http://prairierootsgenealogy.com/

Prairie Roots Genealogy, Madison, WI (2026)

03/11/2026

Help Us Preserve the History of St. Francis Xavier

Our ancestors’ stories are written in stone, but time and nature often hide them from view. On May 15th, join the American-Canadian Genealogical Society for a Cemetery Clean-Up Day at the historic St. Francis Xavier Cemetery in Ecorse. As the recording secretary for ACGS and a descendent of some of the folks buried here, this is important to me!

Whether you have family buried here or simply love local history, we need your help to clean stones, clear debris, and pick up light brush so these markers can be preserved for future generations.

Event Details:
📅 Wednesday, May 15, 2026
⏰ 2:00 PM – 7:00 PM (Stay for an hour or the whole afternoon!)
📍 St. Francis Xavier Cemetery, Ecorse, Michigan

We’ll provide the guidance; we just need your hands! This is a wonderful way to give back to the community and connect with fellow history lovers.

Sign up to volunteer here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0449AEA728A2F9C25-62133651-stfrancis

03/02/2026

My top advice to anyone researching their family history, which I might talk about too much: be wary of other people's statements of fact that you find online.

We’ve all been there: You’re working on your tree, and a little green leaf or a "hint" pops up. It’s tempting to click "Add to Tree" and feel that rush of progress. But as a professional genealogist, I’ve seen how one wrong click can lead you down a rabbit hole of someone else's mistakes.

The truth? Online trees are leads, not proof. One of the biggest pitfalls for researchers is the "Shared Tree" or "Family Hint" that lacks a primary source. If a tree says your ancestor was born in 1842 but doesn't link to a birth record, census, religious record, or other record from that person's lifetime, particularly around when they were born, that date is just a guess.

My #1 Rule for Research: Always look for a Primary Source—specifically, records created at the time of the event.

Instead of trusting a hint, look for the actual image of the record.

Check for conflicting dates.

Ask: "Who provided this information, and did they actually know the person?"

Genealogy is a puzzle, but we want to make sure we’re using the right pieces!

Question for you: What’s the weirdest or most obvious error you’ve ever found in someone else’s online family tree? Let’s swap "shaky leaf" stories in the comments! 👇

02/27/2026

What does a (missing) 1900 tax stamp tell us about a family’s fortune?

Lately, my research has taken me into the rugged mining history of the Pacific Northwest, specifically looking at the Clein family between 1890 and 1920.

In genealogy, Land and Water Rights records can tell the story of the years in between censuses and vital records. For the Cleins, these documents—complete with the noted revenue stamps required by the War Revenue Act of 1898—act as a financial "pulse" for the family. (The actual stamp would've been on an original record, not the register book that we see here)

In the early 1900s, the Cleins were navigating a massive shift in the Oregon gold fields. The era of the individual miner with a gold pan was fading, replaced by high-capital industrial mining. By tracking their mining transactions and the taxes paid on them, we see a family:

Adapting to Change by moving from simple claims to complex water rights to selling out entirely to a larger operation as the "easy" gold disappeared.

Encountering the cost of doing business in a "boom or bust" economy where every deed required a literal stamp of government approval.

After just a few years, transitioning out of the mines and into the next chapter of their lives.

These records aren't just about taxes or land; they are about the ambition, risk, and resilience it took to survive in the West.

Tell me in the comments: Have you ever found a "boring" tax or land record that actually changed how you viewed an ancestor’s life?

02/18/2026

Are you familiar with the many changes that the Detroit area has gone through since the first French-Canadian settlers arrived in 1701 to build a fort? Check out my newest blog to learn more, including a timeline of the city of Detroit.

https://www.prairierootsgenealogy.com/blog/beyond-the-motor-city-french-canadian-roots-in-early-detroit

02/12/2026

My latest newsletter just went out! This month, I’m sharing a peek behind the scenes of my recent client work—including a journey into the court records of Seattle and a citizenship breakthrough that had me cheering (and startling my spouse!).

Inside this issue:

* The secret to organizing your digital photo chaos.

* Why you should think twice before clicking "accept" on those Ancestry hints.

* Details on my upcoming free talk: "The Irish in the Great Lakes."

Don't miss the next one! You can read and subscribe at the link below or by heading to buttondown.com/prairie_roots

https://buttondown.com/prairie_roots/archive/are-your-online-trees-leading-you-astray/

02/09/2026

History shows us that "legal status" has always been a moving target.

As I look through naturalization petitions from the early 1900s, I’m reminded that the documents we treasure as "family heritage" were once just the bureaucratic hurdles our ancestors jumped to prove they belonged on this soil.

Whether they arrived in 1820 or 1920, their stories remind us that movement is a human right—and that "belonging" is often just a matter of who was holding the pen at the time.

Every branch of a family tree is a story of migration. Some came by choice, some by force, and all arrived on land that already had a history long before the first record was filed.

What does the word "home" mean to you when you look at your family's migration map?

Image credit: U.S. District Court, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Petitions for Naturalization, 1848–1991, Ernst Krueger; citing National Archives (RG 21) via Ancestry.

02/09/2026

The album was left behind for months in the terminal's lost and found before airport staff brought it to the bookstore for safekeeping.

02/04/2026

Behind the Puffed Sleeves!

Sometimes, a single photograph can hold an entire family history. In my latest blog post for the challenge, I’m sharing my favorite photo of my great-grandmother, Claudia Caron, alongside her sister and mother.

From her fashionable mid-1890s "puffed sleeves" to the surprising discovery of her first husband’s fate in Montana, Claudia’s life was anything but ordinary. She even traveled to France to honor a stepson she didn't have to claim—showing her big heart.

Check out the full story and a gallery of Claudia’s life at the link below or by heading to PrairieRootsGenealogy.com!

Link: https://www.prairierootsgenealogy.com/blog/52-ancestors-favorite-photo

02/03/2026

In honor of Black History Month, linked below is a really compelling article by Eugene Robinson about researching a free Black ancestor, which reinforces what I think most of us know: to be able to trace our ancestry beyond a certain point is a gift that is not accessible to everyone. Black Americans unfortunately face a lot of barriers to knowing their full family story. But Robinson's article is also a reminder of how perseverance can pay off in genealogy!

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/03/slavery-freedom-family-history/685728/?gift=PpAAhvi0s_Fbjc6Y1jvPdWzMkgllxXqmULdYWwPx8Sk

(Photo from the New York Public Library: Window display on Black History Month)

01/31/2026

Do you have Irish ancestors whose movements you want to understand better, who appear suddenly in Midwestern records—or who seem to move fluidly between the U.S. and Canada?

Join me in May for "Irish in the Great Lakes," a free webinar hosted by the Wheaton Library and co-sponsored by the DuPage County Genealogical Society exploring how Irish communities formed across Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Ontario—and how migration patterns, borders, and history shaped the records we rely on today.

📅 Saturday, May 30 | 🕐 1 PM CT

Registration:
https://www.wheatonlibrary.org/event/irish-great-lakes-142304

(or you can head to the blog on PrairieRootsGenealogy.com to learn more)

01/27/2026

Many people inherit boxes of old family photos—or thousands of digital images—and don’t know where to begin.

Organizing and storing family photographs doesn’t have to be overwhelming, but it does matter. Poor storage (physical or digital) can mean losing important details—or the photos themselves—over time.

I wrote a new blog post sharing how genealogists approach organizing and storing photos, including practical tips for digital photo organization, file naming, and long-term preservation.

Read it here:
https://www.prairierootsgenealogy.com/blog/the-genealogists-guide-to-photos-and-photo-storage

If you’ve been putting this off because it feels like “too much,” you’re not alone—and this is a good place to start.

Are your family photos mostly physical, digital, or a mix of both?

01/19/2026

One of the biggest misconceptions about genealogy is that it’s just building family trees—or taking a DNA test.

In reality, my work often looks like piecing together stories from records: censuses, land transfers, probate and wills, newspapers, religious ceremonies, and vital records like birth and death certificates.

But records alone aren’t always enough. To really tell the full story, I look at historical context—especially when answers aren’t obvious.

For example, if waves of families were moving from Vermont to Ohio during a certain time period for economic reasons, that tells me something important. By following the FAN club (Friends, Associates, and Neighbors), I might find a family that’s missing from the census in Vermont showing up in Ohio instead.

(This example brought to you by a very real migration in my own family!)

If you’ve ever wondered where your family lived, why they moved, or what their daily lives looked like, that’s the kind of research I love helping with.

Genealogy is more than DNA tests or birth, marriage, and death dates. It’s about telling the stories of the people who came before us—and I love being part of that work.

Follow Prairie Roots Genealogy for regular genealogy insights, or message me if you’re stuck on a family question.

Image credit: House of Cards c. 1737 Pierre Filloeuil (French, 1696–after 1734) after Jean-Siméon Chardin (French, 1699–1779) France, 18th century engraving. Cleveland Museum of Art via Unsplash.

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