Diggin' for Clues Genealogical Services

01/03/2026

Such a beautiful idea. I’ve give anything if I could talk to my mom just one more time to tell her about my life and my beautiful son. Maybe I can!

WIND PHONE: Did you know Oakwood Cemetery has a wind phone? It allows you to call a loved one who has passed on.

Do you ever dial your childhood home's phone number? Although it's disconnected, I sometimes call and ask the dial tone, 'Can I please speak to Grandma?'

Then I imagine all the things I wish I could tell her about my day – about my life.

I wish I could tell her about my first book release. She would be SO proud. She was always proud of even the littlest things I did.

Wind Phones were created in Japan to give people a chance to talk to loved ones who have passed on. To touch something tangible, to dial an actual number, and to have that conversation you’ve been wishing you could have.

And there’s one right here in Oakwood Cemetery, where we need it the most. ❤ Did you know?

12/30/2025

Census records can be the backbone of genealogy research. But maybe they shouldn’t. Sure, they can give a solid picture of the family and can help trace their movements but remember these are just front porch conversations between a family member - or not - and usually a complete stranger, the census taker.

Nothing in a census record should be considered gospel until it is confirmed with other records.

- Ages/birth years are often inconsistent and incorrect

- the census taker often misunderstood or misspelled names

- the census taker was often on foot and the census was generally done in late spring or early summer. It was hot and feet were tired. Maybe they rushed through the interview more than they should have.

- use the census as a great clue, but really…it’s just a secondary source.

Happy researching!

12/14/2025

It’s happened to all of us. Something shocking like an unexpected job loss. It’s happened to me a few times over a long career. What a great story of making lemonade from lemons!

Nine years ago today, I was at work and had what I thought was a normal work day. I was working in shipping and receiving, and the whole team got called to a meeting. They let us know that they were downsizing, and effective immediately, we were all going to be let go. At 10:00 I was working at my desk, and by 10:30, I was being walked out the door with a box of my belongings.

It was definitely quite a shock. I hadn’t seen that coming. After the initial panic wore off, I decided to take advantage of the down time I now had, and I poured myself into genealogy education. I had always thought it would be great to make money doing professional genealogy, but I didn’t think I was ready. Plus, it’s hard to take the leap into that when you already have a steady job.

I did the Boston University course, ProGen, and attended GRIP for the first time, all in 2017. Along the way I met a lot of people who I still stay in contact with. I tried my hand at taking client work for traditional genealogy projects. I got a few clients, but nowhere near enough to support myself.

I also did something else for the first time—I went to the National Archives in order to get information for my own Civil War ancestors. I loved the city, I loved the National Archives, and decided I wanted to go back again. This was the beginning of what I do now. I accidentally started my own business, working at the National Archives in Washington DC.

I have my own website now (www.CivilWarRecords.com). I’m closing in on 12,000 Facebook followers, and I have a team with three employees under me. I’ve traveled around the country to various genealogy conferences, spoken countless times to different genealogy groups around the country, appeared as a guest on many different genealogy podcasts and YouTube channels, and even started to do work for one of my favorite TV shows, Finding Your Roots. Who would have thought that?

Nine years ago, I wouldn’t have had this on my radar in any way, shape, or form. I didn’t see my unexpected unemployment as a blessing at the time, but looking back, I do now!

12/06/2025

These Family Tree Notebook reels have been catching my eye on Facebook, so thought I’d check them out this morning. I’m really impressed with the layout and design of these Canva templates.

Love the idea of gifting these notebooks to other family members without their eyes rolling in boredom! So visually appealing that even folks not terribly interested in family history may take a 2nd look!

I’m a Canva neophyte and there isn’t a designer bone in my body, but I think even I could figure this out with the help of the videos. I like the idea enough to try!

Have you used Family Tree Notebook templates?

The Essentials Pack (Canva Templates) gives you the flexibility to create a beautifully organized family history collection, fully customized to fit your style and research. Inside, you’ll find 300 professionally designed genealogy templates you can edit in Canva, allowing you to add names, dates,...

11/21/2025

Are you one of the lucky Ancestry users who has access to “full text search” under your search dropdown? I am not so lucky but beware, it may not be the powerful AI search engine we are accustomed to using on FamilySearch. More here:

11/19/2025

I learned a very valuable lesson this morning about the old adage of talking with our oldest family members first and testing them with a DNA kit.

An older family member (actually my 1st cousin 1x removed, but I thought of him more as a great uncle) passed last night at the beautiful age of 89.

I am SO thankful that I spoke with him at length at our last family reunion. We talked about family history and he - to my great surprise - agreed to take a DNA test. I received his test results just a few days ago but had not yet shared them with him.

Remember - start with your oldest family member for oral interviews, story telling and if you're lucky - a DNA test!

11/11/2025

Remembering the Veterans in my life. Those Stancil boys served with pride!

11/08/2025

What a great opportunity to research your veteran ancestors.

FREE access to WW1 and WWII records at Fold 3!

10/28/2025

Hiding moonshine in an empty grave. What a genius idea!