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detective • historian • storyteller

Lizz Gray is a family historian and genealogist and has 8 years of experience in the research industry. In addition to being her family’s historian, and working as a leader in Learning & Development for a global consumer goods company, Lizz serves as Vice Chair of the Kennesaw Cemetery Preservation Commission. Lizz keeps accounts on Facebook and Instagram at .genealogy where she shares tips for more effective family history work and discoveries from her research.

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Vice Chair of the Kennesaw City Cemetery Preservation Commission

The Kennesaw Cemetery Preservation Commission is dedicated to the preservation and restoration of the City Cemetery (established circa 1863), a valuable historical resource located in the heart of downtown Kennesaw’s Historic District. Commission members are also responsible for delivering educational opportunities regarding cemetery preservation and maintenance for the community.

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Member of the following associations and societies:
- National Genealogical Society
- Alabama Genealogical Society
- Alabama: Morgan County Genealogical Society
- Georgia Genealogical Society
- Georgia: Cobb County Genealogical Society
- Virginia Genealogical Society

04/07/2023

In your research, you may find yourself wanting to connect with other descendants of your ancestors – to share what you’ve learned through your research, to learn about the most recent generations of your family, or to collaborate on documenting your family history.

This can be a tricky endeavour as people are not overly receptive to “cold calls” about their family. Whether you reach out through an email, postal mail, phone call, or Facebook message, remember that your goal is to establish a connection, not to freak people out. In all cases, I would encourage you to be sincere, positive, and generous in your approach.
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When writing your communication, keep these 8 tips in mind:

1. Provide a simple introduction and never start by asking for anything. Most people are naturally suspicious of unsolicited communication.

2. “Break the ice” with something you believe will interest them (e.g., photographs of ancestors, immigration records, land patents).

3. Highlight THEIR family, your common ancestors, in what you send.

4. Include your relation to one another; identifying your nearest common ancestor.

5. Keep your messages straightforward. Don’t overwhelm them with too much information right away but do be clear about your purpose.

6. Check your spelling and grammar carefully. Communicate professionally by being clear, accurate, and succinct.

7. Include various forms of your contact information (e.g., email address, mailing address, phone number, social accounts) so they can respond in whichever way they prefer.

8. Be polite. Despite your best efforts, some people are just not interested in family history and may never respond. Do not contact someone after 2-3 attempts if they don’t respond.
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Best of luck as you try to connect with other living members of your family!
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What have you found that is successful when connecting with living family members?
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04/06/2023

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. BUT - I would like to share some information about some of the causes of death used in the 1890s and their modern-day equivalents. Have you come across any of these in your family tree? What other unique or outdated medical terms have you found?
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Bright's disease / Nephritis
An inflammation of the kidneys, caused by toxins, infection or autoimmune conditions. It is not strictly a single disease, rather a condition with a number of types and causes.

Dropsey / Edema
Swelling caused by too much fluid trapped in the body's tissues. It can affect any part of the body but is more likely to show up in the legs and feet.

Consumption / Tuberculosis
A disease caused by bacteria that usually attacks the lungs. At the turn of the 20th century, this was the leading cause of death in the United States.

Apoplexy / Stroke
The rupture of an internal organ and the accompanying symptoms. Today, health care professionals specify the anatomic location of the bleeding, such as cerebral, ovarian or pituitary.

La Grippe / Influenza
A specific epidemic and contagious disease, caused by a specific bacillus. Other names that have been used for influenza include epidemic catarrh, sweating sickness, and Spanish fever.
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03/24/2023

Genealogy Myth - It's a good idea to accept all hints from these family trees. They are all talking about my ancestor, after all.

Online trees, like those on Ancestry and MyHeritage are great tools for keeping track of your discoveries. They also have an automated "hint" feature that makes it (too) easy to accept unverified information and quickly expand branches. Hints in your tree appear as leaves 🍃 and when you see how many other trees include that same information, it's tempting to accept it and build your tree as fast as you can.

Deep breath. This truth may hurt.

No one independently verifies the trees on genealogy websites. Mistakes multiply when tree owners accept hints that aren’t true matches. It’s easy to assume a death date is correct when it’s repeated in HUNDREDS of family trees, but REPETITION DOESN'T MEAN IT'S TRUE.

Those irresistible leaf hints can be helpful, but you have to use them responsibly. Family Tree Magazine has some great advice: When you get a hint, check it out carefully. Examine the original record or the sources in the supposedly matching tree. Ask yourself if it makes sense. Remember that many people living in the same place could have the same name and be a similar age. If you’re not 100 percent confident in the hint’s correctness, set it aside for now. Increase your chances of getting accurate hints by including as much verified detail—names, places, family members’ names—in your tree as possible.
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03/23/2023

Genealogy Myth - It's 2023! All the records you need to research your family history are available online.

While it's true that genealogy information is available online more than ever before, still only a fraction of historical records have been digitized and made searchable. Far greater are the number of historical records that remain on paper and microfilm, stored in libraries, archives, and courthouses.

Ancestry has over 40 BILLION records available online and Newspapers.com has more than 842 million newspaper pages to explore. These are massive numbers and they are adding new records every day!

But those online databases don’t have every county’s court records or every town’s newspaper.

As an example, shared by Family Tree Magazine, Ancestry’s "Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934" database gives only indexed results, which you can then use to track down the original record. Some entire record groups are offline, such as the vast majority of Civil War pension applications (a few are on Fold3; others must be ordered from the US National Archives).

If you are hitting a brick wall with your online searches, or want to experience the thrill of physically digging through "the stacks" for that treasured piece of information, venture out to a local library or historical society. There you can work with experienced librarians to access microfilmed newspapers, church registers, printed city directories, and/or records of businesses and organizations.
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12/22/2022

Last Saturday, I participated in Wreaths Across America at the Kennesaw City Cemetery. This was one of the 3,900 cemeteries that participated in this event - driven by this vision: Every Soldier a Stone, Every Stone a Wreath

As shared by the local DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) representative, "Our veterans didn't just give us freedom. They entrusted us with it."

11/14/2022

I was recently asked to identify an unmarked military photograph found in a family's photograph collection from Canastota, New York. Here's a little about what I discovered:

The 24 men pictured here are members of the Bersaglieri, an Italian elite military unit. They are identifiable by their wide-brimmed hats flowing with sleek, black grouse feathers. They are further distinguished as officers, recognized by their epaulets, sabers, and medals.

The Bersaglieri are known for their “sharp shooting skills and tough, physical standards”. They were founded in 1836 as part of the Piemontese military and were ordered into the Royal Italian Army by King Charles Albert. Today, the Bersaglieri is a “formidable modern, mechanized fighting group, respected by the global community”.

Pictured with the men are three women, two boys (aged abt. 5-8), and one girl (aged abt. 3). High-collar necklines, plain sleeves, and functional blouse-and-skirt ensembles of these women’s fashion indicate the photograph should be dated 1908-1914, right at the start of World War I.
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The connection of these men to the family is not known at this time, but with a country (Italy) and a period (WWI), they will be able to more easily identify their ancestor(s) in the photograph. I love tracing down little clues!
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Sources: Italian Sons and Daughters of America PhotoDetective.com and
Military Headdress, A pictorial history of military headgear from 1660 to 1914, by Colonel Robert H. Rankin

11/03/2022

Last month, the Kennesaw City Council ratified my appointment to the Cemetery Preservation Commission and I took my oath of office with Mayor Derek Easterling.

The Kennesaw Cemetery Preservation Commission is dedicated to the preservation and restoration of the City Cemetery (established circa 1863), a valuable historical resource located in the heart of downtown Kennesaw’s Historic District. Commission members are also responsible for delivering educational opportunities regarding cemetery preservation and maintenance for the community, including:

- Walking tours of the cemetery highlighting the lives of important residents and their contributions to the history of Kennesaw, Georgia

- Decoration Day and Memorial Day ceremonies honoring the veterans buried in the cemetery

- Cemetery clean-up days aiding the preservation of the cemetery and encouraging residents' and organizations' participation

I am excited and honored to work on this commission, caring for a historical treasure of the community.
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City of Kennesaw Government
Kennesaw Historical Society
Kennesaw, Georgia

10/29/2022

I traveled for work this week and spent a few hours learning about the history of Walmart while in Bentonville, Arkansas.

According to The Walmart Museum:

"In 1950, Sam Walton purchased Luther Harrison’s Variety Store in Bentonville, Arkansas. It was Sam’s second store, but the first to bear the Walton name. A Ben Franklin five-and-dime franchise, it was right next door to a space occupied by a barbershop – space that Sam acquired in 1951. Sam followed this expansion into the space next door with a remodeling sale that established Walton’s 5&10 as the huge success Sam knew it could be."

"Today, visitors to The Walmart Museum can see the original tin ceiling tiles from Harrison’s Variety Store as well as the original red and green tiles that Sam laid down before the famous remodeling sale. If you look closely, you can see that the red and greens don’t all exactly match. Sam, you see, had been offered a better price on the batch of tiles if he accepted them “as is”. Sam knew that his customers wouldn’t be looking at his floor – or even care – as long as his prices were low and his shelves were well-stocked. Sam was a frugal man, but not just for the sake of frugality. He knew that saving money on expenses meant he could charge lower prices, saving his customers money so they could live better."

"Sam Walton loved many things: his family, his country, his business, flying, and people. But right up there is also his love of ice cream. Butter pecan, to be exact. The Spark Café Soda Fountain is a tribute to Sam’s love of ice cream."

08/30/2022

Did You Know? In 1932, a sociologist at the University of Pennsylvania, named James Bossard, looked through 5,000 consecutive marriage licenses on file for people who lived in the city of Philadelphia. He found:

One out of every three married couples had lived within a five-block radius of each other before they got married.

One out of every six married couples had lived within the same block before they got married.

Most amazingly, one out of every eight married couples had lived in the same building before they got married!
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This is a reminder that when you get stuck in your research and can't find more information on an ancestor, make sure you check in with their FAN Club - their Family/Friends, Associates, and Neighbors. They likely are all living nearby!
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07/01/2022

It's my grandmother's birthday! 87 years ago, in 1935, my grandmother's birth was announced in the "Evening Star" newspaper in Washington, District of Columbia.

I love finding my family in newspapers because it's so easy to get a glimpse of 'the times'. My grandmother's birth was announced alongside advertisements for hotels (touting "Hot and Cold Running Water" and "Private Baths") and the "New Nash '400'" car (available for only $675).

Happy birthday, Grandma! The 'times may have changed', but your family is still just as excited that you're here with us!
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06/27/2022

Another pair of pictures are headed "home"!

Within our collection of family photographs, I found two photos of a family friend, Richard Aubrey Driver. Both pictures were taken at the same event while Aubrey was playing ball in a yard, near a fence.

I was able to locate Aubrey's living family and return his photographs to his granddaughter. I hope they enjoy them!
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