Weekly LIVE Updates at Projectkin

Thank you Kathy Stone, Bill Moore, Stephanie Kolonko-Weet, David Shaw, Arik Hesseldahl, Loretta Rockwell, Diane Burley, Jennifer Halsey, Corlett, The Family Histories Podcast, Kyla Bayang, Dr. Mary M. Marshall, and many others for tuning into my live video with your generous comments for Dai Davies, the poetic voice in Welsh behind @GenealCymru at GenealCymru.com and on Substack, YouTube, and Bluesky Whether you’re joining by app or by web, live or in comments, it’s lovely to have your insights as part of this community.Your generous ❤️ s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see. Thanks for all you do to be so kind, curious, and creative!Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons worldwide. Explore our story and join us 👇.Literacy at the Heart of a DemocracyWith this series, I’ve tried to help us all appreciate the broader context of the American Revolution through the stories of our ancestors who lived through it. Today’s program was remarkable in that it tells the story of events that happened far from the shores of this British colony that would become the United States, yet the ties are strong.During our conversation, Dai Davies, an expert in Welsh history and genealogy, shared how transformative education had been for their family in 18th-century Wales and how it carried themes of liberty. Much of that was due to the contributions of Thomas Bray (1656 or 1658 – 15 February 1730) and his traveling parish library and the obsessive work of George Eyre Evans (1857 - 1939), Unitarian minister and antiquary. Among George Eyre Evans’ friends was John Davis, “the bookbinder,” whose diary has been transcribed. In it is a stanza from “Ode,” by Philip Morin Freneau (1752 - 1832)God save the rights of man, and give us hearts to scan, blessings so dear.May they be spread around,wheresoever man is found,and with the wholesome sound,ravish the ear.See from the universe, darkness and clouds disperse, mankind awake.Reason and mirth appear, freedom advances near, despots with terror hear, see now the quake.As a way to better understand the story, Dai shared this map so you can see where Cellan is in Wales:This was Dai’s post as part of the Stories250 series: We discussed the role of language preservation in protecting a culture from complete assimilation. Welsh poetry has been key to that. Dai has an ongoing series that tells the story, starting with the post, “Our Ancestors Were Poets.” About Stories250Learn more about the series at Projectkin.org/stories250, view all recordings and posts, then explore the posts in an interactive timeline. You’ll find Dai’s post here, just after 1765: In March, I announced an expansion of the series with a live event inviting all of our authors of over 50 articles now to gather to share their stories. That program will be on July 9th during either our Atlantic or Pacific time windows (possibly both to accommodate schedules, more to come). In addition, I’m producing a commemorative magazine including all articles published in print, and shared at cost with all writers. If you have stories to share, please join us. Learn more at Projectkin.org/stories250. The window to submit posts will remain open until June 30th. Finally, free to share this post with your genealogy friends and family. While you’re there, invite them to join this thriving and generous long-form family history storytelling community on Substack, WordPress, Blogger, and dozens of other blogging platforms. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you, Linda Teather, Anne’s Family History, John Cass, Kyla Bayang, Diane the FH Bowerbird, Jim the Historian, Richard Hogan, MD, PhD(2), DBA, and so many more of you for joining us on this special Spring or Fall day. I know it’s a busy one for those who celebrate, and always a cherished time with family. I appreciate you spending a little of that time with us.Your thoughts, comments, and encouragement are the glue that holds this community together. Your added ❤️s help ensure others can see this conversation, too. Thank you. Did I miss you? Add your thoughts in the comments below.Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons worldwide. Explore our story and join us 👇.Jennifer Jones’ guests today Lex Knowlton of Knext Gen Genealogy and The Knext Chapter, and Jane Chapman of BJNL’s Genealogy and Kyeburn Diggings OPS, lured us Down Under teasers about their full program later this week. As family stories, each of these tales is personal, with lives lived and lost, leaving their imprint on our collective stories. It’s an honor to have these two gifted writers join us to share their stories. If your parents were anything like mine, you were often encouraged to “just write about the good stuff,” as if bad things don’t happen to good people. But they do, and it’s how we get through them that future generations learn about resilience and the perils ahead. Readers’ Tip 👀 To set the scene for our program this week, you might want to take a gander at two of our writers’ publications: Pay particular attention to Jane’s series “Tragedy on Mt. Nobbler.”Though Lex coyly refused to tip her hand on her story, I think you’ll find several delicious pieces in her collection to set the scene. I know the “Parramatta Female Factory” has me getting comfortable 🍿. I think we have a terrific program set ahead for us. I know you’ll join me in thanking Jennifer Jones for putting this incredible series together. You can follow her and her A-Z Blogging Challenge this month at Tracking Down the Family, one of her two publications. (Where does she find the time!) While I’m featuring so many publications, may I suggest you consider recommending our fellow writers so your followers can consider them, too. The button takes you to your recommendations page. Thank you.In case you missed it, Jennifer mentioned Projectkin’s sister publication at MissionGenealogy. Our monthly gatherings ARE this week. MG was an effort Robin Stewart and I started back in 2024 to help everyone get comfortable with Substack. While it still does that, it’s turned into a bit of a clubhouse. Deborah Carl’s tips series gives us some credibility while our monthly (unrecorded) gatherings have become a place to pause with fellow travelers. Learn more and register, 👇 Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you Linda Teather, David Shaw, Kathy Stone, MLKR, Giggym 🚫👑, Jim the Historian, Linda Stufflebean, Marian Beaman and several more who swam by before I had my head on straight, thank you so much for joining us this Spring (or Fall) day. I know it’s a busy one for those who celebrate Christian holidays and cherish time with family. I appreciate you spending a little of that time with us. Your thoughts, comments, and encouragement are the glue that holds this community together. Your added ❤️s help ensure others can see this conversation, too. Thank you. Did I miss you? Add your thoughts in the comments below.Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons worldwide. Explore our story and join us 👇.Exploring Ideas / Cooking Up ProjectsToday was a rare hole in my event calendar created by the combination of longer months and changing schedules. I knew I wanted to use this time to explore an idea, but I only called in Jennifer Jones of Tracking Down the Family at the last minute. Many thanks, once again, to our brave time-turner for stepping up to join me from 4 am tomorrow in Australia. The idea for today’s episode was to explore a new idea I’ve been mulling over for a series to follow Stories250. This comes to mind as I start working on the commemorative magazine I’ve promised to participants. * More about the series, the magazine, and the 30-June deadline here:The effort has me thinking about how we got here, what worked well, and where I might go from here. My goals for Projectkin center squarely on encouraging more people to get their stories told. Stories250 worked in part by celebrating the unexpected connections between our stories. As one story crests, it leads to another. It’s the heartbeat of our community. That led me to think back on the stories we’ve collected about our family history in our own blogs, websites, and publications. So many of them relate to migration stories. Why our family got here, was sent here, or left that terrible famine. These are stories intertwined with place and resilience. We’re already telling them, let’s share them to inspire each other. Unlike Stories250, this series will be a bit more complicated from a theme perspective, so I’m going to be sorting through the details over the next few weeks. I’ve been thinking about articulating categories, then inviting writers to submit their own posts (on any accessible platform) to be pulled together into the themes and with each in a * A web page (as I did with Stories250, though I have some new “open CMS” tricks) * Perhaps contributing to a timeline (though this may focus on moments instead of posts, as I did with the Stories250-timeline)* Perhaps a magazine of posts, perhaps quarterly or after we have a certain number of posts on a topic. As for themes, gosh, you can think of them quickly. In the call today, we touched briefly on a few that were opportunistic and others that were forced. I’d love to hear your examples in the comments below. A few from the chat and my own notes include: * Earl Grey Girls (my initial connection to Jennifer came from her 2024 post about her 2nd great-grandmother, Ellen Boyle, an Irish “Earl Gray Girl” sent to Australia in 1848. * English convicts were sent to Australia as punishment for crimes. * British Home Children sent to Canada All of this combines with the great migrations we think of here in the US, including: * Puritans who left England, Quakers who left New England* Migrations of African Americans from the Jim Crow South for job opportunities in the North and West.* Chinese, Japanese, and Portuguese farm workers who were recruited to work sugar and pineapple fields of Hawaii. There’s no shortage of examples, I think the challenge here will be finding ways to thematically pull them together to inspire each other. For that, I hope to have a plan together to launch by September. I welcome your thoughts in comments here or in DMs. This idea will intertwine nicely with our plans for the 2026 All About That Place series coming in October in partnership with the Society for One-Place Studies, the UK-based Society of Genealogists, and the British Association for Local History. Along the way, please let me know which Member Stories we’ve used as vehicles, what’s worked and what hasn’t, and what you’d like to see more of. One slight twist we added at the end was a discussion of storytelling forms: from written and recorded posts to visual storytelling in scrapbooks and junk journals. We’ll certainly be talking more about that in the coming months. Know that I’m always open to new ideas and approaches. As Projectkin, we’re here to help families tell their stories in any form. I feel strongly that our collections of photos and other artifacts are key to our memories and, in turn, our stories. Do you have friends or family members who may benefit from this? Feel free to share. Do you like what we’re up to? Tell your subscribers. Get full access to Projectkin at pro

Thank you, Jennifer Jones, Bill Moore, Linda Teather, Ann Larkham, Lori Parker, Lisa Rex, My Family In History, Marcia Keats Rudolph, MamaCarole, and so many more of you for joining Kathy Stone and me today. I can’t tell you how much it means to us to see you join us from the cold of winter in the north of Scotland to the heat of summer in the outback of Australia. Your thoughts, comments, and encouragement are the glue that holds this community together. Your added ❤️s help ensure others can see this conversation, too. Thank you. Did I miss you? Add your thoughts in the comments below.Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons worldwide. Explore our story and join us 👇.At Kathy’s Corner, a Treasure Box of Postcards AwaitsSince last December’s holiday episode, where six guests, Jill Swenson, Linda Teather, Dr. Mary M. Marshall, Ellen Thompson-Jennings, Jayme Blenkarn, and Paula Collins stepped up to share the stories of postcards in their family, the topic of ephemera and specifically postcards has been top of mind. * Here’s that memorable holiday event:This month, Kathy has invited Jane Chapman of BJNL’s Genealogy to join her at Kathy’s Corner to talk about her own remarkable “treasure box” collection. Unlike the pieces discussed in December’s program, Jane’s collection was assembled by an ancestor. Her research has helped to piece together the story from the artifacts themselves, a process she’s talked about in a series of posts for her publication: Remember, Thursday’s program is held via Zoom so you will need to register for your personal link. About Kathy StoneKathy has been the “cornerstone” of Projectkin since we were a “Rōnin” gang called “PostPonga.” That was just over three years ago, just after RootsTech 2023. Her commitment to the physical artifacts of family history now inspires our whole community. Learn more about what Kathy is doing today at her own publication:As Projectkin, we’re here to help families tell their stories in any form. I feel strongly that our collections of photos and other artifacts are key to our memories and, in turn, our stories. Do you have friends or family members who may benefit from this? Please share our work and invite friends and family to join us: Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you Linda Teather, Jim the Historian, Joy Path, Aimee Liu, Cindy Gibbons, Rob Riley, Remembering Them214, and many others for tuning into my live video with your generous comments for Linda Stufflebean, the voice behind Empty Branches on the Family Tree. Whether you’re joining by app or by web, live or in comments, it’s lovely to have your insights as part of this community.If Projectkin is new to you, know you’re among friends here. Subscribe to get these free posts delivered to your inbox. More Projectkin.org/about.Your generous ❤️ s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see. Thanks for all you do to be so kind, curious, and creative!Today, Linda treated us to a master class in the unsung research skills every genealogist needs: perseverance, creativity, and patience. Her story about her ancestor, John Adams, begins with mythbusting. Many celebrated family stories do. In this case, her long-held family belief of a close connection to the John Adams who was fabled in American History. Nope, that wasn’t true. Her journey of discovery peels back the layers to reveal a story that may be even more interesting with a case study in “FAN club” research techniques, and the impact of divided loyalties in a family. As background, you may want to review Linda’s original post about John: In addition, Linda submitted two other stories to the Stories250 series: * Revolutionary War Soldier Joses Bucknam: Another Unexpected Military Experience* The Revolutionary War Experience of John Stufflebean: Probably Not What He ExpectedLearn more about Linda’s blog, Empty Branches on the Family Tree, featuring a detailed archive and index (including over 100 posts about the Adams family alone). * EmptyBranchesontheFamilyTree.comWhile she maintains a profile here on Substack and reads many publications, she does so using Feedly, a useful “skybridge” between platforms. Learn more about that in a Tips post on my sister publication, MissionGenealogy. About Stories250Learn more about the series at Projectkin.org/stories250, view all recordings and posts, then explore the posts in an interactive timeline here: The series will conclude in a Zoom meeting session featuring the stories of contributors on July 9th, followed by the publication of all posts in a commemorative magazine. Learn more in this post released yesterday:Finally, free to share this post with your genealogy friends and family. While you’re there, invite them to join this thriving and generous long-form family history storytelling community on Substack, WordPress, Blogger, and dozens of other blogging platforms. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you Bill Moore and Lisa Maguire and many others for tuning into Emma - Journeys into Genealogy’s live preview of her Emma Explores program next week highlighting the “Artists Hiding in my Tree.” It always means a great deal to us to see you join us live or in the comments from across the planet. Your ❤️s, thoughts, comments, and encouragement are the glue that holds this global community together. Were you there? Did I miss you? The chat isn’t captured, but you can add them in the comments below.As a fellow traveler on the path of family history, we’re happy to have you join us at Projectkin. Learn more Projectkin.org/about.A Sneak Peek into Emma’s TreeThough we try to be very disciplined in the formal Emma Explores program each month, these previews allow us to be a little more exploratory. Today was no exception as our conversation lingered over cultural differences in our Anglophone world. As with any artistic expression, we can expect more of this in next week’s talk as Emma takes us on a journey through the artists, sculptors, and painters among her ancestors. A diversion into fairy paintings took us from children’s art to the darker worlds of adult fantasies. John Anster Fitzgerald (1819-1906) is an example. As you’ll quickly see in the recording, a conversation about fairies quickly led to remembrances of beloved childhood stories and characters. Emma shared a story about her involvement with a BBC Two film crew preparing a documentary series, “Secrets of the Museum” for the Victoria & Albert Museum. As an American, I’d not even known who “Pumpie the Elephant” was. Clearly, my childhood was lacking. In our conversation we also talked about quilts and Emma mentioned her interview with Barbara Caver for the Journeys Into Genealogy podcast. Here’s that episode: Join us, Thursday, March 19You won’t want to miss next week’s program. Our Emma Explores programs are held via Zoom, which allows you to join in on the conversation that follows each presentation. Zoom requires you to register to get your personal link: I’m able to offer these programs for free because of the generous support of our Projectkin Patrons. Learn more about each of them, their publications, and their work at Projectkin.org/patrons.Finally, a quick programming note. Emma has a holiday planned next month, so we’ll be skipping the April episodes for Emma Explores. She’ll return in May for a preview on Friday, May 15th, and the main program on Thursday, May 21st. Please see your local times on the linked event pages. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you Garry E Moore, Jill Swenson, Bill Moore, Kristin Rapinac, Jane Chapman, Nancy G. Carver, Linda Teather, Sheri Handel, Kyla Bayang, Bill Moore, Becky Hetchler, Lisa Rex, Richard Hogan, MD, PhD(2), DBA, MamaCarole, and many others for tuning into Jennifer Jones’ live preview of this week’s program with Crystal Lorimor and Kelli Cedarfield. I can’t tell you how much it means to us to see you join us from across the planet. Your thoughts, comments, and encouragement are the glue that holds this global community together. Were you there? Did I miss you? The chat isn’t captured, but your additions can be by dropping them into the comments below.Projectkin is free. We always welcome fellow travelers on the path of family history. Learn more Projectkin.org/about.Sneak Peeks into Crystal and Kelli’s StoriesAs so many of us settle back into our pre-RootsTech routines, somehow something seems a little different, eh? Our Ride-Along was incredible, and I expect that many of us (like Jennifer and me) are still catching up on everything that happened. From my vantage point here in California, I have a sense of connection reaching from Europe and Britain, out across the Pacific to Western Australia and the Asian continent. All of that makes today’s conversation all the more poignant. We gathered to peel back the movie myths of the American Old West to understand real life among the native and European immigrant peoples in these lands, newly opened to Western settlers in the early 19th century.Crystal Lorimor & The Creighton CabinAs background, you may want to explore not only Crystal’s GIS project accomplished with her associates in Belmont County, Ohio, in the historic Seven Ranges area. Learn more about Crystal’s Creighton Cabin in her recent post, The connections she referred to among community members came about as a result of the RelativeFinder.org, a remarkable tool produced by the BYU Family History Lab and updated during the RootsTech. To find community members, navigate to Groups and search for Projectkin. You’ll need to request access. I should grant it within 24 hours or so. Kelli Cedarfield and Pawnee Language LearningKelli is a writer of historical fiction who also loves food gardening, quilting, family, and culture. As she shared with us today, it was in the context of genealogy research that she found her way to exploring her cultural inheritance from the Pawnee side of her family. In her publication, Pawnee Language Learning, you might want to explore her series focusing on the Pawnee people and early Americans:These are exactly the kinds of untold stories Projectkin’s Speakers’ Corner was designed to celebrate. Stories, told in your own words. Shared, they inspire others, and create a record your family can appreciate for generations to come. All speakers get file copies of program video recordings to archive for themselves. Our soapbox queue is filled for 2026, but if you’re eager to share a story, drop your name in the form anyway: Projectkin.org/speakers-queue. We might turn to you if we have any cancellations or find a way to work your story into another series. Certainly, we can put you in the queue for 2027. We’d love to help you get your story told. Video, with an eager audience, is such a compelling form. You can message Jennifer or me, Barbara at Projectkin, with any questions, or complete our simple form to get into the queue. 🎉Thanks for exploring our Speakers’ Corner stories! Sharing the post is a simple way to say thank you to Jennifer, Kelli & Crystal. 🥰 Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you, Kirstin at Our Growing Family Tree, Jennifer Jones, Linda Teather, Lynda Heines, Felix Rendina, Ruth Stroud, Bill Moore, Lori Olson White, Kathy Stone, Lacie Madison, Becky Hetchler, Kimmy Win, Sheila Breeden and many others for tuning into my live video today with DearMYRTLE!I can’t tell you how much it means to us to see you join us from across the planet. Your thoughts, comments, and encouragement are the glue that holds this global community together. Were you there? Did I miss you? The chat isn’t captured, but your additions can be by dropping them into the comments below.Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons worldwide. Explore our story and join us 👇.Today’s Tips and TakeawaysThe first takeaway is a tremendous sense of gratitude to our DearMyrtle, and to all of you as members of our shared GeneaBloggers and Projectkin community. You’re amazing. I hope you all appreciate what just happened here. On a shoestring budget, we managed to connect an online community with a few dozen individuals on-site, creating a community larger than any of us. We’ve inspired each other to learn, create, and inspire others. Yeah, there’s still a little “Kum Ba Ya” out there in this complicated world. Today’s conversation included many ideas we will expand on in future events as a collaboration and as individuals. My biggest takeaway was in… * The compelling power of a story. We talked about the example of a heartbeat in the way one story might rise to a stressful point, then conclude with a resolution. One story leads to another. Together, the stories remind us how we’re connected as a group. For context, don’t miss the interviews Myrt was doing on the show floor. You’ll find them at the top left of RideAlongPartners.org/recordings.That storytelling pattern was in full display in my conversation yesterday with Simon from WeAre.xyz. We went from the Japanese tea ceremony to family artifacts and finally the WeAre community, a new feature of their software. And truly, since our session was immediately followed by Kyla & Bill’s Excellent Adventure (in the Ride Along), it seems only appropriate to tuck that link right in here too. You won’t want to miss it: Unloading 🚙 our RideI’m confident now that we’ll do this again, perhaps even a few times before the next RootsTech. One of the elements I thought was important (and want to improve on) is the RideAlongPartners.org website. After this circulates, I’m going to run back and update it with your many additions (including this recording). But keep them coming. In the meantime, I’ll endeavor to continue to update the site through the conclusion of the scheduled meetings for my sister publication, MissionGenealogy, next week. I hope you can join us for a debrief at either of the two times. Please note that this is a simple Zoom meeting and won’t be recorded to encourage candid conversations. I hope that by next year, I’ll have come up with an automation scheme (still cheap or free) that would allow the updates to happen without me, but we’re not quite there yet. From the start, Geneabloggers and Projectkin have shared a passion for family history and storytelling since the beginning. We both see the extraordinary value of pursuing this work with the support and encouragement of a community. So, with RootsTech approaching, it only made sense to do this together. It was an honor to have YOU on this ride-along. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you, Linda Teather, Bill Moore, Jane Chapman, Ann Larkham, Our Growing Family Tree, Gadsby Family History, Linda Stufflebean, Sheri Handel, Dr. Mary M. Marshall, Kristin Rapinac, Lisa Rex, Becky Hetchler, David Shaw, Richard Hogan, MD, PhD(2), DBA, Xanthe Hall and many others for tuning into my live video today with Simon from WeAre.xyz!I can’t tell you how much it means to us to see you join us from across the planet. Your thoughts, comments, and encouragement are the glue that holds this global community together. Were you there? Did I miss you? The chat isn’t captured, but your additions can be by dropping them into the comments below.Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons worldwide. Explore our story and join us 👇.Today’s Tips and TakeawaysIf you know Simon or his software, WeAre.xyz, you’ll already know how a conversation can wander in any direction — and always be fun. Today’s discussion took us from the magic of artifacts to the nature of memory and time travel. As we paused for a moment to talk about a shared fascination with artifacts, it was an audience member, Ann Larkham, who chimed in to note how powerful it was to be…“…handling what they handled and cherishing what they cherished.”A few references from our conversation: * The new WeAre CommunityThis is a new free section of the software that creates a shared space that’s accessible to anyone. More about that in the PDF Simon shared in the chat, “The WeAre Community.”In our conversation, we talked about extraordinary times in our political history that have created vast separations of people through wars, migrations, and more. In that context, Simon mentioned the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan. This is the Archive I mentioned: * The 1947 Partition Archive This archive is an incredible achievement designed for a very specific challenge, but could be applied to any number of other projects, large international or small and personal. The latter is something WeAre excels at. Ride Along AnnouncementsWe have one more of these programs scheduled for tomorrow, though there may be a change to the speakers to announce. Stay tuned for that. You won’t want to miss yesterday’s delightful program with Lori Olson White:We’re now two days into the three-day conference, and you’ll want to refer to the RideAlongPartners.org site for the latest. Two updates so far today have added photos and scheduling for three Watch Parties. From the start, Geneabloggers and Projectkin have shared a passion for family history and storytelling since the beginning. We both see the extraordinary value of pursuing this work with the support and encouragement of a community. So, with RootsTech approaching, it only made sense to do this together.As the RootsTech conference wraps up, I’m all ears for ideas on how to continue these powerful conversations in the weeks and months to come. Have ideas? Send ‘em my way!Have suggestions for this Ride Along? Visit the RideAlongPartners.org page and tap that “Add” button. Think others might benefit from all of this? Everyone’s welcome, feel free to share it with a friend! Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you Linda Teather, Gordon L. Erickson, Kathy Stone, Bill Moore, Diane Burley, Jennifer Jones, JRCCreasey©️✅, Kyla Bayang, jerry_mills, Lynette, Giggym 🚫👑, Lisa Rex, and many others for tuning into my live video today with Lori Olson White!I can’t tell you how much it means to us to see you join us from across the planet. Your thoughts, comments, and encouragement are the glue that holds this global community together. Were you there? Did I miss you? The chat isn’t captured, but your additions can be by dropping them into the comments below.Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons worldwide. Explore our story and join us 👇.Today’s Tips and TakeawaysWow, with the first day of the conference excitement swirling around her at the Expo Hall, Lori had to step into the Media Hub for a little quiet to chat with me about her recent travels and the larger topics of the day like AI. To keep these notes brief, here are just a few references from our conversation: * To her remarkable series about Annie Deihm and the Century Safe:* About AI and our discussion of topics related to photo restoration and the human skills that require emotional intelligence, reference the panel discussion this morning: * “Guidelines for the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Genealogy in 2026,” featuring David Ouimette, Steve Little, Katherine Borges, James Tanner, and Lynn Broderick* A brief visit with ConferenceKeeper by Tami Mize, long-time supporter of genealogy programming around the world now. Tami is also the creator of ConferenceKeeper.org, a free online calendar of genealogy events. Ride Along AnnouncementsIn my post yesterday, sharing the recording of my conversation with Bill Moore we filled in more details about two ideas shared in my earlier conversation with Lynda Heines: The photo shoot and watch parties. Here’s the recording with Bill: All of these, along with news updates, have been posted to the RideAlongPartners.org site. Watch as photos are now flowing in. Ride Along Ready! 🚙💨From the start, Geneabloggers and Projectkin have shared a passion for family history and storytelling since the beginning. We both see the extraordinary value of pursuing this work with the support and encouragement of a community. So, with RootsTech approaching, it only made sense to do this together.As the RootsTech conference gets underway, I’m all ears for ideas for watch parties and more innovations. I’m always down for more!Have suggestions for this Ride Along? Visit the RideAlongPartners.org page and tap that “Add” button. Think others might benefit from all of this? Everyone’s welcome, feel free to share it with a friend! Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you Kristin Rapinac, Gwynn Socolich, Linda Teather, Diane Burley, Taleh Yusef, Jim the Historian, Marcia Keats Rudolph, Betty Naylor Horny, Deborah Carl, Kathy Stone, Robin Hetzler, Cassandra Norman, Lisa Rex and many others for tuning into my live video today with Bill Moore! I can’t tell you how much it means to us to see you join us from across the planet. Your thoughts, comments, and encouragement are the glue that holds this global community together. Were you there? Did I miss you? The chat isn’t captured, but your additions can be by dropping them into the comments below.Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons worldwide. Explore our story and join us 👇.Today’s Tips and TakeawaysWe started with a focus on the conference agenda, which starts today (Thursday in Asia/Pacific). Bill had a few terrific suggestions, building on others we’ve heard in the last few days: * Printing out the handouts allows you to make notes and stay focused during the program. Oh, that’s a nice fit for my large-sized notebook! In our conversation about Relatives at RootsTech we went on to a discussion of both font-sizes (increase fonts on your screen if needed), and strategies for viewing different sides of the family by ancestors. * Related is the Wilford Woodruff Papers project launched this year. This can be a useful project to explore if you have family lines in America in the mid-nineteenth century. With parallel family trees, my cousin Bill and I have thousands of family members who intersected with the remarkable documentarian Wilford Woodruff. * Then we got into an extended discussion of RelativeFinder.org from the BYU Family History Technology Lab. This tool revealed a major upgrade over the last few days, and will be a vendor in the expo hall. (Find them at booth #1519, or in the live Chat once that opens.) * Explore that link, then log in using your FamilySearch login. * Once you’ve done that, please visit our group, “Projectkin,” and request access. I’ll let you in, and you can join the 25+ community members collaborating on our family trees. * Best of all, there’s no limit on this project to the 30-April deadline for Relatives at RootsTech. Ride Along AnnouncementsI made two announcements yesterday in the notes from my conversation with Lynda Heines, and then later added to the RideAlongPartners website. In case you missed my conversation with Lynda, here’s the link: These are the announcements: * Group Photoshoot for the Ride Along!Yep, we’re going to do one! Commemorate your participation in this crazy venture by getting your photo taken on Friday/Saturday (in Asia/Pac). ⮕ Learn more on the RideAlongPartners page and the event pages:* On-site group photo (at Ride Along Partners booth)* Atlantic-friendly online photo (from a gallery screenshot over Zoom)* Pacific-friendly online photo (from a gallery screenshot over Zoom)* Watch Parties!We’re taking the simple route with a scheduled Zoom call, so we follow along with the chat. The most obvious one to start with was the AI Guidelines panel tomorrow morning:* We’ll start with this remarkable program, “Guidelines for the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Genealogy in 2026.” The panel includes David Ouimette, Steve Little, Katherine Borges, James Tanner, and Lynn Broderick. If you think you might be interested in watching the program with friends, join us! * Learn more and register for the Zoom link. New Idea!In today’s conversation, Bill and I also discussed the idea of adding a tab to the Ride Along Partners page for posts about vendors, feedback, suggestions, and tips. I’m interested. * Here’s my offer: If five of you submit posts, notes, or some digital commentary that will embed on the page, I’ll create the page. Use the Add page, or let me know what you think directly:Ride Along Ready! 🚙💨From the start, Geneabloggers and Projectkin have shared a passion for family history and storytelling since the beginning. We both see the extraordinary value of pursuing this work with the support and encouragement of a community. So, with RootsTech approaching, it only made sense to do this together.Tomorrow’s the big start to RootsTech with Keynotes starting in Utah on Thursday morning. See the schedule at RootsTech.org to check local times. For our special events, see the Ride Along calendar.Have suggestions for this Ride Along? Visit the RideAlongPartners.org page and tap that “Add” button. Think others might benefit from all of this? Everyone’s welcome, feel free to share it with a friend!Postscript: So this happenedIf you do your own livestreams, you may want to fast-forward or hold out to the very end. Consider it a blooper reel. After I tapped “end” to end the livestream, it somehow kept going. This appears to be a known bug that the Substack team is still working on. It’s awkward, and you can basically ignore it, but know that if it happens to you, the way to get out of it is to quit the app. (I was on an i

With so much happening on site in Salt Lake ahead of the RootsTech conference, my cat Zarabeth and I were so grateful to see you Linda Teather, Bill Moore, Diane Burley, Kathy Stone, Deborah Carl, Kristin Rapinac, Jane Chapman and all of you who took the time to join us from your homes and offices around the world.I can’t tell you how much it means to us to see you join us from across the planet. Your thoughts, comments, and encouragement are the glue that holds this global community together. Were you there? Did I miss you? The chat isn’t captured, but your additions can be by dropping them into the comments below.Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons worldwide. Explore our story and join us 👇.Today’s Tips and TakeawaysWith Relatives at RootsTech on everyone’s mind, it’s not surprising that we were quickly comparing notebooks about relationships and discoveries. A few notes: Ride Along Announcements: We’re running all of this so fast and loose that crazy ideas happen all at once. As the on-site folks meet at DearMYRTLE’s suite for a joint Geneabloggers + Projectkin lunch, all of us are brown-bagging it at home. YET… we have a few other ways we can play along: * Group Photoshoot for the Ride Along!How you might wonder can we take a group photo when we’re not all in the same place? Kudos to Paul Chiddicks for suggesting it… so, here’s the idea (and stay tuned for the plan.) Friday, March 6* The crew on-site will meet at the Ride Along Partners’ Booth at #1600 Society Hall at 12:15 (Mountain Time). Watch the linked ☝️ calendar event for details. * The crew online can choose either of two convenient time slots (Atlantic or Pacific) to join a quick Zoom call for a joint photo moment (ya know, screenshot of the gallery!) Your choices will be 30 minutes before Projectkin’s usual start times on Friday in Am/Euro or Saturday in Asia/Pac:* Atlantic-friendly hour at 9:30a/12:30p/5:30p PT/ET/GMT* Pacific-friendly hour at 3:30p/7:30p/11:30p PT/ET/GMT and 10:30a/12:30p AEDT/NZDTSee the calendar for your local time and watch there for the Zoom registration link. These will be quick, as we have competing events!* Ride Along Watch Parties! Relatives at RootsTech* While the numbers make us all dive in and try to increase the metrics, we’re discovering that sometimes the most interesting connections come from the small numbers. * Jane Chapman shared that with just 271 relatives, she’d discovered not one, but two 2nd cousins! * For great tips on how to follow up with connections you make with Relatives at RootsTech, don’t miss the series of “Cousin Hunting” livestreams that Kyla Bayang and Bill Moore have done. Here’s an example from the series: Jennifer Jones and Crystal Lorimor dove into the series as well with their cousin connection to Crystal’s Creighton Cabin in Belmont County, Ohio. I’m even related through this connection! * Jennifer started two livestreams to discuss:* Registration numbers have suddenly started to bloom as the topline number now exceeds 310K. You can check this number any time at your personal “connect” page at FamilySearch. You can find it at FamilySearch.org/en/connect/….. a sequence of numbers uniquely identifies you. The /en/ is something they use globally to designate preferred languages. * To see if you’re a relative of mine, visit MY connect page. I’ve created a redirect for mine at Projectkin.org/relatives.* You’re very welcome to share your “Connect” URLs in the comments below 👇 As we all discover more cousins, it’s helpful to remember that this is just a short-term program from FamilySearch. To keep the connections alive with all of us as committed family historians and genealogists (on Substack, or on any platform), consider* Joining a private group I’ve set up on RelativeFinder.org, the product of the Family History Technology Lab at BYU. With API-access to the FamilySearch database, they’ve created a way to not only see if you’re related to friends, but also see ALL the ways you’re related. * Just visit Relative Finder, tap groups, search for “Projectkin” and request access!* If you have ancestors in the period of Westward migration in the United States, consider visiting the Original Landowners of the Northwest Territory, a project of the GIS team and Crystal Lorimor’s colleagues at Belmont County, Ohio. They also have API-based access to the FamilySearch database. Learn more at this Projectkin event.More about Lynda and her Substack publication:RootsTech Ride Along Livestream SeriesAs I noted earlier, I’m trying to make my notes a bit shorter, highlighting elements and links in the conversations. I haven’t quite managed that but you also won’t want to miss past episodes, from my conversation with Emma - Journeys into Genealogy just yesterday, follow this link: Ride Along Ready! 🚙💨From the start, Geneabloggers and Projectkin have shared a passion for family history and storytelling since the beginning. We both see the extraordinary value of purs

Despite a busy Monday schedule, I’m deeply grateful to Jennifer Jones, Dominque Nuñez Barnet, Linda Stufflebean, Kristin Rapinac, Andrew at The Family Histories Podcast, Tony Blount, Jane Chapman, Kathy Stone and all of you who took the time to join us from your homes and offices around the world. I can’t tell you how much it means to us to see you join us from across the planet. Your thoughts, comments, and encouragement are the glue that holds this global community together. Were you there? Did I miss you? The chat isn’t captured, but your additions can be by dropping them into the comments below.Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons worldwide. Explore our story and join us 👇.Today’s Tips and TakeawaysThere were so many interesting elements from today’s conversation. Among them were:* The pointer from Emma to be careful in assuming that all of RootsTech’s online programs can be viewed later: * Not all online programs are even recorded.* Not all recorded programs are available even weeks later.(Yikes! I have to re-assess my schedule!)* From her recent podcast episode with Elsa Churchill of the Society of Genealogists, Emma learned that the Society will be hosting watch parties for members during the RootsTech conference. This clever idea will bring members together over a Zoom Chat room to discuss a livestreamed RootsTech event. * Find them all by exploring their new website content management system and searching for the word “RootsTech.” Theirs is also a fun, curated list of programs to view at RootsTech, too!I’m afraid I got a little distracted by the British interpretation of the “embroidery” of our colonial genealogies. And here we are out in the colonies celebrating the “Self-Made Man” and the “Rags to Riches” story. Who knew some of these were fabricated? 🤭 That’s all part of our journey, eh?RootsTech Ride Along Livestream SeriesAs I noted earlier, I’m trying to make my notes a bit shorter, highlighting elements and links in the conversations. Increasingly, though, these conversations are starting to stretch from one livestream to the next. In case you missed them, my last one in this series was with Kathy Stone. You can always follow all past episodes in the Projectkin.org/live section. Plus, as part of this Ride Along with our friends at GeneaBloggers, we’ve also created RideAlongPartners.org recordings page. With keynotes starting in just two days, many of our on-site friends have already begun gathering. Several joined DearMYRTLE at her very special Mondays with Myrt program this morning held each year at the FamilySearch Center: Ride Along Ready! 🚙💨From the start, Geneabloggers and Projectkin have shared a passion for family history and storytelling since the beginning. We both see the extraordinary value of pursuing this work with the support and encouragement of a community. So, with RootsTech approaching, it only made sense to do this together.Tomorrow’s another a big day at RootsTech before official events get started. Check out the Ride Along calendar! Then there’s a lunch onsite, too. Wow. Even if you can’t join us for all of them, do pop in on the recordings and comments. This is already more fun together.Have suggestions for this Ride Along? Visit the RideAlongPartners.org page and tap that “Add” button. Think others might benefit from all of this? Everyone’s welcome, feel free to share it with a friend: Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you to my guest today, Kathy Stone of Kathy’s Coaching, all of you online, Jenny Redman, Jennifer Jones, Kristin Rapinac, Bill Moore, D Carlile, Richard Hogan, MD, PhD(2), DBA, Dr. Mary M. Marshall, Lori Olson White, Daniel Nilan, and so many others of you joining today from your homes and offices around the world.I can’t tell you how much it means to us to see you join us from across the planet. Your thoughts, comments, and encouragement are the glue that holds this global community together. Were you there? Did I miss you? The chat isn’t captured, but your additions can be by dropping them into the comments below.Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons worldwide. Explore our story and join us 👇.RootsTech Ride Along Livestream SeriesSince I’m doing these daily for a little while, I’ll keep my notes a bit shorter, highlighting elements not discussed in the previous episodes. Increasingly, these conversations are starting to stretch from one livestream to the next. In case you missed them, my last one in this series was with Diane Burley: But you might also hear about two more from our committed travelers… see these on the RideAlongPartners.org recordings page.* Kyla Bayang of RootSquadRoundup invited me to join her this morning as she waited at the gate at HOU on her way to SLC. * Last night, DearMYRTLE of the DearMYRTLE Village Square had me join her on a Mini-Myrt from her hotel room at SEATAC airport (Seattle/Tacoma). She left this morning for SLC.Today’s Tips and TakeawaysProbably the biggest takeaway from today’s conversation is that the momentum is growing and everyone is getting a little loopy. As you’ll see in the recording, we were having a great time. If you don’t already know Kathy, you can find her at her publication: As she described it, she’s taking a reverse approach to genealogy by starting with an extensive collection of photographs. That led our gathered participants to trade notes on the best way to manage a family tree and the multiple online trees. ⮕ IS there a single tool that lets you update multiple online trees at the same time? Wikitree.com holds out some hope for providing a cross-platform glue with citations. From there, we got giggly considering ways to connect our on-site colleagues with the online crew in commemorative photographs. Soon, we were comparing notes for ways to merge online and onsite gatherings with everything from an incarnation of “Flat Stanley” to “face-sticks.” Good times. Ride Along Ready! 🚙💨From the start, Geneabloggers and Projectkin have shared a passion for family history and storytelling since the beginning. We both see the extraordinary value of pursuing this work with the support and encouragement of a community. So, with RootsTech approaching, it only made sense to do this together. Tomorrow’s a big day at RootsTech before official events get started. Check out the Ride Along calendar: three livestreams, one of which (Mondays with Myrt) is even held onsite! Then there’s a lunch onsite, too, on Tuesday. Wow. Even if you can’t join us for all of them, do pop in on the recordings and comments. This is already more fun together. Have suggestions for us? Drop me a note or an email (see Projectkin.org).Think others might benefit from all of this? Share it. It’s free, and you’ll be doing me a favor: Share with a friend. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you to my guest today, Diane Burley of Musings of a Storyteller, all of you, jerry_mills, Jill Swenson, Marian Beaman, Lori Olson White, Linda Teather, Kathy Stone, Lynette, Jane Chapman, Susanna Minton Graham, Deborah Carl, Kyla Bayang, Lisa Rex, Gwynn Socolich, Dr. Mary M. Marshall, Rob Melton, and so many others of you joining today from your homes and offices around the world.I can’t tell you how much it means to us to see you join us from the cold of winter in Calgary, Canada, to the approach of Fall in Wellington, NZ. Your thoughts, comments, and encouragement are the glue that holds this global community together. Were you there? Did I miss you? The chat isn’t captured, but your additions can be by dropping them into the comments below.Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons worldwide. Explore our story and join us 👇.RootsTech Ride Along Livestream SeriesSince I’m doing these daily for a little while, I’ll keep my notes a bit shorter, highlighting elements not discussed in the previous episodes.Don’t miss that moment when Kyla shows us how to share a screen in a Livestream. Wow, it works!The full set of recordings will also be posted to my YouTube Channel at @Projectkin. Clips (suitable for sharing) are on YouTube Shorts and always accessible at Projectkin.org/shorts.Today’s Tips and Takeaways If you don’t yet know Diane and her work at Musings of a Storyteller, you won’t want to miss it. She was a journalist writing about technology companies. She’s now bringing her no-nonsense view of sourcing facts and writing narratives to explore the remarkable story of her grandmother, Leonora, and her role in the Labor movement at the turn of the last century. In our conversation, she mentioned a couple of recent stories of hers, including this one about statistics, sourcing, and the FamilySearch database: Diane has also been my guest as a speaker in the Stories250 series for two of her stories. One was a harrowing tale about the family of an ancestor, Timothy Lewis Durkee, who fought in the Revolutionary War, “The Raid on Royalton.” The other was about an ancestor on the Dutch line she mentioned, Jane Ryerson. That piece shares the vivid experience of the families of militia men and soldiers left at home, “Jane Ryerson: Revolutionary War Wife and Flame Keeper.” Here’s our conversation: Ride Along Ready! 🚙💨From the start, Geneabloggers and Projectkin have shared a passion for family history and storytelling since the beginning. We both see the extraordinary value of pursuing this work with the support and encouragement of a community. So, with RootsTech approaching, it only made sense to do this together. Have suggestions for us? Drop me a note or an email (see Projectkin.org).Think others might benefit from all of this? Share it. It’s free, and you’ll be doing me a favor: Share with a friend. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you to my guest today, Kyla Bayang of RootsquadRoundup 🤠, to all of you Bill Moore, Dr. Mary M. Marshall, MamaCarole, Jennifer Jones, Kathy Stone, Becky Hetchler, Linda Teather, Jane Chapman, Diane Burley, Barbara Foor Larson, Susanna Minton Graham, Dean Kirby, and so many others of you joining today from your homes and offices around the world. I can’t tell you how much it means to us to see you join us from the cold of winter in Manchester, England, to the heat of summer in Bendigo, Australia. Your thoughts, comments, and encouragement are the glue that holds this global community together. Were you there? Did I miss you? The chat isn’t captured, but your additions can be by dropping them into the comments below.Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons worldwide. Explore our story and join us 👇.RootsTech Ride Along Livestream SeriesSince I’m doing these daily for a little while, I’ll keep my notes a bit shorter, highlighting elements not discussed in the previous episodes. * So you can follow along on the full set, here are the links:The full set of recordings will also be posted to my YouTube Channel at @Projectkin. Clips (suitable for sharing) are on YouTube Shorts and always accessible at Projectkin.org/shorts. Tips and takeawaysIf you don’t yet know Kyla, it’s important to realize that she’s a Genealogy Librarian at a small community college library outside of Houston, Texas. With her strong community ties and large family, she’s well-known and highly sought after for both her research skills and insight into the FamilySearch platform. That made her the perfect person to compare notes with on these last few days ahead of the conference. A few takeaways: * Kyla goes into every RootsTech presentation with some special, pre-printed notebook paper that is sectioned with lines for: * 3 Things to Try Now* Things to Think About Later* One Big IdeaBoy, if you get through every presentation or class you go to with these three categories filled in, you’re certainly doing well! I love that. * Get ready for sessions now, even if you won’t be on site. Prioritize your the sessions you want to attend and download the syllabi (or handouts) now. Reading them over will make the sessions much more interesting. Relatives At RootsTech This fun program from FamilySearch continues to reap exciting discoveries. We talked at some length about discoveries from chat as well as those simply by exploring the connections to other conference goers. * Kyla noted that when you find a relative at the show, take note of your common ancestor and tag that ancestor with a little “Star” that allows you to be notified when changes are made to the profile. As you get to know individuals, you will recognize them for the changes they add to your common ancestors. In case ya missed it…I’ve made a few more changes to the RideAlongPartners.org website. Watch for: * Daily updates to the /posts and /recordings pages * A new combined /swag page * A new on-site page listing what to expect for the Ride Along gang on site, including our booth at a very swanky address: #1600 Society Hall. You won’t want to miss access to the Recording Booths! Sign up by Tuesday noon (MT). * Coming Soon: (if I get a moment…) a /relatives page to capture best practices for using Relatives at RootsTech to further your research efforts — where ever you might be. Anyone wanna help me with this? Ride Along Ready! 🚙💨From the start, Geneabloggers and Projectkin have shared a passion for family history and storytelling since the beginning. We both see the extraordinary value of pursuing this work with the support and encouragement of a community. So, with RootsTech approaching, it only made sense to do this together. Have suggestions for us? Drop me a note or an email (see Projectkin.org).Think others might benefit from all of this? Share it. It’s free, and you’ll be doing me a favor: Share with a friend. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you to my guest today, Jennifer Jones, Kristin Rapinac, Bill Moore, Karen Hassell, DeeDee D, DearMYRTLE, Jane Chapman, Samran Masih, Becky Hetchler, Karen Pedersen Travis, Diane Burley, Lynda Heines, Kyla Bayang, Kathy Stone Deborah Carl, Linda Stufflebean, Lisa Rex, Kelli Cedarfield, Bill Butcher, Christine Clark, and so many more of you for joining us today. I can’t tell you how much it means to us to see you join us from the cold of winter in Calgary, Canada, to the heat of summer in Wellington, New Zealand. Your thoughts, comments, and encouragement are the glue that holds this global community together. Were you there? Did I miss you? The chat isn’t captured, but your additions can be by dropping them into the comments below.Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons worldwide. Explore our story and join us 👇.RootsTech is just a week away!With this annual confab at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City just about a week away, it was a pleasure to have my friend Jennifer Jones of Tracking Down the Family help me kick off my 10-day series of daily livestream events. I’ll keep these notes short each day, focusing on what’s ahead on our Projectkin events calendar and tipping you off to updates I know about on the RideAlongPartners.org page. In case ya missed it…In my own Projectkin publication, we had an extraordinary program on Tuesday when Rhonda Lauritzen joined me to talk about “The Hard Stuff.” This was a fabulous presentation that can be inspiring in helping you think through those moments of family stress that can create page-turners in your family story, but also break hearts at their most vulnerable. Even if you were there, you might appreciate the chance to linger over the recording. You’ll find it in our Specials section, filed alongside Projectkin’s other programs with Rhonda Lauritzen.Later today… It’s Kathy’s Corner!Even as all this RootsTech excitement is underway, we have a special program in our Pacific-friendly timeslot today with Kathy Stone of Kathy's Coaching. Following up on our conversations about postcards last month and December’s holiday event, we’ll take a dive today into how to handle and preserve the most vulnerable paper records and ephemera in our collections. You wouldn’t want those fun souvenir postcards to damage your treasured old photographs, right? Let’s see how. Ride Along Ready! 🚙💨 From the start, Geneabloggers and Projectkin have shared a passion for family history and storytelling since the beginning. We both see the extraordinary value of pursuing this work with the support and encouragement of a community. So, with RootsTech approaching, it only made sense to do this together. The nascent “Ride Along” idea we’d started last year has leveled up by doing this as a partnership, and that’s what you’ll see on-site and online now with RideAlongPartners.org, and everyone is welcome. All we ask is that you join us with an open heart and an ethos of support and encouragement as you participate in this global conference.DearMYRTLE of Geneabloggers, and I designed the special-purpose site to help everyone find each other during the conference and share the joy. The site is organized to focus your attention on: * Livestreamed events dates, times & links. This includes those we’re hosting as well as any of yours about the conference. Really! * Posts about the conference. I’m scouring sites for these, send them my way if you’ve been writing about the conference! This will include photos and recordings for those of you onsite and… (why not) watching from home!* Recordings of our events: A quick way to find events hosted on Substack, YouTube, or * For those of you on-site, some tips for finding our Ride Along Partners booth in the Society Hall — AND a special in-person lunch gathering for early-birds on Tuesday!* SWAG! “I was there,” fun! This is a special event, so we decided to commemorate it in a fun, practical, and cost-effective way that combines * Buy your own professionally made bags, tees, and mugs with * Make your own, DIY tags for those blogger beads, bookmarks and… other ideas? * Coming: A Relatives at RootsTech page to capture tips on making the most of the special occasion service from FamilySearch.org. You’ll find me at Projectkin.org/relatives. Let’s make the most of all of this. It will certainly be memorable! 👋 Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you, Kyla Bayang, Linda Teather, Marian Beaman, Marci KR, Ann Larkham, Jim the Historian, Linda Stufflebean, MamaCarole, Bill Moore, and so many more of you for joining us today. I can’t tell you how much it means to us to see you join us from the cold of winter in the north of Scotland to the heat of summer in the outback of Australia. Your thoughts, comments, and encouragement are the glue that holds this community together. Did I miss you? Add your thoughts in the comments below.Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons worldwide. Explore our story and join us 👇.Kathy’s Corner: Postcards from my hand to yoursWhat a fun conversation today as Kathy Stone joined me this morning for a preview of what she has planned for this week’s Kathy’s Corner event. This week’s program is part two as a follow-up to her January program focused on Postcards. The topic: “Postcards Part 2: How to Organize and Manage the Collection.”As much as we love our postcards, the truth is that many commercial cards are published with paper that can damage your precious photos, letters, and other materials. Here’s where you need the insight of an expert. As Kathy says, you should use three simple words to guide you on what to toss, digitize, dispose of, or keep. Her three guiding words answer this question: “Ask yourself whether you want your descendants to…”:* See (digitizing the piece is enough)* Have (keep the original object)* Know (share the information, but the object itself isn’t necessary.) In our conversation, we referenced December’s special program, which featured several speakers discussing postcards in their collections. Among them were Jayme Blenkarn and Paula Collins. Jayme reminded us that a collector of postcards is a deltiologist. Since early this year, Paula has initiated a series of posts highlighting another postcard from her collection, making it a fun exploration. If you haven’t registered already, please do now. These programs are held via Zoom, and while they’re free, you will need to register to get your personal link: 🤠 Ride Along Partners in RootsTech! With just about ten days of RootsTech news ahead now, we also touched on what’s coming this week and Projectkin’s partnership with Geneabloggers in RideAlongPartners.org. The calendar of coming events is not to be missed. You’ll find not only livestreams most every day this week, but there’s also a special event with Rhonda Lauritzen of Evalogue.life. It’s a special preview of a talk she’ll be doing at RootsTech, but won’t be recorded there. We’ll skip over blogger beads, DIY and BUY swag, and other goodies you’ll find at RideAlongPartners.org, but I didn’t want to miss a reference to Relatives at RootsTech. This fun program, available only during the conference, gives us a way to connect with each other through our shared ancestors. You need to first be registered as attending (online or on-site) the conference, then visit: From there, you’ll see how many of your relatives are already registered to attend, and when you tap through, you can see the closest 300 and learn how you’re connected, even chat with them using the FamilySearch chat system. Kyla Bayang and Bill Moore had a fun Livestream program late last week focused on “Cousin Hunting” with the program. Good luck! You’ll find either of us in the system, but tap the far right of the interface and search for…* Barbara at Projectkin * Katharine Anne Rutherford PrattAbout Kathy StoneI often talk about Kathy as the “cornerstone” of Projectkin. It’s not just a fun play on words. Kathy was the first to believe in the idea for Projectkin and helped our nascent little community find traction with this Kathy’s Corner series. Our first episode was actually the last event hosted by my startup, Ponga. 🥹 That was nearly three years ago now, just after RootsTech 2023. Her commitment to the physical artifacts of family history never ceases to amaze and inspire me. Learn more about what Kathy is doing today at her own publication: As Projectkin, we’re here to help families tell their stories in any form. I feel strongly that our collections of photos and other artifacts are key to our memories and, in turn, our stories. Do you have friends or family members who may benefit from this? Please share our work and invite them to join us: Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you Bill Moore, Jim the Historian, Jennifer Jones, Monica Ryser, Marci KR, Tim McGlue, Susanna Minton Graham, Lisa Maguire, Daniel Loftus, Diane Burley, MamaCarole, Jess Tobey, Marlana, Jeff W, Thomas Tigani, Krystal, Nubia Lateefa, floydwebb, Dee Batiste, Mason/She/Her🩷💜💙, Jane B In NC🌼, Lynette, Ms.Yuse and many others for tuning into my live video with your generous comments for Dr. Mary M. Marshall. Whether you’re joining by app or by web, live or in comments, it’s lovely to have your insights as part of this community.If Projectkin is new to you, we’re thrilled to have you. Subscribe to get these free posts delivered to your inbox. More Projectkin.org/about.Your generous ❤️ s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see. Thanks for all you do to be so kind, curious, and creative!Today’s very special program brought us together to hear from Mary Marshall, an adored member of our community. It was an opportunity to hear her share personal reflections on the story she’d included in her post last week about the Springfield Baptist Church in Augusta, Georgia. The tie to the American Revolution isn’t obvious at first. Yet, as Mary explains, it is as connected to our American story as religious conviction and the institution of slavery. She described the congregation’s history from gatherings on plantations to its place in history today. As Mary shares the story of the congregation's founding in 1773, she mentions its first leader, Jessie Peter Galphin, and the line of leaders, their long tenures. In the early days of the congregation, the community would hold baptisms at the river’s edge as captured in this historic photograph. She also shared a reference to an earlier post of hers about her ancestors’ marriages at the sanctuary. Mary described further personal ties to the church when she noted that Dr. Nabrit was president at Howard University while she was there from 1964 to 1968. It wasn’t until later that she realized he had pastored Springfield from 1912 to 1921. After Howard, Mary considered entering the ministry, studying at Drew Seminary, and earning a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) post-graduate degree. Rev. E. T. Martin, SBC’s 24th minister and a good friend, had encouraged Mary to pursue the ministry. When Mary was given an opportunity to give her first “trial” sermon, naturally, it was at SBC. Mrs. Marion McCann, Mary’s grandaunt, accompanied her to that first sermon at SBC in 1978. Her second appearance for a trial sermon was again at SBC.From these posts and Mary’s stories, you’ll see the deep ways in which a community church was foundational to both American history and Mary’s personal history.In previous posts for this Stories250 series, you’ve heard terrifying tales of how both Loyalist and Continental Army soldiers would quarter in churches and homes during the war. Mary shares a story that describes both community bravery and the special vulnerability of this church: During the Revolutionary War, most churches in Augusta served as hospitals, all except Springfield Baptist Church. Thesoldiers who approached the church from the stories that I got from my grandmother and others, the men of some men from Springfield locked arms together and walked two or three blocks from the church to form a barrier to keep the soldiers from coming.In a conflict where the freedom of the enslaved was bargained away to secure advantages, the bravery of this community is remarkable. There’s so much more to this story. I look forward to hearing more from Mary. Subscribe to her publication: A large portion of Mary’s collection of photographs, letters, and other documents can be found in a special repository at the Archives at Emory University. Mary noted that many of the photographs in her collection are also by Robert E. Williams, whom she believes may also be a family member. Our Stories250 SeriesThis series has allowed us to explore our stories of this remarkable historical period together. Each contributor adds their own context of time and place, and the stories are presented together on a shared page, timeline, and map. All of our speaking slots are now filled through June 2026, with a special program planned for July. Please stay tuned for more. In March, our special guest Linda Stufflebean. Finally, free to share this post with your genealogy friends and family. While you’re there, invite them to join this thriving and generous long-form family history storytelling community on Substack, WordPress, Blogger, and dozens of other blogging platforms. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Many thanks to the many of you who were able to join us live today from across the English-speaking world, from Britain to Canada and the United States, as well as New Zealand and Australia. It’s a delight to welcome so many kindred cousins from around the planet, including Jane Chapman, Alan H Zeller, Dave Robison, Lisa Maguire, Linda Teather, The History Alchemist, Linda Stufflebean, Kathy Stone, Kristin Rapinac, MamaCarole, Marilyn Kennedy, Family History Hound Notebook, Craig Isenbarger, Yvonne Scholz, Judy Nimer Muhn, Margaret Bevan, Deborah Carl, Michelle Chubenko, AG, AGL, valerie mcloughlin and so many of you out there in our online world. Your names were spinning by so quickly it was hard to keep up! Whether you’re joining by app or by web, live or in comments, it’s lovely to have your insights as part of this community.Your generous ❤️ s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see. Thanks for all you do to be so kind, curious, and creative!If Projectkin is new to you, we’re thrilled to have you. Subscribe to get these free posts delivered to your inbox. More Projectkin.org/about.Today’s program gave you a preview of what Emma has in store for us in next week’s Emma Explores program. She’ll be sharing not only details of her own relatives and their military service, but also how she discovered the records. Whether their feats were heroic or undistinguished, military documents can be an extraordinary source of material. Our Emma Explores program is held via Zoom, so please be sure to register to get your personal link: I’m able to offer these programs for free because of the generous support of our Projectkin Patrons. Learn more about each of them, their publications, and their work at Projectkin.org/patrons.ReferencesWhen we spoke today, Emma referenced a few past episodes for both Projectkin and her Journeys Into Genealogy podcast. You might find these interesting to follow up on: For a discussion of the colored photograph of an ancestor in his military uniform, please see this post from Emma’s family history publication: Emma and I also discussed RootsTech 2026 and her recent interview for Journeys Into Genealogy with British-based Lucy Reynoldson of FamilySearch.org. Finally, I hope you’ll pardon my excitement about Relatives at RootsTech, but you’ll see FamilySearch formally opening on the pipes for the popular program just this morning. Learn more and come find me here! Emma and I are 10th cousins through a common ancestor in Scotland, Robert Gordon (1609-1681). I’m out looking for my tartans. How about you? Remember, if you can’t find anyone, don’t be discouraged. You’re likely to find many more cousins if you have our family research in FamilySearch. This program (obviously) is designed to draw people into the platform. It currently favors Americans because that’s the home for FamilySearch, but you’ll also see how actively they’re working to expand the reach of the network beyond the American shores. If you find me there, feel free to reach out on Substack or on FamilySearch’s built-in chat system with a reference to our common ancestor. As an aside: Today’s program was the first time either of us used this latest version of the Substack platform that has finally integrated scheduling into its feature set for the desktop browser version. In retrospect what was probably most significant is the way the platform algorithm seems to be using it to encourage more viewers to discover each other. If you think you might be interested in using Substack — or any other live video program during the extended RootsTech week from Feb 27 to March 7th, let me know, I’d be happy to include your program on my new Ride Along Partners calendar. Learn more at RideAlongPartners.org. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you Garry E Moore, Jill Swenson, Bill Moore, Kristin Rapinac, Jane Chapman, Nancy G. Carver, Linda Teather and many others for tuning into my live video with Jude Rhodes and Kyla Bayang! Projectkin is free. We always welcome fellow travelers on the path of family history. Learn more Projectkin.org/about.You won’t want to miss our full program (with photos) via Zoom meeting on Thursday (Friday in Asia/Pac). Please register for your personal link:Sneak Peeks into Kyla & Jude’s StoriesDespite their locations in Yorkshire, England, across the Americas to Houston, Texas, and on to Victoria, Australia, it’s fascinating how our guests’ stories intersected with their extraordinary adventures in the American West.Kyla and Jude are no strangers to the Projectkin community. You’ll find Kyla Bayang’s past programs as part of the Speakers’ Corner and our Stories250 series here. Jude Rhodes, who is well known in the genealogy community in the UK, has done a few programs for us here at Projectkin, including a Project Recipe for memory books and her One-Place Study. We’ve just filled the calendar of speakers for our soapbox for 2026, but if you’re eager to join in, drop your name, and we’ll turn to you if we have any cancellations or put you in the queue for 2027. We’d love to include you. Please message Jennifer with any questions, or complete our simple form to get into the queue. 🎉If you enjoyed this recording, you’d be doing us a favor by dropping a little love ❤️ and sharing your thoughts in the comments below. If you think it’ll be valuable to others, share it individually or in group pages.Thanks for exploring our Speakers’ Corner stories! Sharing the post is a simple way to say thank you to Kyla & Jude. 🥰 Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you Tim McGlue, Marci KR, Bill Moore, Jennifer Jones, Kristin Rapinac, Deborah Carl, Jane Chapman, Becky Hetchler, Marian Beaman, Linda Stufflebean, Sovereign Signal, Dr. Mary M. Marshall, Annette Gendler, Paula Collins, D Carlile, Linda Teather, Kyla Bayang, Lynda Heines, and so many more for taking the time on this Sunday (or Monday morning) to join us for today’s program.These are special ways for a community to come together to inspire, encourage, and support one another. Forgive me if I missed any of you or the topics and questions you asked in the online chat. Feel free to drop your questions in the comments below and share your support with a ❤️. Algorithms are listening. Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons worldwide. Explore our story and join us 👇.What a fun topic today, and a delightful conversation made possible by my dear friend Kathy Stone of Kathy's Coaching. I know everyone joins me in thanking Kathy, my Kathy’s Corner partner, for jumping in when it became clear that Taneya Koonce wouldn’t be able to make it. Taneya of 🌳Academy of Legacy Leaders was unexpectedly called to attend to a personal emergency. She still plans to join us for her scheduled program on Thursday, “Genealogy Storytelling and Junk Journals.” Both today’s and Thursday’s programs were the result of a conversation I had with Taneya last summer following her post following her rediscovery of the art form: Artifacts & the Stories of our LivesToday’s program began with a few references Kathy had collected from the history of scrapbooks and ephemera collections — ranging from pressed flowers to memorabilia. Many of these came from a presentation she’d prepared several years ago and (conveniently,) still accessible on YouTube: This resonated strongly with many of you in today’s livestream audience as you brought up examples of artifacts in our inherited family collections, from quilts and cigar boxes to photo and memento albums. Thoughful curation is key, we concluded, especially as compared with movements to “declutter.” After some research, I’ve come to believe that my grandmother’s self-published family history book, “Harger and Allied Families,” was inspired by her mother-in-law’s 1880’s era scrapbook. I have both now in my collection: As Kathy pointed out, the tradition dates back at least to the Commonplace books the philosopher John Locke discussed in “A New Method of Making Common-Place-Books,” published in English in 1706 and available today on the Internet Archive. On the topic of handwriting, we talked briefly about handwritten postcards and other samples of writing. I mentioned my offer to all projectkin members to add you to our Members’ Map to see a sampling of our global members’ map and add yourself to the map by completing this form: Our conversation turned to the subtle distinctions among albums, journals, junk journals, datebooks, and more. That discussion is helpful if you are considering starting your own, in the context of modern digital tools and the kinds of content you may add to these books. Community ConversationsArtifacts, mementos, and ephemera are topics never far from family history. Kathy has picked up on this in her Kathy’s Corner programs for Projectkin, most notably in her December holiday special focused on postcards. Stay tuned for her February program, when we’ll circle back to preservation of these materials. Learn more about Kathy and her expertise at:Join us on Thursday (or Friday in Asia/Pacific) to learn more about Taneya Koonce and the wonderful community that’s developed around her work with Legacy Leaders: As Projectkin, we’re here to help families tell their stories in any form. I feel strongly that our collections of photos and other artifacts are key to our memories and, in turn, our stories.Have a friend who may benefit from this? Please share it and invite them to learn more and join us — free! Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you Kyla Bayang, Kristin Rapinac, Linda Teather, Dean Kirby, Susan Viuker Lieberman, Lauren Maguire, Bill Moore, Giovanna Solimando, Maida Korte, Dr. Mary M. Marshall, Marci KR, Nonu TuiSamoa, Shauna K. Hunt, Judith Dianne Ely, and so many more for taking the time on this Sunday (or Monday morning) to join us. These are special ways for a community to come together to inspire, encourage, and support one another. Forgive me if I missed some of you or the topics and questions you asked in the chat online. Feel free to drop your questions in the comments below. Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons worldwide. Explore our story and join us 👇.A Gifted Storyteller in our MidstThis community has created remarkable opportunities to speak with and get to know remarkable talent. I had the privilege today to talk to Annette Gendler of The Past and the Present. Her work caught my eye soon after joining Substack, but I was smitten when I heard her story about a project she’d started with her siblings on the 40th anniversary of her dad’s passing. You’ll hear her retell that story at about 17 minutes into the recording, but that’s just one story. What you’ll hear in this recording are stories layered on stories and an appreciation for their power. I especially appreciated the comments from Kristin Rapinac and Mary Marshall in the livestream chat that triggered a discussion about languages and how we’re producing artifacts for our descendants. I hope you enjoy the discussion as much as I did. ResourcesDuring our conversation, we touched on so many interesting external references. Let me start with Annette’s published books: Her memoir, Jumping Over Shadows:Her book about writing stories, How to Write Compelling Stories from Family History:Following our discussion, she also referenced a post about what led to the writing of this book, we may pick this up in a subsequent conversation, stay tuned for that. Finally, near the end of our conversation, we briefly touched on her children’s book, Natalie and the Nazi Soldiers, based on her mother-in-law’s life as a hidden child in France during the Holocaust. This opened up a larger topic of how an illustrated story adds complexity and context to storytelling that, as an author, she had not anticipated. She held up the book and a few pages as examples. Since those are hard to see in the video, she kindly shared screenshots here: A children’s book was so different that she’s written a few posts about. You’ll find these on her author’s site: * How “Natalie and the Nazi Soldiers” came into being. * How long it took to create this book, and why. * And a piece on the process of making a children’s book. On reading Annette’s book late last year, I marveled at how I’ve generally skipped over the whole craft of writing stories in Projectkin materials. I think that relates to my own insecurities on the topic. Let’s fix that. This conversation has reminded me how the guiding hand of an expert can make you feel comfortable with a perceived weakness. We’ll be coming back to this sort of thing a little more often. Thank you all for your enthusiastic engagement and support for each other. That’s a magic ingredient here. If you enjoyed this program, feel free to share this post with others. You’ll introduce your friends to Annette’s work and support your fellow travelers in family history. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Update: It appears that this post got caught in an automation chute and did get emailed after its release Sunday. I didn’t want you to miss it. Thank you, Linda Stufflebean, Linda Teather, Jane Chapman, Jude Rhodes, Aaron Elson, Marci Keats Rudolph 🧓🏻, Ann Larkham, Dr. Mary M. Marshall, Bill Moore, Paula Collins and so many more of you for joining us today. I can’t tell you how much it means to us to see you join us from the cold of winter in the north of Scotland to the heat of summer in the outback of Australia. Your thoughts, comments, and encouragement are the glue that holds this community together. Did I miss you? Add your thoughts in the comments below. Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons worldwide. Explore our story and join us 👇.2026 in the Spotlight at Kathy’s CornerKathy and I started today’s program by focusing on how we go about getting things done and making sure they’re the right things. Generally, we think about this in terms of projects, priorities, goals, and objectives. In a new post, Kathy proposed a mindshift by using the word “Quest.” Grab your lance and take a look at the post. Invite along a 🐉 if you think it’ll help. Today, that led to a broader conversation about Projects, including tremendous feedback from all of you in the livestream chat. We’ll circle back to this discussion in the conversation on Thursday. Kathy’s Corner is held in our Pacific-friendly hour, configured as a Zoom meeting, which makes it easier to bring everyone into the conversation. Our Love Affair with PostcardsWhile the topic of Postcards has popped up in the context of artifacts, it wasn’t until Kathy’s Projectkin Live takeover with Lori Olson White in October that we started to focus on the simple cards as storytelling devices. That event led to our holiday special in December, where six speakers stepped up to share their stories about postcards in their family history. From here, you may have seen Paula Collins’ ongoing series of posts now about postcards (paulafromky.substack.com). In our talk today, Kathy previewed a couple of related programs in the coming months: A program focused on the technical challenges of managing a collection that includes postcards (photo cards and commercial picture postcards). She’s also arranged for a notable blogger and Substacker, Jane Chapman, to join her in a program focused on Jane’s series of posts about her postcard treasurebox: We also briefly discussed Projects, how we use the term, and the return of the program idea for a “Project Festival.” More about all of that in the months to come. About KathySometimes I don’t think I talk about Kathy and her remarkable background often enough. She’s been part of Projectkin since before we had a name and bounced along in the pre-Substack trails as “PostPonga” (more about that some other time). What you need to know now is that Kathy is a preeminent figure in the world of photo organizing, where a discipline and profession have developed to help clients preserve and protect their personal archives. Today, she’s turned her professionalism to the challenges of her personal collection and shares the insights she’s gleaned along the way. While she no longer takes on major projects, she now offers her expertise as a consultant with regular posts with tips she generously shares on her publication at:As Projectkin, we’re here to help families tell their stories in any form. I feel strongly that our collections of photos and other artifacts are key to our memories and, in turn, our stories. You’re more than welcome to share these recordings with anyone you think might benefit from their tips and insights. See you on Thursday! 👋 Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you Linda Teather, Marci Keats Rudolph 🧓🏻, Kyla Bayang, Jennifer Jones, Sheri Handel, Kathy Stone, The Family Histories Podcast, Charlie mcmilliom, Alex Daw and many others for tuning into my live video with Diane Burley. Whether you’re joining by app or by web, live or in comments, it’s lovely to have your insights as part of this community.If Projectkin is new to you, we’re thrilled to have you. Subscribe to get these free posts delivered to your inbox. More Projectkin.org/about.Your generous ❤️ s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see. Thanks for all you do to be so kind, curious, and creative!Today’s program was our first Stories250 program in the new year. Today’s episode featured not one but two stories from Diane Burley, both of which centered on how women in her family were impacted by the war. To the extent that her stories involve regional geography, this contemporary map may be helpful:You’ll find Diane’s first story on Projectkin.org/stories250 along with links to it in the timeline and map. This story, “Jane Ryerson: Revolutionary War Wife and Flame Keeper,” tells the tale of this fiercely independent woman living alone on a farm inconveniently located between New Jersey battlefields. Diane also mentioned her story “Raid of Royalton, VT: Lucy Anna Durkee,” a harrowing tale involving descendants of the heroine of her first story, Jane Ryerson. Take a moment to explore Diane’s stories as she characterizes them in the video, then let us know about your own stories from the Revolutionary War period. These strong women and the families that survived are, as Diane put it, living statues to the resilience of our ancestors. This series allows us to explore our stories of this remarkable historical period together. Each contributor adds their own context of time and place. Learn more:With a calendar that’s quickly filling up, we now only have enough time for two more live speakers ahead of a special program for July 2026. If you have a story to contribute, I’d love to include you. The full details are at Projectkin.org/stories250-form. I’d also love to include you in an upcoming Live program. Think you’d like to talk about it first? Drop me a message and we’ll set up a time. I hope that this Stories250 series provides all of us in this community of family historians with a way to participate in exploring this history within the context of our ancestors’ lives, from around the world. February Stories250 Guest: Diane BurleyMy guest for the Stories250 series in January is Dr. Mary M. Marshall. I’m especially excited about her story as she’ll weave in a tale that includes a legacy of both people and a place. More about that in the coming weeks after she releases her post.Finally, free to share this post with your genealogy friends and family. While you’re there, invite them to join this thriving and generous long-form family history storytelling community on Substack, WordPress, Blogger, and dozens of other blogging platforms. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Many thanks to the many of you who were able to join us live today including Linda Teather, Marian Beaman, Bill Moore, Jude Rhodes, Kipp Melat, Michele Bailey, Mike Godown, Kathy Stone, Kunal Choudhary, and so many of you out there in (…what my husband calls…) “Kinland.” Whether you’re joining by app or by web, live or in comments, it’s lovely to have your insights as part of this community.If Projectkin is new to you, we’re thrilled to have you. Subscribe to get these free posts delivered to your inbox. More Projectkin.org/about.Your generous ❤️ s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see. Thanks for all you do to be so kind, curious, and creative!Today was a special New Year’s Preview, where we talked about the look-back and look-ahead planned for Emma’s program next week. Thursday’s EpisodeWith 18 Emma Explores programs in the archive now, Emma’s planned next week’s program as a way to open the doors to all of you for a discussion related to any topic from any of those episodes. * Are there topics, approaches, strategies, or learnings that particularly appealed to you? * Do you have questions you’d like to explore based on what you learned?Among the topics she covered and highlighted today as the most popular are:* Full-text search on FamilySearch: “Philipps and Fonblanque letters”* Gateway ancestors: “Fame, Gateway Ancestors and links to Royalty” * Common names: “Rosalina and Gylby - Unusual Names and Naming patterns”* Wills and Probates: “Finding and Reading Wills and Probate in the Cattley, Cox, Upcott and Edwards Families”Emma and I also chatted briefly about RootsTech because in just a few weeks she’ll be interviewing Lucy Raynoldson again. Her discussion in September last year can be previewed here:About Emma ExploresAll of our programs are recorded and shared in the Emma Explores section of the Projectkin Substack, the Projectkin YouTube channel, and major Podcasting platforms like Apple and Spotify and an RSS Feed for platforms like Feedly.About Emma CoxIf you don’t already know Emma, you can find her here on Substack in two publications, first the one she uses to share research on her own family:You won’t want to miss her second publication about the Journeys Into Genealogy podcast. It adds value to the ongoing podcast with references and a transcript:I hope all of this is helpful, and I look forward to seeing you on Thursday at our Atlantic-friendly time. Remember to register to get your free Zoom link to join us. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you Jill Swenson, Kyla Bayang, Kathy Stone, Kristin Rapinac, Jane Chapman, Sylvia Jacobs, Linda Stufflebean, Jill Swenson, Linda Teather, Bee Lilyjones, and many others for tuning into Jennifer Jones live program today with Marian Beaman and Xanthe Hall. Projectkin is free. We always welcome fellow travelers on the path of family history. Learn more Projectkin.org/about.You won’t want to miss our full program via Zoom meeting on Thursday (or Friday in Asia/Pac). Please register for your personal link:Exploring the Cliffhangers in our Family StoriesWith apologies for the glitchiness in the video, today’s program should give you a glimpse into the storytelling talents Marian and Xanthe bring to their genealogy work. Marian Beaman’s StoryMarian is a former English professor turned memoirist so she brings her superb writing skills to the challenge. Her publications at Marian’s News and “Plain and Fancy” on WordPress at MarianBeaman.com reflect her life now as a writer in Florida. Her work as a conservator of her Swiss/German family and their migration to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is the basis for the story she shared today about her relationship with her father. * Her first memoir, “Mennonite Daughter: The Story of a Plain Girl,” can be purchased online in the US and in Europe. Xanthe Hall’s StoryXanthe joined us from her home in Berlin, where she’s a former NGO administrator who has now turned her talents to her own family history. In her extraordinary publication, Xanthe shares compelling stories about her family and extended relatives. It was in that context that we heard the story of “Uncle Len,” which became an integral part of her Alphabet posts, starting with “A is for Ashworth.”Read on, I won’t spoil the story. Join us on Thursday/Friday to hear Marian and Xanthe step up at the Speakers’ Corner. The key concept behind this series is that an oral story is very different from one in written form. The idea for this series is to create a platform for any of our community members to step up and share an important story from their family history. All speakers will get a copy of their recording as a downloadable video they can add to their own archives. As Jennifer shared this morning, all of our speaker slots for 2026 are now booked, but if you’re eager to join, drop your name, and we’ll put you in the queue for 2027. We’d love to include you. Please message Jennifer with any questions, or complete our simple form to get into the queue. 🎉If you enjoyed this recording, you’d be doing us a favor by dropping a little love ❤️ and sharing your thoughts in the comments below. If you think it’ll be valuable to others, share it individually or in group pages. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

On this special out-of-sequence Monday, it was a delight to welcome you all to today’s special Projectkin live program, previewing next week’s Emma Explores program with my delightful guest today, Emma - Journeys into Genealogy. Many thanks to community members joining today including Linda Teather, Paula Collins, Jennifer Halsey, Kristin Rapinac, Lisa Rex, Dr. Mary M. Marshall, Bill Moore, and so many of you out there in Substack land by app or by web, live or in comments, it’s lovely as always to have you participating.Your generous ❤️ s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see. Thanks for all you do to be so kind, curious, and creative!If Projectkin is new to you, we’re thrilled to have you. Subscribe to get these free posts delivered to your inbox. More Projectkin.org/aboutSignatures in My Family TreeIf you’re of a certain age, you may remember coming of age at about 12, 13—maybe 15—when your handwriting had settled into a personal style and you started to think about a singature that was your own. At that moment, if you were like me, you probably thought about what that style suggested, and perhaps how you were influenced by your siblings, parents, or even ancestors who shared your surname, given name, or full name. That’s the basis of the challenge Emma takes with her into an exploration of signatures in her family tree in her program on Thursday. In previous episodes, we’ve heard about her ancestors and their vocations such as the theater, inventions, or publishing, now she takes us into how what we know about our ancestors can guide us into finding that signatory artifact of their personality. She’s issued a challenge: My Eight Ancestors’ SignaturesAnd, heads-up! She’s issued a challenge, can you collect the signatures of your eight great-grandparents ahead of the Thursday program? I know I’ve seen at least a few posts in the past few months referencing means to collect signature. I’ll have to go hunting for those, please do drop the references to those posts here in comments. Emma even gave us a nifty tip: Look for Marriage Certificates that typically include signatures of both bride and groom. 😉 Join usJoin us! Emma Explores is held each month via Zoom so that all of our participants can join in on the conversation. After each program, Emma generously shares her slides along with detailed notes referencing the sources for the research she’s done on the given topic. All of our programs are recorded and shared in the Emma Explores section of the Projectkin Substack, the Projectkin YouTube channel, and major Podcasting platforms like Apple and Spotify and an RSS Feed for platforms like Feedly. About Emma CoxIf you don’t already know Emma, you can find her here on Substack in two publications, first the one she uses to share research on her own family:You won’t want to miss her second publication about the Journeys Into Genealogy podcast. It adds value to the ongoing podcast with refrences and a transcript:I hope all of this is helpful, and I look forward to seeing you on Thursday at our Atlantic-friendly time. Remember to register to get your free Zoom link to join us. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you to Linda Teather, Diane Burley, Hal Gill, Patrick Witter, Jane Chapman, Marci Keats Rudolph 🦫, Kristin Rapinac, Jennifer Jones, David Shaw, and many others for joining us for our Stories250 Livestream.Projectkin is free. We always welcome fellow travellers on the path of family history. Learn more Projectkin.org/about.What fun to welcome Tad Callin of Mightier Acorns to his first Livestream for Projectkin. Tad joined Substack well ahead of me and for a series of reasons he explains on his publication, has more recently moved to a WordPress installation accessible here: I invited Tad to join us at Stories250 after reading his post, Tad’s fascinating story combines his deep research with a fictionalized narrative thread to consider connections between three of his ancestors. It’s a fun read. ResourcesWith each of these posts, I like to include links to references made in our conversation, “show notes,” if you will. * Tad mentioned a book he’s been reading that’s been particularly meaningful in understanding the period in the modern context, “The Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787-1788,” by Pauline Maier. * Tad also referenced his ancestors’ book George W. Callin’s “The Callin Familiy History,” both in its original form as well as an 800-page, 2020 update including his own modern research. You’ll find these on the “Passing the Hat” page of his site, along with a couple of other pieces about his own life. * His mention of his Scots-Irish ancestors had me thinking about the Backcountry cultural ways referenced in “Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America,” a book by David Hackett Fischer I’ve been reading for DearMYRTLE’s Book Club. This series allows us to explore our stories of this remarkable historical period together. Each contributor adds their own context of time and place. Learn more:We now have nearly 50 stories, though only enough time for three shared live like this. Several of our speakers and contributors have submitted a half-dozen or more stories. Explore the interactive timeline and map to find the stories and consider the connections:* Timeline: Projectkin.org/stories250-timeline* Map: Projectkin.org/stories250-mapIf you have a story to contribute, I’d love to include you. The full details are at Projectkin.org/stories250-form. I’d also love to include you in an upcoming Live program.Revolutionary War Resource TipsAs we approach the 250th celebration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, several terrific resources have become available. Among them is the extraordinary documentary, by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt, “The American Revolution.” I can’t recommend it enough, though it may be a while before it’s available outside the US without a VPN. But… ya’ll know how to use a VPN, right? I hope that this Stories250 series provides all of us in this community of family historians with a way to participate in the exploration of this history within the context of our ancestors’ lives, from around the world.January Stories250 Guest: Diane BurleyMy guest for the Stories250 series in January is Diane Burley of Musings of a Storyteller. Diane will join us to share her story of a great-grandmother’s story in the midst of the Revolution. It’s a harrowing tale you can read now at “Jane Ryerson: Revolutionary War Wife and Flame Keeper.”This program will again be held as a livestream, so no registration is needed though you can view the program from any device. I have speakers booked through the Spring for this series that will likely only run through July. I’d love to hear from you if you’re interested in joining us to celebrate your post about that period of time, either on Substack or another platform. Learn more about the program and add your stories here, and message me if you have questions, ideas, or suggestions. Finally, free to share this post with your genealogy friends and family. While you’re there, invite them to join this thriving and generous long-form family history storytelling community on Substack, WordPress, Blogger, and dozens of other blogging platforms. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you to Kyla Bayang, Erin Hoover, Dr. Mary Marshall, Diane Burley, David Shaw and many others for joining us for our Live Preview of Speakers’ Corner which is coming up later in the week. Projectkin is free. We always welcome fellow travellers on the path of family history. Learn more Projectkin.org/aboutMany of you will have noticed the slightly different format today, as it was just Barbara and I chatting without our usual guests. For the final Speakers’ Corner for 2025, we will be celebrating the end of the year and this new Projectkin event. Most of our guests will be returning to tell a short family holiday story. There will be two sessions - one at each time zone to make it possible for everyone to attend. Today Barbara and I previewed the Speakers’ Corner event and our guests. We also chatted about storytelling, a topic that we are passionate about. Today’s chat was a celebration of the end of the year. Speakers’ Corner started in August so we have had four events so far. The guests from those events will be coming along to the the Speakers’ Corner session on Zoom on Thursday/ Friday this week. They will tell us a holiday story from their family history. Some of the guests were at the Live today and they gave us teasers of their stories. It made me think that we are in for a fun time.If you’d like to step to the soapbox at the Speakers’ Corner on Thursday/Friday this week join to share your 5 minute story about holiday’s past, do it! We’d love to have you. We have slots for three more speakers and will take them on a first-in basis. To tell us you’re interested, make sure you’re available (and have registered) for our program at the Pacific-friendly hour, then drop Barbara a message at @projectkin or via email to [email protected]. You’re more than welcome to come to either — or both programs. Register hereThe guests who will be speaking at this session are:* Bill Moore from Family History with Bill Moore, * Aryn Youngless from Genealogy by Aryn * Diane Burley from Musings of a Storyteller* Kyla Bayang from Rootsquad Roundup Please register here to get your personal Zoom linkPacific TimeSpeaking at this session will be: * Anne Young from Anne’s Family History* Kathy Stone from Kathy’s Coaching * Jennifer Jones from Tracking Down The Family Please register here to get your personal Zoom linkWe hope you can join us for the full hour long session of Speakers Corner, where you will get to catch up with the guests who’s stories you loved during the year. They now have great holiday stories to tell. This will be our end of year celebration, and we would love to see you there. You can choose which time zone you attend, or of course, you can attend both. Be sure to register to get your personal link.We’ve just filled the calendar of speakers for our soapbox for 2026, but if you’re eager to join in, drop your name, and we’ll turn to you if we have any cancellations or put you in the queue for 2027. We’d love to include you. Please message Jennifer with any questions, or complete our simple form to get into the queue. 🎉 Archives of past programs are available from Project.org/speakers-corner. Projectkin is a free publication supported by the generous contributions of our Patrons. You’re welcome to share these posts and invite friends to join us at upcoming events. Learn more Projectkin.org/about. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you, Jennifer Jones, Naomi Yaeger, Kristin Rapinac, Linda Teather, Dr. Mary M. Marshall, Marci Keats Rudolph 🙏, Lisa Maguire, Aaron Elson, Lori Olson White, Daniel Niland, and so many more of you for joining us today. I can’t tell you how much it means to us to see you join us from the outback of Australia to the coast of Nova Scotia. Your thoughts, comments, and encouragement are the glue that holds this community together.Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons worldwide. Explore our story and join us 👇.Postcards at Kathy’s Corner!Postcards seem to have crept into so many posts this year; it seems fitting that we close out the year with a very special pair of events in their tribute. - * This started with a Kathy’s Corner episode as part of her series about Mystery Photos: Since then, we’ve seen several posts and programs that dove into postcards as artifacts of family history. In our talk today, Kathy highlighted three ways in which postcards can be important artifacts:* During the early 20th century, postcards were often a form factor for printed photos. These original photographs may have been saved as artifacts or sent through the mail. The postcard from the St. Louis World’s Fair I mentioned is just such an example. * Does the card have writing on the back where the handwriting sample, stamp, or cancellation marking can provide date detail?* Does the postcard reference scenic locations such as a meeting, travel destination, or important location? In our conversation, Kathy referenced the Live Preview program she ran last month. As her special guest, she included Lori Olson White. It’s a fun episode if you missed it, but it was there that the seed was planted for this week’s postcard events. Here’s the clip referencing postcards of coffins. Today’s preview gave Kathy Stone a chance to share a little of the why. Below are the links Kathy wanted to share with you. Postcard History Resources History of Postcards * worldpostcardday.com/historyPostcard History* siarchives.si.edu/history/featured-topics/postcard/postcard-history Wikipedia entry* en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postcard The Postcard - A Brief History* library.ualberta.ca/peel/postcards/the-postcard-a-brief-historyHow to Identify and Date Real Photo Vintage Postcards* playle.com/realphoto/ How Old is Your Postcard?* chicagopostcardmuseum.org/postcard_age.html Tips For Determining When a US Postcard was Published* fortlewis.edu/finding_aids/images/M194/PostcardDating.htm#BoxDo you have other books, sites, or references you think others might benefit from? Please do share them in the notes. In our conversation, we talked a little about the global range of this Projectkin community, and my offer to include you on our Members’ Map. As a bonus, I’ll also send you a postcard. 😉 If you’d like to participate, here’s the simple Google form:As Kathy mentioned, our full program later this week includes a remarkable series of very short postcard stories of our special guests from around the world. This program is held over Zoom, so you will need to register. If you’re unable to join us, we’ll of course include the details with the recording and notes. As a member, you will get the recording sent directly to your inbox. I hope you’ll join us. It promises to be a worthy celebration for this remarkable year. 🎉 Family history is a team sport; why not share this recording with your family and friends? More at Projectkin.org/aboutThank you again for all you do for the community — and your family. Preserving history isn’t just something we do for ourselves. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

It was a delight to welcome so many of you to today’s very special Stories250 Projectkin live program, featuring Lori Olson White and a story from her husband’s Hanby line in South Carolina. Thank you to so many of you out there in Substack land joining from the UK, Canada, New Zealand and across the US: Linda Teather, Diane Burley, Bill Moore, Lisa Rex, Jane Chapman, Lisa MaguireMitch Goldstone - ScanMyPhotos.com, Karen Laursen, Dr. Mary M. Marshall, Mightier Acorns, Dee Batiste, Ann G. Forcier, Erin Hoover and so many of you joining by app or by web, live or in comments, it’s lovely to have you. Your generous ❤️ s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see. Thanks for all you do to be so kind, curious, and creative!If Projectkin is new to you, we’re thrilled to have you. Subscribe to get these free posts delivered to your inbox. More Projectkin.org/about.Shifting Loyalties in a Complex LandscapeLori’s story, not yet available on her publication, takes us into the Carolina backcountry, where battles over territory with native tribes are replaced with competing loyalist and continental authorities. To help us get caught up with the history in western South Carolina at the time, Lori shared this map from the state archives: Our conversation covered the four phases of the story: * The Arrests of 1775–77* Loyalty in a Time of Vengeance: 1780–1781* The Great Forgetting* The Cost of SilenceThese may ultimately be parts of the multi-part series Lori is famous for in her publication, The Lost & Found Story Box.The Stories, a Map & TimelineThis series allows us to explore our stories of this remarkable historical period together. Each contributor adds their own context of time and place. Learn more:We now have nearly 30 stories, though only enough time for three shared live like this. Several of our speakers and contributors have submitted a half-dozen or more stories. Explore the interactive timeline and map to find the stories and consider the connections:* Timeline: Projectkin.org/stories250-timeline* Map: Projectkin.org/stories250-mapIf you have a story to contribute, I’d love to include you. The full details are at Projectkin.org/stories250-form. I’d also love to include you in an upcoming Live program.Revolutionary War Resource TipsAs we approach the 250th celebration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a number of terrific resources have become available. Just published earlier today and referenced by Bill Moore during our conversation, was this piece from DearMYRTLE: Also, you might be interested in the premier tonight at 5/8 pm PT/ET across local PBS television stations and on the PBS app of Ken Burns’ new series “The American Revolution.” Please take a moment to listen to him talking about why he set out to tell this extraordinary story. His reference to having “smothered it in gallant, bloodless myth…” caught my attention. I hope that this Stories250 series provides all of us in this community of family historians with a way to participate in the exploration of this history within the context of our ancestors’ lives, from around the world. December Stories250 Guest: MightierAcornsSitting quietly in our live audience today was a name many of you will recognize as a well-respected writer and genealogist in our communityMightier Acorns. Tad Callin has moved his writing work to WordPress and now has graciously agreed to be our first bridge beyond Substack by penning a post about three of his ancestors: Tad will join us for the next Stories250-focused Substack Live program, which will be on Sunday, December 14. Starting with Tad’s Stories250 program, I’ll be looking for more ways to create connections across blogging platforms, leveraging tools like Feedly and existing communities like GeneaBloggers. I’ll welcome suggestions and programming ideas. Feel free to message me with ideas. Finally, free to share this post with your genealogy friends and family. While you’re there, invite them to join this thriving and generous long-form family history storytelling communities on Substack, WordPress, Blogger, and dozens of other blogging platforms. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

On this quiet fall Friday, it was a delight to welcome you all to today’s special Friday Substack live program, previewing next week’s Emma Explores program with my delightful guest today, Emma - Journeys into Genealogy. Many thanks to community members joining today including MamaCarole, Terri Hilborn, Dr. Mary M. Marshall, Karen Ray, The History Alchemist, Lisa Rex, Ira Krakow, Cynthia Boatright Raleigh, Bonnie Larson, and so many of you out there in Substack land by app or by web, live or in comments, it’s lovely to have you. Your generous ❤️ s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see. Thanks for all you do to be so kind, curious, and creative!If Projectkin is new to you, we’re thrilled to have you. Subscribe to get these free posts delivered to your inbox. More Projectkin.org/about.Emma Explores 19th-century publishing in Britain through her family research.With each episode, you can count on learning about unexpected twists in history and brilliant new techniques in research. Emma brings this genius every time. Next week, we’re in for a treat as she dives in to share stories about her 2x great-grandfather, Edward William Cox (1809-79). In our conversation, Emma referenced the grand society wedding covered in the press. Here’s that post: In her tale, she gives us a front-row seat to explore this golden age of newspapers, advertising, and publishing. Emma’s business acumen gives her a special insight into the dynamics of these businesses, and she’ll share research strategies for this kind of approach. These Emma Explores sessions are hosted on Zoom, so you will need to register to attend. They are free, however and recordings will also be shared with all Projectkin subscribers. I hope you enjoy these stories as much as I do. You’ll find a fabulous collection of resources and tips with each episode. I often go back to review past episodes to find ideas and resources I’d not considered in my own research. You can explore past episodes here: You may know that the Substack app is a terrific place to sit back and read, watch, or listen to Projectkin (or any of your publications), but did you also know that its use by your readers can significantly increase their exposure to new publications? (Including yours.)Over the past 90 days, more than 82% of my new subscribers have come from the Substack network, with recommendations and subscriptions significantly boosting our presence in the app. There are problems with it, certainly, but it’s a great place to start. About Emma CoxIf you don’t already know Emma, you can find her here on Substack in two publications, first the one she uses to share research on her own family: You won’t want to miss her second publication about the Journeys Into Genealogy podcast. It adds value to the ongoing podcast with refrences and a transcript: I hope all of this is helpful, and I look forward to seeing you on Thursday at our Atlantic-friendly time. Remember to register to get your free Zoom link to join us. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you Barbara at Projectkin, Jill Swenson, Bill Moore, Lori Olson White, Diane Burley, Anne’s Family History, Kristin Rapinac, Paula Collins, Dr. Mary M. Marshall, Dr. Koral LaVorgna, Marian Beaman, Jim Bowers, Emily Gravelle, and many others for tuning into Jennifer Jones live video today with Kathy Stone and Kyla Bayang! 🫶You won’t want to miss our full program (with photos) via Zoom meeting on Thursday. Please register for your personal link:Sneak Peeks into Kyla & Kathy’s StoriesToday offered a sneak peek into the stories Kathy and Kyla will share on Thursday (or Friday in Asia/Australia/NZ. Please see the link above for your local times.)Kathy and Kyla were each sharing stories about their 19th-century ancestors and their arrivals here on the American continent: Kathy’s familyKathy Stone shared the story of her grandfather’s ambition to escape the English coal mines and farm his own land in Canada. Kathy shares details about her grandparents, both of whom were born in Durham, England. She was born in New Harrington, Durham, and he in Usworth. Their story takes them from the coal mines to their farm in Borradaille, Alberta. * Elizabeth (Lowden) Hodgson (1898-1990) * Clarence Hodgson (1887-1985) During the presentation on Thursday, she’ll also share rare photographs of her family in the hard-scrabble life on the Canadian prairie.Kyla’s familyKyla Bayang’s story recounts her maternal second great-grandparents' meeting in Utah after embarking on two epic journeys. Her story touched the lives of * Edwin Abijah Goodwin 1839-1902* Anna Harwood 1844-1871Edwin’s grandmother was Rhoda Richards, the 13-year-old who fled with her mother and family after the Battle of Wyoming, the story she told in her post for the Stories250 talk in September. Edwin’s 6th great-grandfather was William Goodwin, one of the founders of Hartford, Connecticut. He was 6 years old when his parents, Isaac Richards and Laura Hotchkiss Goodwin, and family sailed on the Brooklyn from New York in 1846. Laura died on the voyage, and Isaac remarried 9 years later and moved the family to Lehi, Utah. Anna’s story is the one that starts in England and moves up the Mississippi from New Orleans to St. Louis. More about both of these stories in our program later this week. Be sure to register to get your personal link. We’ve just filled the calendar of speakers for our soapbox for 2026, but if you’re eager to join in, drop your name, and we’ll turn to you if we have any cancellations or put you in the queue for 2027. We’d love to include you. Please message Jennifer with any questions, or complete our simple form to get into the queue. 🎉If you enjoyed this recording, you’d be doing us a favor by dropping a little love ❤️ and sharing your thoughts in the comments below. If you think it’ll be valuable to others, share it individually or in group pages.Projectkin is free. We always welcome fellow travelers on the path of family history. Learn more Projectkin.org/about. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you, Dr. Mary M. Marshall, Linda Teather, Flora M Brown, Kyla Bayang, Richard Hogan, MD, PhD(2), DBA and so many of you for joining me in welcoming our guest Crystal Lorimor today. I suspect that many of you will have participated in, or watched the video for, our terrific conversation on Thursday with the team at Belmont County, Ohio working on this GIS Mapping Project. * If you missed that video, you can see it here: If you enjoyed this recording, please do us a favor by leaving us a little ❤️, adding your thoughts in the comments, and sharing the post with friends. This and all Projectkin programs are free as a service supported by our Patrons. Take a look to find more interesting publications in family history. Join us, won’t you?Today, our program picked up where last week left off by opening a discussion about the implications of this kind of community connection to history. The GIS tool creates a map view of this first surveyed region in the American Northwest Territory. Explore the web application: gis.belcogis.com/Northwest_Territory. Access is free, and no login or registration is required.Crystal and I talked about how knowledge of these kinds of stories in a local region can affect a sense of pride of place — and the agency to make a difference in a community.* How a story can reframe a view of a community* How the whole project started with graph paper and an idea. Really, it was a variation on the classic FAN (friends, associates, and neighbors) research approach used in one-place and genealogy reseach. I hope you’ll find this talk as exciting as I did. Join us in the ongoing conversation below by leaving a comment or restacking this post to discuss in notes or wherever you share discussions on social media. My goal is to get more people sharing their family stories. Connecting people and documents to place seems like a wonderful start. Could this be done in your community? You may know that the Substack app is a terrific place to sit back and read, watch, or listen to Projectkin (or any of your publications), but did you also know that its use by your readers can vastly increase their exposure to new publications?Over the past 90 days, more than 83% of my new subscribers came from the Substack network, with recommendations and subscriptions boosting our presence in the app. That’s pretty astonishing.Finally, free to share this post with your genealogy friends and family. While you’re there, invite them to join this thriving and generous genealogy community on Substack. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you, Rob Riley, Anne’s Family History, Richard Hogan, MD, PhD(2), DBA Shell Norman, Jennifer Jones, Jane Chapman, Julie Wolf, Kathleen Carris Conti Dr. Koral LaVorgna, Marci Keats Rudolph 🙏, Cynthia Boatright Raleigh, Diane the FH Bowerbird, Diane Burley, Kyla Bayang and so many of you for joining me in welcoming our guest today, Bill Moore. What a thrill to welcome you all from Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. These 250-year-old stories still touch the hearts of descendants across the English-speaking diaspora.Today’s program was the third in our Stories250 series. Your generous ❤️s, restacks, and shares have helped spread the word about this fun series. There is more about the series — and how you can participate — at the end of this post. Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons around the world. Explore our story and join us 👇.Stories250 and Bill’s StoryBill Moore has been actively engaged in the genealogy community since first joining the platform in January. You may know him for his publication, Family History with Bill Moore. Most of us know him from his meticulous posts in the 16-part series capturing individuals in his Moore family tree. Though he’s actively involved on the leadership teams of the Rochester Genealogical Society and the Morgan Manning House museum, he’s found time to participate in our Projectkin Speakers’ Corner, our RootsTech Ride Along, and other programs. Today’s story centers on a post he shared last month: As you’ll see in the recording, Joshua’s story comes alive in Bill’s retelling to video. While written narratives can capture facts, there’s something so personal about hearing the story of this incredible young man and his involvement in this bloody war. Bill’s story captures both the humanity of the British burial of fallen soldiers in the Battle of Brooklyn and the natural tensions of a son watching as a stepmother steps in to grow the family in a new world after the war. Please join me in sharing your questions, insights, and stories in the comments below. Stories on a Map & TimelineThis series allows us to explore our stories of this transitional historical period together. Each contributor adds their own context of time and place. That’s what this Stories250 initiative is all about. Learn more:Twenty or more stories have been submitted, though we’ve only had enough time for three shared live like this. Explore the interactive timeline and map to find the stories and consider the connections: * Timeline: Projectkin.org/stories250-timeline* Map: Projectkin.org/stories250-mapIf you have a story to contribute, I’d love to include you. The full details are at Projectkin.org/stories250-form. I’d also love to include you in an upcoming Live program. With the year-end closing in on us quickly, I can share an insider tip about our upcoming programs: * November 16: Lori Olson White.* December 14: Tad, whom many of you know as Mightier Acorns (now publishing from Mightier Acorns on WordPress)Both of these events will feature brand new stories that have yet to be posted, so be sure to subscribe to their publications and stay tuned. You may know that the Substack app is a terrific place to sit back and read, watch, or listen to Projectkin (or any of your publications), but did you also know that its use by your readers can vastly increase their exposure to new publications?Over the past 90 days, more than 23% of my subscribers came from the Substack network, with recommendations and subscriptions boosting our presence in the app. That’s pretty astonishing. Finally, free to share this post with your genealogy friends and family. While you’re there, invite them to join this thriving and generous genealogy community on Substack. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

My deepest thanks to our two special guests for taking over today’s Live program. This allowed me to spend time with my family and celebrate a very special occasion. I’m deeply grateful to these two wonderful friends and their commitment to this Projectkin mission in keeping the programs running. You’re pretty amazing. 🥹 I’ll keep these notes short since I’m still trying to catch up. First, you won’t want to miss the Zoom registration for Thursday’s special, Kathy’s Corner with Maureen Taylor. Maureen’s the Photo Detective, of course, and one of the best experts out there for analyzing, understanding, and working with old family photos. She’ll join Kathy, one of the best-known photo organizers across the Americas. Their planned topic had been working with metadata, yet a disaster hit Maureen’s collection. We’ll dip into one of Kathy’s lines of expertise: recovering damaged originals. Check out last month’s episode in case you missed it! Special Guest: Lori Olson WhiteJoining Kathy today was our very special member, Lori Olson White whom many of you know for her publications, The Lost and Found Storybox and Culinary History is Family History. Here’s where the conversations get fun — and creative. Deep in that conversation was not only the topic of postcards, but also a reference to this fabulous documentary, Death and the Civil War from the American Experience series on PBS: As Projectkin, we’re here to help families tell their stories, in any form. I feel strongly that our collections of photos and other artifacts are key to our memories and, in turn, our stories.All of our programs are free through the generous support of our patrons. Learn more at Projectkin.org/about and join us!We’ll see you on Thursday! Till then, 👋 Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you, Bill Moore, Dr. Mary M. Marshall, Emily Graves, Dr. Koral LaVorgnaRick Mutton, Bonnie Larson, Diane Wahn Shotton, and many others for tuning into today’s preview with Crystal Lorimor and Anthony Atkins. It was so good of you to join us.If you enjoyed this recording, you’d be doing us a favor by leaving us a little love 🫶 and adding your thoughts in the comments below. If you think it’ll be valuable to others, share it individually or in group pages. Projectkin is free. We always welcome fellow travelers on the path of family history. Learn more Projectkin.org/about.When Jennifer Jones tipped me off to what Crystal was working on, I got excited. Even a few data points can be interesting, but when structured data is combined with some of the basic genealogical facts we work with in family history, like people, places, and dates — it can be mind-blowing.Many of you know community member Crystal Lorimor, for her writing about Creighton Cabin. You may not realize that she is also the community development director for Belmont County, Ohio. In that capacity, she and two colleagues, Belmont County GIS Director Anthony Atkins and Recorder Jason Garczyk, have come up with an extraordinary resource for family historians and genealogists that uses GIS tools to connect historical Land Patent maps in the Seven Ranges section of eastern Ohio to modern genealogical data.Connecting patent records to GIS coordinates in the Seven Ranges section was just the start. To make it even more interesting, Anthony added FamilySearch data to boot! After a few conversations, I had the opportunity to explore what they’ve created. I was thrilled. Anthony has built on the design to create a tool we can play with now: * gis.belcogis.com/Northwest_TerritorySee if you can’t play around with it a bit as I did. My first stop was with “Ross, James” as Anthony suggested. This takes us to the history of US Senator James Ross of Pennsylvania and his speculations in the Northwest Territory. To my delight, Crystal, Anthony, and Jason agreed to join me in a special program on October 30th, you won’t want to miss.Today’s program gives you a preview of what’s ahead, though you’re more than welcome to explore the link and come to the session on the 30th with questions for discussion. Crystal has also agreed to join me on Sunday, November 2nd, for a follow-up conversation over Substack Live. I hope you can join us then, too. Projectkin is a free publication supported by the generous contributions of our Patrons. You’re welcome to share these posts and invite friends to join us at upcoming events. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

On this Friday, before the Monday holidays in the Americas, I was very grateful to Bill Moore and Dr. Mary M. Marshall for their active participation today. Monday is Thanksgiving Day in Canada, and here in the United States, we celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day in many states, and Italian heritage or Columbus Day in others. It was a delight to welcome you all to today’s special Friday Substack live program, previewing next week’s Emma Explores program with Emma - Journeys into Genealogy.Your generous ❤️ s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see. Thanks for all you do to be so kind, curious, and creative!Is Projectkin new to you? Welcome! Learn Projectkin.org/about, then grab a free subscription and join us. 👇Next week, in Emma Explores, our intrepid researcher will reveal discoveries from Full-Text Search at FamilySearch.orgEmma interviewed Lucy Reynoldson from FamilySearch a few weeks ago for her marvelous JourneysIntoGenealogy podcast. In that program, she shared the impact of AI, navigation tips for the new user interface and a remarkable tips for using Full Text Search. (Learn more about that episode on Emma’s substack, Journeys into Genealogy.)In Emma’s next episode for Emma Explores, she’ll share what she discovered while following rabbit trails in her Fonblonque family lines using this Full-Text feature. Emma shares how delighted she was to discover all sorts of details about her family line, lives lived, letters, and more from within the body of Family History books published in the 19th century for related families. This kind of social history material is gold, yet you’d never find it from indexed publication titles. It’s only from full-text searches of materials themselves that this kind of writing is revealed. To be clear, so far the full-text is covering only printed words, not handwriting, but give it time. In our discussion of the feature, Emma suggested homework we consider before Thursday’s program. * Pick a family line (or two) and use that name and other known information such as locations or dates to do a full-text search at FamilySearch. While the feature is available from several locations within the platform, a good place to start is the catalog page:* www.familysearch.org/en/library/our-catalogsTIP: Honestly, I just tried it and discovered an extensive descendancy chart for one of my earliest ancestors to arrive in America, Jabez Harger, b. 1642. It was in a family history book for the Cowles family. One search. Unbelievable. I wasn’t even trying. I can’t wait to hear how well it works for you. By exploring this as homework, you’ll have Emma’s expertise to draw on for tips and advice when you join us on Thursday. Related: Contributions to Digital ArchivesIn a related topic, we also discussed various options for sharing family history materials with digital archives. Two we discussed were: * FamilySearch DonationsThe FamilySearch Library happily accepts the following types of donations:* Well-organized, typed, bound, and shelf-ready books: multiple-generation family histories, local and county histories, and other genealogically valuable titles.* For digital donations, books must be submitted in a single PDF file and include a signed Permission to Duplicate Form.* All materials must exclude information on living persons.* Internet Archive* Media donationsThe archive accepts a vast range of media in physical form, though with some restrictions. See the link above for details. More about other kinds of physical donations here. * Digital uploads — requires registration and login to donate.The archive accepts the contribution of digital books, audio, and video files that you have the right to share. As a non-profit library, it will provide free storage and access to them. They reserve the right to remove any submitted material and strictly adhere to copyright laws. Finally, during our conversation, I mentioned a recent interview with Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive, with Cindy Cohen of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. This was on the delightful podcast, How to Fix the Internet. Here is that podcast episode: I hope all of this is helpful, and I look forward to seeing you on Thursday at our Atlantic-friendly time. Remember to register to get your free Zoom link to join us. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

«UPDATED» In March 2026, Substack made the full set of its livestreaming features accessible to users on desktop browsers without either the fiddly bits of using mobile devices or complexity of a “stream key” (an API Key to use the RTMP protocol). Today, you can use Substack in a browser to: * Initiate, join, or schedule a livestream.* Share a screen from a desktop computer window.* Schedule an join scheduled events from a desktop browser.* Use a second, high-end microphone for audio.Since January 2025, Projectkin has hosted over 100 Substack Live sessions, including Weekly Previews and Updates, the RootsTech Ride Along series, and the All About That Place (AATP) series featuring guests from the UK to Australia. For most of my guests, Substack has been utterly new. Using Live VideoProjectkin is all about encouraging families to tell their stories—in any form. Recorded conversations are a fantastically compelling form, so I’d love to see more people feel more comfortable using this feature. It’s a perfect complement to the notion of a “Private Podcast” I talked about in a project recipe in 2024. This post is designed to complement the materials provided by Substack’s Support pages. I hope you find these as helpful as I have. These are referenced in this post: * Getting started with Live Video on SubstackThese have been updated to reflect using video from desktop devices: * How do I join a live video that I am invited to?* How do I schedule a live video on Substack? * How do I go live on Substack using my computer?In addition, Substack launched a variation for use with studio-style livestreaming services like Streamyard or OBS Studio:* Live video on Substack via RTMPA Few TipsI’m sharing what I’ve learned here not only to make the experience a bit easier for my Projectkin guests but also to encourage you. I encourage you to consider this extraordinary medium if you’re already using Substack to create a newsletter for your family or any audience. Like any newsletter, website, or podcast, though, your clarity on what you want to say, why, and to whom is critically essential. I recommend you think that through before you start. This post may help you think through the details. Finally, before we get started, special thanks to my confederates on this how-to project. I wholeheartedly recommend their publications: * Jude Rhodes, of Yorkshire Family History, captured in several clips from our recent AATP25 episode; * Kathy Stone, of Kathy’s Coaching, who presents our monthly Kathy’s Corner program and joins me for a preview each month; and finally, * Jennifer Jones, of Tracking Down the Family, whose Speakers’ Corner and the accompanying preview program has become our new hit. * Emma Cox, of Journeys Into Genealogy, whose Emma Explores has been a stalwart supporter of my explorations into new technology adoptions.I’m indebted to all of you. 🙇‍♀️ Was this forwarded to you? Join us, free!The Experience as a GuestIt’s helpful to look at the experience in three steps: before, during, and after a livestream. This makes it easier to understand what you’re doing and why.1. Before you get startedSubstack allows you to read posts without an account, but streaming requires an account. If you don’t have an account, you’ll start by creating one. If you already have one, skip ahead. You already know all of this!A. Creating an accountLike Zoom, Facebook, or other platforms, Substack requires an email and a password. But there’s more. The onboarding sequence will also ask you to specify a * “@handle,” also called a username on other platforms, and… * a name describing this handle. Note that they do not have to be the same.This username, preceded by an “@” symbol, allows users within the platform to find or mention each other. Other users might search for or “name-check” you using your name — or your @handle. Your “name” does not have to be unique, but your “@handle” does. You see this pairing for any account in a profile, which can always be found at “Substack.com/@handle.” You can explore my profile by letting your mouse hover over the byline of this post. Accounts and email addresses are associated one-to-one. Depending on how you started, Substack’s slick onboarding process can make it easy to accidentally set up multiple accounts. Search for yourself to see if you’ve already done it (it happens) or if there’s someone out there who might be mistaken for you (John Phillips, I see you!). If you have an account, you’re on your way as a Livestreaming Guest!⮕ First, tell your host what your @handle is. If you’re my guest, I’ve probably already asked you. 😉 B. Get the Substack app on a mobile phone or tablet OR log in to Substack in a browserUntil (roughly) December 2025, Substack required all hosts and guests to use a mobile device for livestreaming, with a technical exception. That’s no longer true. While it works well in the Substack app installed on a phone or tablet (get the free app and install it), that’s no longer required.

Thank you, DeeDee D, Linda Teather, Kyla Bayang, Kathleen Jensen, Bill Moore Leslie Still, Ellen Gustafson, Kathy Stone, Dr. Koral LaVorgna, Jill Swenson, Christine, My Tuscany Roots , and many others for tuning into Jennifer Jones’ live program preview with Lori Olson White and Diane Burley! If you enjoyed this recording, you’d be doing us a favor to drop a little love 🫶 and add your thoughts in the comments below. If you think it’ll be valuable to others, share it individually or in group pages.Projectkin is free. We always welcome fellow travelers on the path of family history. Learn more Projectkin.org/about.Jennifer Jones is my collaborator for Projectkin’s new monthly series, the Speakers’ Corner. Since she’s put this remarkable program together, I’ve asked her to host the livestreams previewing each month’s program. The Speaker’s Corner invites members of the Projectkin community to step up to share their family stories in an interactive Zoom program. We hold these now on the second Thursday (or Friday across the date line) each month.Jennifer’s guests this month, Lori Olson White and Diane Burley have stepped up to our Speakers’ Corner soapbox to share stories of beloved ancestors and elements of a legacy they’ve left behind. * Lori, publisher of The Lost and Found Storybox, Culinary History is Family History, and a collaborator on The Bicentennial Memory Project, shares a remarkable legacy carried in a collection of glass goblets dating between 1830 and 1860, passed down from her grandmother and ancestors before that. * Diane, publisher of Musings of a Storyteller, shares the story of Leonora Barry, Labor activist Leonora Kearney Barry. In this preview, we touched on the high level of each story and what connects them in terms of shared legacies. A pair of referenced articles might be interesting for context in viewing this recording: First, is an article Jennifer wrote late last week about why she’s pulled these two speakers together: And a post Diane wrote describing her 103-year old Aunt who initially shared the story of Leonora Barry with her: Lori hasn’t yet posted her own story about the goblet collection, but you can get a good sense for what she’s all about in the intersection of family stories and culinary history by exploring this publication: I hope you can join us later this week for the full hour-long Zoom session as Lori and Diane share their stories of legacy on join us on Thursday October 9th. Have you thought about a story you might like to share on the Speakers’ Corner? Jennifer is filling in the calendar for 2026, and we’d love to include you. You’re welcome to message Jennifer with questions, or just complete our simple form to get the process started. 🎉Projectkin is a free publication supported by the generous contributions of our Patrons. You’re welcome to share these posts and invite friends to join us at upcoming events. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Huzzah! Thank you Linda Teather, Jennifer Jones, Bill Moore, Jane Chapman, Ann Larkham, MamaCarole, Lynda Heines, LaCreshia Griffin-Pope, Anne Young of Anne’s Family History, and so many more of you for joining us today. I can’t tell you how much it means to us to see you join us from the beaches of Scotland across the Americas to the outback of Australia. Your thoughts, comments, and encouragement is the glue that holds this community together.Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons worldwide. Explore our story and join us 👇.Kathy’s Corner PreviewToday I was delighted to welcome my dear friend and special guest, Kathy Stone whose special series for Projectkin, Kathy’s Corner is coming up on Thursday (get your local time here). With Save Your Photos Month here, Kathy will focus her talk this week on techniques for rescuing damaged photos. This is a topic dear to her heart as she explains in the preview today, referencing this piece from her Substack Kathy's Coaching: Join us for Thursday’s program, and bring both your questions and your stories! You’ll probably help the rest of us anticipate disasters and better manage our way through them. In our talk, I also mentioned two posts shared during the Los Angeles fires this spring. These have both stayed with me. First, from Aryn Youngless: And next, a very compelling listing of what you can do right now to prepare. Denyse Allen wrote: Calendar ChangesWith changes coming to the Projectkin calendar starting next Sunday, September 28, you’ll want to pay special attention to a few changes: * Seasonal time changes kick in over six weeks, starting with New Zealand jumping ahead to summer time. * Starting in October, I’m consolidating event start times so that Kathy’s Corner will begin at the Pacific-friendly time of 4/7 pm PT/ET in the Americas and mornings from New Zealand to Western Australia.* Sunday Live programs will start at either Atlantic- or Pacific-friendly times, depending on my guests’ preference. Here’s the post that described these changes: Finally, to make it easy to find the Projectkin calendar, it dawned on me to create a shortcut to the monthly view of the Projectkin Events Calendar:Daily Live Guests: All About That Place (#AATP25)In today’s program, I also mentioned the 2025 edition of the All About That Place series, which will start on Wednesday, September 24. All Recordings will be shared under the tag #AATP25 and posted to the YouTube AATP Playlist for the Society of Genealogists. An Insider Tip:You may know that the Substack app is a terrific place to sit back and read, watch, or listen to Projectkin (or any of your publications), but did you also know that its use by your readers can vastly increase their exposure to new publications?Over the last 90 days, over 40% of my subscribers came from the app. That’s pretty astonishing. Check your stats and join us to support this community.Feel free to share this post with friends and family. While you’re there, invite them to join this thriving and generous genealogy community on Substack.Say hello and I’ll do my best to introduce you to fellow travelers in the genealogy community 👋. Learn more about us. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Many thanks to Linda Teather, Jennifer Jones, Chris Hodge, Beth zurbuchen, Jane Chapman, Cynthia Boatright Raleigh, Strauss Debra, Melba Olsen, Richard Hogan, MD, PhD(2), DBA, Leslie Still, Corlett, and so many of you for joining me in welcoming our guest today, Kyla Bayang. You’re a remarkable audience from Canada and the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. It’s a testament to how these 250-year-old stories touch the hearts of descendants across the English-speaking diaspora. Today’s program was the second in our Stories250 series that will take us to the 250th Fourth of July in 2026, when Americans celebrate the founding of our country based on an idea—the Declaration of Independence. It’s an important event and a great joy to celebrate with all of you.Projectkin programming is offered free with the kind support of our Patrons across the planet. Explore our story and join us 👇 Your generous ❤️ s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see. Truly, thank you!Stories250 and Kyla’s StoryI already knew Kyla was an incredible genealogist. As a librarian, DAR member, and committed storyteller, Kyla shares her joy for family history in her publication, RootSquad Roundup. I first heard about Kyla’s story about the Wyoming Valley when she shared this story about Elisha Richards (1735-1778): In my view, this story reveals so many important elements of the revolution. It’s a complex tale including not only the British and continental forces, but also the rag-tag band of “left overs:” the young and old left behind when the young and strong left to fight at battles like Valley Forge, Monmouth, and Saratoga. The story also intertwines the complexity of native peoples and the alliances of tribes. As a distinguished librarian, Kyla shared a little of her process of research on this story that started quite simply with family stories about ancestors and their heroism, then led to the Wikipedia article on the Battle of Wyoming. Kyla knew enough to head straight to the extensive list of referenced articles at the end of the post. From there, she started reaching out to local and online libraries, plus the research resources of the Luzerne County Historical Society in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.Sign up as a subscriber to RootSquad Roundup and get Kyla’s upcoming posts about Elisha Richards, his wife, Sarah Cornwall (1733-1802), and their children sent directly to your inbox:Stories on a Map & TimelineSo many delightful stories about the time around the American Revolution have already appeared here on Substack. I wanted a way to explore them together, yet in the context of time and place. That’s what this Stories250 initiative is all about. Learn more here: I’ll keep adding to Stories250 until July 4th, 2026. So there’s no rush. If you’re interested, or have a post I might have missed, drop me a note: An Insider Tip:You may know that the Substack app is a terrific place to sit back and read, watch, or listen to Projectkin (or any of your publications), but did you also know that its use by your readers can vastly increase their exposure to new publications?Over the last 90 days, over 40% of my subscribers came from the app. That’s pretty astonishing. Check your stats and join us to support this community.Feel free to share this post with friends and family. While you’re there, invite them to join this thriving and generous genealogy community on Substack. Say hello and I’ll do my best to introduce you to fellow travelers in the genealogy community 👋 Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Many thanks to Rick Mutton, David Shaw, Moncina, JL Tooker, Una O’ Gara, MamaCarole and all our friends and members joining us today from around the globe. From my home in Berkeley, California, and Emma Cox’s, some 30 miles south of London, near the iconic Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, England, was a delight for us to welcome you to today’s special Friday Substack live program previewing next week’s Emma Explores program. Is Projectkin new to you? Welcome! Learn Projectkin.org/about, then join us. 👇!As Marian Beaman succinctly put it, today’s was a very “rich conversation.” And if you’re watching the video, you’ll see my cat Zarabeth photobombing a few times. 🤭 Your generous ❤️ s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see. Thanks for all you do to be so kind, curious, and creative!Next week, Emma Explores follows the Mosley lineI always enjoy how these Live programs allow us to both talk about a topic — and get to know each other a little better. Today’s program gave us a preview of the subject of Emma’s presentation next Thursday, Sir John Parker Mosley, 1st Baronet Mosley (1732-1798). Emma will share details of his incredible family from the 1720s, what his descendants get up to, who marries whom, and what they do. The story is rather remarkable for its extensions as it takes us into adventures, controversies, and a bit of the “Stories, Mysteries & Fame” this series is known for. The program is free, but you will need to register. Tea with a FriendLike meeting for tea with a friend, our conversation wandered from Winnie-the-Pooh’s 100-Acre Wood to FamilySearch’s Relatives at RootsTech. FamilySearch: I’ll let you watch the recording to explore the Pooh reference, but let’s start with why FamilySearch came up. This is in anticipation of registration opening on September 24th for RootsTech 2026. Emma shared the advice that everyone consider taking this moment to update their family tree on FamilySearch so that when Relatives at RootsTech opens, you’ll have the best opportunity to find cousins who might help you collaborate on your genealogy. It’s a great tip. Have collaboration ideas for RootsTech 2026? Let’s chat! My Sixteen/My Eight: As an early one to get behind the idea of sharing one’s Sixteen Great-great-grandparents, Emma recently published a post detailing an index to detailed stories about each of her eight great-grandparents. She credits Robin Stewart for this idea, and it’s one anyone can implement. Take a look and consider it for your own work:I’ve discussed the power of these kinds of posts for SEO purposes at some length in Projectkin (that “Ball of Hay” in my family) and MissionGenealogy (where I dove into getting the most out of SEO on Substack). These are powerful tools for family historians on the lookout for extended family. Backup to Go Forward: One of the topics glanced over was archiving your Substack publication. You’ll find Substack’s support article about exporting your data here. And another about exporting your subscriber list here. I highly recommend that everyone with a publication not only do that (and maybe right now…) but also set up a routine so you’re doing it regularly. Crazy ideas for archiving stories: A simple conversation about backups and archives then led to a larger conversation about archiving these profiles of individuals. IS there a home for such archives on the web? That conversation led into various branches from stories of Americans who fought in the Revolutionary War to a more general conversation about a permanent archive for stories published to Substack. I referenced the Internet Archive, and specifically the WayBack Machine, but I’ve added to my queue a discussion of how that can more generally be done as a home for a Family Archive. Stay tuned for more on that. We covered so many topics, I’ll have to refer you to the recording for the rest. Feel free to reach out with questions in the comments below. It’s always fun to see where you want to take these discussions. I hope you can join us on Sept. 18th as Emma Explores returns for another exploration into the rich soil of Emma’s family. I always learn tips and techniques I can apply to my family. You can see the full archive of Emma Explores programs at Projectkin.org/emma-explores. I’d also recommend you consider subscribing to Journeys into Genealogy. It’s like chatting with experts each week. Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you Dr. Mary M. Marshall, Crystal Lorimor, Anne’s Family History, Lori Olson White, Linda Teather, Julia Jane Heckles, Kathy Stone, Jane ChapmanEmily Gravelle, Paula Collins, Naomi Yaeger, Chris Hodge, Michele Bewley, Richard Hogan, MD, PhD(2), DBA, Alan H Zeller, Diane Burley Alex Daw, Anne Wendel, Danine and many others for tuning into Jennifer Jones’ live video with Bill Moore and Aryn Youngless! Projectkin is a free publication supported by the generous contributions of our Patrons. Learn more at Projectkin.org/aboutYour generous ❤️ s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see. Thanks for all being so kind, curious, and creative!Jennifer Jones is my collaborator for Projectkin’s new monthly series, the Speakers' Corner. Since she’s put this remarkable program together, I’ve asked her to host the livestreams previewing each month’s program. The Speaker's Corner invites members of the Projectkin community to step up to share their family stories in an interactive Zoom program. We hold these now on the second Thursday (or Friday across the date line) each month. This month, Jennifer invited two remarkable guests, Bill Moore and Aryn Youngless, to discuss their research into their female ancestors. You can still register for this week’s program here:If you think you might be interested in sharing one of your stories reach out to Jennifer directly:Several of you popped in today's program with recollections from your ancestors. Kathy Stone, who publishes Kathy’s Coaching and hosts Kathy’s Corner, reported:My grandmother had twins in early 1930's on a farm on the prairies of Alberta. the youngest of 6. They slept in a dresser drawer in the 2 room house. Whenever I struggled with my twins, I reminded myself of what Gramma did.Dr. Mary Marshall, who writes for her Collection, noted:When my great-grandmother's husband died in 1916, she inherited four homes. She then raised their six daughters by herself, using rental money from three of the houses to support herself and the children.Anne Young of Anne’s Family History wrote:"Women hold up half the sky" is a well-known Chinese proverb popularized by Mao Zedong in 1949. It emphasizes women's indispensable contributions and equal role in society.In the conversation about witchcraft, Dr. Mary Marshall also shared, Black women and women of color weren't included at all, except in slave records. Free women of color might be listed if they were in northern states. Aryn concurred and referenced the incredible story of Tituba. (I had to remind myself of the details and found this summary on Wikipedia helpful.) It’s breathtaking. We may discuss that more during the Thursday/Friday program.These are the stories we carry with us about the women in our families. During Jennifer, Bill, and Aryn’s discussion today, they referenced a few of their posts. Most relevant are probably: Bill’s post about his remarkable great-grandmother, Sarah Ellen Inaham Boardman:Aryn shared stories about the women in her family tree who were accused of witchcraft. Her three-part series goes beyond that to suggest some interesting strategies for anyone exploring the women in their history. It’s a terrific three-part series starting here: Note: This post was an unintentional an experiment in testing just how responsive Substack’s support team can be. They passed my test. I learned a day later that by rotating the recording from portrait mode I triggered a bug that caused the black video seen immediately after the recording. While the Substack team isolates and resolves the issue, we’ll enjoy it in portrait mode. Whew! In the meantime, explore last month’s episodes of the Speakers’ Corner featuring Jennifer’s conversation with Anne Young: Perhaps we’ve inspired you to step up to the soapbox and share your story at the Speakers’ Corner, too? Join us, won’t you? Get full access to Projectkin at projectkin.substack.com/subscribe