You know the moment. You type a name into a search bar, brace yourself, and get… nothing. No results. And the temptation, especially for colonial-era research, is to assume the record doesn’t exist, if ever or not anymore. That your ancestor was one of history’s invisible people, leaving no paper trail, no proof, no story.   Monument to Sgt. William Jasper. Savannah, GA. Image by author. Sometimes, that assumption is right. Fire, flood, war, and simple neglect have destroyed

We are in the home stretch, RootsTech 2026 kicks off on 5 March, and whether this is your first conference or your fifteenth, a little planning goes a long way. In this post, I am sharing the sessions beyond my own that have caught my eye, some practical tips for navigating the conference, and a few things I wish someone had told me before my first RootsTech. Sessions I Have on My Schedule One of the best (and most overwhelming) parts of RootsTech is the sheer number of sessi

RootsTech 2026 is just around the corner, and I have been deep in preparation for my two sessions. Today, I want to pull back the curtain a little and share why these topics, lineage societies and oral history, are so close to my heart, and give you a taste of what to expect if you join me in Salt Lake City (or online!) next month. Behind the Session: Lineage Societies I will be honest: when I first looked into joining a lineage society years ago, I found the process intimida

It’s official. I am headed to Salt Lake City for RootsTech 2026 , and this year I’m not just attending. I’ll be presenting two sessions at the world’s largest family history conference, and I could not be more excited to share them with you. RootsTech 2026 runs from Thursday, 5 March through Saturday, 7 March at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, with free virtual attendance available worldwide. This year’s theme is “Together,” which feels especially f