When I reached the point in my research for my third novel, with both my great-grandparents making their appearance upon the pages, I turned to Omaha city directories in order to track their movement from address to address. And I was gobsmacked, when I discovered my great-grandfather, Freeman Wildrick, living with two other Wildrick's in [...]
I've been reading "River City Empire Tom Dennison's Omaha" to gain better insight for what my 2x great grandfather, William Sutliff, would've experienced, living in Omaha in the 1920s and 1930s. However, I never believed that three pages in, I would fall down a rabbit hole of genealogical research - on an entirely unrelated branch [...]
I doubt I shall ever overcome the sharp, strange feeling that stings my gut whenever I think of the women within my family tree. Their stories slip through the cracks of time, forgotten, names and identities lost. And yet, where would we be today without them? Our female ancestors are often the most difficult to [...]
Of all the branches within my tree, one of the proudest of by its descendants is that of the Freeman family. My great-grandfather, Freeman Wildrick, was blessed with his mother's surname as a first name, the act of which was my first indication that she, and her family, were especially proud of their heritage. And [...]
While I appreciate the trends of fashion for the time they existed, I am forever fascinated by the styles of the 1920s. It's one of the few periods that, had I time machine, I would enjoy traveling to and staying for more than a few hours. I'm a strong believer in feminism, and, while I [...]
Recently, I came across the book, "It Didn't Start With You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle" by Mark Wolynn. The title caught my attention immediately. Inherited family trauma? What an interesting concept. How to end the cycle? That sounds like a task for the family historian! [...]
I have no pictures of either Daniel Green or Cora Elliott but I imagine they look like this: Dan is tall, muscular build with pooling blue eyes and dark hair. His face is forever brooding, his thoughts hidden behind hooded eyes. He smiles rarely and his aura is one of a tortured soul. Cora, on [...]
A few weeks ago, I attended a visitation service for the grandparent of a one of my best friend's. I was enthralled not only by the mass collection of photos but by the well-documented history of names and dates and places within the photo albums. Nearly every photo had an inscription beside it stating who [...]
When I speak of family history to people in general, their mind typically thinks in terms of medical history. I'm not surprised, as it's commonly the context in which it's used. And they're not wrong. Researching your medical family history can give you incredible insight into your own health. Death records hold a plethora of [...]
Census records can be used to glean all sorts of wonderful information. Beyond the familial group listing, one can often find: immigration date, number of marriages, number of children - living and deceased, occupations and home addresses. It can be quite enlightening to track our ancestors from home to home using census records. You may [...]
BRIANNA WRIGHT 