I began my genealogy journey in 2011 after an unplanned trip to a cemetery in Indiana. We were driving through Amish country when, for some unknown reason, I was compelled to pull over and walk a small cemetery.

In that place on a sunny summer’s day, I saw a row of headstones for children (some babies) and a mother’s headstone in the middle. She died decades after her many children. As a mother, I couldn’t help but wonder how she survived such enormous loss. How did she wake up each morning and simply keep living? In that moment, my quest to find ‘my people’ was born. Who were my people, how did they live, what were their joys and sorrows? What were their stories?

I have spent the years since 2011 on that historical journey, piecing together not just names and dates from census records, but deep diving into their everyday lives. What did an ordinary Tuesday look like? What filled their days? What were their relationships like? Who were they beyond the records?

I have documented (to date) over 6,000 ancestors and nearly as many photo, historical stories, and bits of document evidence. One of the quotes I often think about is attributed to Ernest Hemingway:

“Every man has two deaths, when he is buried in the ground and the last time someone says his name.”

My hope is to bring their names back into the conversation – to tell their stories so they are remembered again. Because without them, I wouldn’t be me.

A note on AI assistance: While the family history, record analysis, and conclusions presented here are the culmination of years of my own research and belong entirely to me, I sometimes use generative AI tools (such as ChaptGPT ) to assist with writing, grammar, and structuring my blog posts. All historical facts and genealogical conclusions are researched and evaluated by me using primary and secondary sources, with careful attention to accuracy and supporting documentation.