The Brick Wall is cracking!

  There are a few brick walls in my tree that drive me a little nuts.  One of them being good old Alexander Brown…where I get my surname. One of the worst is on my husband Andrew’s side though, where he gets HIS surname:  James A. Nelson.  I believe...

Scared to Death

One of the interesting things about doing genealogy is discovering “cause of death”.  I know it sounds a little morbid, but what’s interesting is how much has changed over such a short time in terms of actually assigning a cause.  Science is better. ...

A forgotten murder/suicide in Downtown Indy

So, one of my favorite things about doing genealogy is coming upon these wild stories in families that people knew nothing about.  A lot of times horrible things will happen and people don’t want to talk about them and they get swept under the rug.  These...

A Story on a Headstone

So, my buddy Jumwaltie and I had a few hours to kill on a Friday afternoon.  We had taken a trip last year out to Montgomery County (and learned that all dogs in Montgomery County do not love strangers and will chase your car) to visit some cemeteries to find some of...

Family (non) secrets

I want to start this post by announcing that I am back in the saddle again, after that hiatus…with the kid and the hospital and the transition and all that jazz.  We are cool now.  Well, actually I’ve started waking up at 6am every day to get a little time...