I’m pleased to announce that my latest research article, “Five Families from Hawkins County, Tennessee: Their 1850s Migration to Pulaski County, Kentucky,” has been published in the Tennessee Genealogical Society‘s Ansearchin’ News. My search for one person–virtually a needle in a haystack–stumbled upon a mass migration in the 1850s. East …
Picture this: You’re researching an ancestor who appears in records from Tennessee, Alabama, and Texas. The same person in three places or three different men? With common names genealogists face this puzzle constantly. But what if you found a signature so unique it became like a fingerprint? Signature Analysis: How …
While researching Nashville Penitentiary convicts, I noted the prisoner Lacy Witcher (and many other prisoners) was “Pardoned under the Act of 1836” (see image 1). What was this act? Was it simply for good behavior or was there another reason, such as prison over-crowding or perhaps an outbreak of a …
I’m happy to announce that my article “Two Doctors and A House: Dr. Andrew J. Harris and Dr. Clara E. (Olds) Harris, Osteopaths in Nashville, Tennessee” has been published in the Tennessee Genealogical Society‘s journal, Ansearchin’ News. A Family Artifact Leads to Genealogical Research As genealogists, we’re always drawn to …
I’m particularly drawn to women’s stories because they are so often lost or misplaced in history. When I discovered a Nashville Penitentiary record for “Lucy Witcher,” convicted of barn burning in 1847, I hoped to uncover another forgotten woman’s tale. Instead, what emerged was the story of a man named …
