : accessed 10 June 2025). 

My mom recently introduced me to a new YouTube channel. It’s called Forgotten Lines, and its concept is that James, a professional genealogist, purchases pictures at an antique store and researches the people in the photo. Or he might visit a cemetery and research interesting tombstones he finds.

Anyway, I watched a couple of episodes and noticed James said something really interesting.  He said, “So, I called the library and asked the librarian . . .” Then he proceeded to state what he wanted to find. Lo and behold after he asked for help, the librarians produced some much needed information.

I read through some of the comments on those videos where he asked librarians for help and I saw that more than one person noted how they struggle to ask people for help. Their shyness or aversion to asking kept them from opening their mouths.

A few days later, I was in public and someone said something similar to me. “I find it difficult to ask librarians for what I need.” Which brings me to my point. Don’t be afraid to ask a librarian or archivists for help. Libraries and archives are service organizations. They’re meant to help people find and use the information preserved in their collections.

In my experience, most librarians and archivists are very friendly and want to help. So go ahead and ask. Sure, there’s always the exception to the rule. You might get someone who doesn’t want to help or is rude. But that is usually the exception to the rule. Mostly though, these professionals want to help you navigate their collections. So please, don’t be afraid to ask. Whether you ask by phone, filling out a contact form, or using the chat feature on a website, please use the services they provide so you can fully enjoy your research. Their professional help will make a world of difference in your search.

One last point. It’s easy enough for me to say, “Don’t be afraid to ask,” when in reality, many people have fears and anxieties that I am not experiencing. Asking can be difficult for some people and I realize that. For those of you with those fears, please know that asking for help can open up an entire universe of possibilities. I know from experience.

So instead of me saying “Don’t be afraid to ask,” let me say this—just ask. The librarians and archivists will do their best to help.

P. S. What I mean by asking for help is asking the librarians and archivists for help in finding what information they have in their collections. It’s up to you to do your own genealogy research after that.

I turned 50 yesterday. So Happy Birthday to me. It was in fact a fun birthday. My wife and children gave me presents, made me my favorite dinner, and we watched a movie together. When they handed over the goods, my wife even took some short videos of me opening the gifts. She said, “The kids are going to want to watch this in a year or so.” And they really will. I often find them lying next to my wife in our bed watching videos of good times we had in the past.

In other words, we made family history. We enjoyed being together. Being a family. And I loved it.

But now that it’s a day later, and I’m thinking about being 50, I realize I’m getting to be an old curmudgeon in some ways. You see, I like to keep tabs on the genealogical world. I try to keep abreast of things happening in the community. Trends, fads, skills, and more. I’m not the best at it because I like to spend time with my family and because I’m not a professional genealogist. So, I’m not always immersed in the genealogical realm.

One thing I’ve noticed that’s becoming more and more prevalent in genealogy is AI. (Yes, everyone has noticed how prevalent AI has become in every sphere.) But here’s where I’m feeling like a curmudgeon. I’m not fully accepting of AI in the genealogical community yet. There are a few things that AI is doing that I absolutely love. Family Search’s beta tool for full text search and recognizing handwriting is a game changer when searching for your long-lost relatives. Utilizing AI as a notetaker and for creating certain kinds of surveys, tables, and even generating ideas for more research can be helpful and less time consuming.

I get it. AI is a tool like any other tool. A tool that should be used. Sure. There’s a lot of arguments for the use of the tool that I agree with.

Unfortunately, when I start looking at social media, blogs, or videos that promote AI helping with genealogical writing and even some other tasks, my interest wanes immediately. I even cringed a little inside when I said AI could be used for creating tables just a moment ago. I understand how time-consuming certain tasks are. Especially writing. I understand the concept “time is money.” I understand how people often want to get on to the next thing on the list of things to do.

I also understand how fulfilling it is to write and create something on your own. I understand the peace of mind and confidence I get when I struggle through a task on my own. I also see how my thinking changes, how I learn, and how inspiration comes to me when I perform the task myself.

Like any other technology today, from the developer’s standpoint, part of the purpose of AI is to gain your attention. The tech companies are competing for your attention. The longer you spend on their platforms, the better it is for their bottom line. Never mind the impact they receive from gathering so much information because people are freely feeding them more data.

Now I’m not here to preach against AI. If I was, I’d probably bring up the controversies about energy use and water consumption. I am only pointing out that as I grow older, I’m a bit more interested in a return to the idea that the work itself is rewarding, that we can take pleasure in the job itself. That might make me a curmudgeon. If so, I will own it.

When it comes to writing of any sort, I like to sit down with a good old pen and paper and have a tactile experience thinking and writing. I enjoy the struggle and ultimately the creation. I enjoy the process.  What will happen if we automate the process of genealogy so much that we don’t enjoy the hobby/profession anymore? So much of family history is about kinship and identity and discovering the impact of family on our lives that it makes the process worth it, the process becomes a human experience. What happens if we strip genealogy of the human experience because we want something done or because it is easier?

I don’t know. I don’t have the answers.

But since I’m one day into 50 and starting my life as a bona fide curmudgeon, I think I’ve got plenty of time to struggle through and shape my ideas about AI in genealogy. But please, can we stop with the AI generated photos already?

P.S. AI tried to give me a number of suggestions on how to write this blog. I ignored them all.

If I made a grammar mistake, or if you didn’t like the blog itself, we’ll both live.

Photo via Andrew Neel