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2020

The Genohistorian’s Grain-of-Salt Approach to History

2 Comments / Genohistory on Purpose, History / By / 10 minutes of reading

History is not the past. It is not “what happened.” History happens after that. It is an interpretation of what happened, based on the fragments of information or memory that have survived. Even if the event happened two hours ago, and it happened to you, the history you might record of it is already likely imperfect. It is also potentially very valuable.

Genohistorians must ingest lots of published histories. This is essential to our work. But for our own work to be credible, we must ingest them always with a grain of salt.

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The Supreme Court Shopping Binge: Unlayering a Court Document

8 Comments / Genohistory on Purpose, Legalities / By / 9 minutes of reading

Not long ago, a historian friend surprised me with an email referring to “the high-rollin’ kids” of my ancestor, Jacob Mayberry. He included a link to a summary report of the Alabama Supreme Court case of Sanford v. Howard.[1] In the eleven-page summary, I learned that Jacob’s kids had created a Supreme Court–caliber stir by shopping. They had racked up a huge tab at a local store, buying luxuries in 1852, the year after their father died. Their uncle, executor of Jacob’s estate, had refused to pay the tab.

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Degrees of Connection: What the Neighbors Meant to Your Ancestors

12 Comments / Genohistory on Purpose, Interconnected Families / By / 10 minutes of reading

My mid-nineteenth-century small-town ancestors would be utterly baffled at how little I know about my neighbors. Neighbors were their family, in-laws, society, colleagues, entertainment, education, support system, and source of marriage partners, gossip, trade, and annoyance. They were the cast and crew of our ancestors’ life dramas.

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Mapping Ancestral Lands

15 Comments / Genohistory on Purpose, Land and Maps / By / 10 minutes of reading

Welcome back, genohistorians. I hope you got a good sense of what I mean by “genohistory” in the introduction I posted two weeks ago. This week, as we start this genohistorical journey together, let’s get our heads around something important. Something huge. Ready for it? Here goes. We are preparing for time travel.

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Genohistory: The Middle Ground on Purpose

54 Comments / Genohistory on Purpose, Introduction to Genohistory / By / 7 minutes of reading

For nearly thirty-five years, I have been moving back and forth between my two passions: genealogy and history. They are sister passions, admittedly. Knowledge of one feeds the other. But I’ve come to realize something: I don’t want to move back and forth between them; I want to cultivate the spot where they intersect.

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You’re syncing, but are you backing up?

12 Comments / Go-anywhere, paper-free solutions, Golden Egg Genealogist, New developments in the field, Organizing for optimal efficiency, Zotero / By / 7 minutes of reading

Failing to understand the difference between syncing and backing up your precious research could cost you years of work. Take a minute to wrap your mind around the two. Make it a priority.

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