Newsletter 1QT 2025 - Jan to March

Recap 1st Quarter 2025

This is a Recap of the Recent Blog articles and podcast episodes.  Our most recent podcast went out
4 April 2025.

Revolutionary War: Muskets to Manuscripts

On April 12, I will be presenting The Revolutionary War: Muskets to Manuscripts at Midwest Genealogy Center. This day of fun is sponsored by the Missouri State Genealogical Association (MoSGA), My topic is the Revolutionary War. This is a free hybrid class, but Registration is required.

Accessing the Handout

The handout for this presentation is provided at linktr.ee/hittinthebricks (email subscription to the site is required to access the presentation handout; so subscribers only). Know we do not send out ANY publication or emails, but it does provide us with stats so we can learn if you are appreciating topics.

Feel free to provide us with feedback using the linktr.ee/hittinthebricks site.
We also randomly issue gifts to our linktree subscribers and to donors to TracingAncestors.org. This year, we will be giving away AncestryDNA kits. Know that the Hittin' the Bricks podcast is sponsored by TracingAncestors.org.

Tools to Explore
Are you using the familysearch digital library of books and more?
Check out the FamilySearch Library Catalog

ChatGPT
What Can ChatGPT Do? Scour the internet. Where Familysearch scans the holding within the familysearch collection, ChatGPT can quickly scan the internet. Here's an example of the wonders of ChatGPT while working with a Revolutionary War Soldier case.

You will recognize this example if you attend the Musket to Manuscript Course offered 12 April 2025. 

What was wonderous? Who would have thought that my biggest clue to open this research would come from a 1929 newspaper article?

Boolean, Boolean, Boolean
When we are doing searches (newspaper, AI, ChatGPT, text, ancestry.com and familysearch.org, Knowing how to use Boolean operators is a major advantage for genealogists! It supercharges their search abilities and helps them sift through tons of information more efficiently. 

You can ADD, or NOT, include information. Boolean operators (like AND, OR, NOT, and quotation marks for exact phrases) help genealogists narrow or broaden search results when using databases, archives, or even Google.

Properly creating a Boolean search can save you hours!

Be sure you are familiar with Boolean searches.  Here's a chart to get you started, but I suggest taking a free online course or use ChatGPT to help you out.  

Embrace AI
(The following is a reprint)

Yes, AI is now a genealogist's tool! Tool. Analysis and the burden of proof is on you! But, AI is a tool, like the old dewey decimal card catalog was in my day! I loved those days of researching and typing papers on my red typewriter that I still have.

But I digress. I will demonstrate in the Musket to Manuscript Presentation how to effectively and responsibly use the the AI feature under "Experiments" on Familysearch. It will truly ccelerate colonial / Revolutionary War era research as you make quick family trees to get to that 5-8 great-grandfather who was your Rev War Veteran.

Here is an overview for you. 
(Reprint from Jun 2024 Newsletter)

Step 1: Log in using your free familysearch.org accout.

Step 2. Go to the home page by clicking on the Family Search logo on the upper left-hand coner.


Step 3. Scroll down to the far right bottom of the page and find VIEW EXPERIMENTS. Keep in mind it is in beta, so the image placements may change, but the wording has so far been the same.

Step 4. In the middle of the top row, you will see this image with Expand your search with Full Text. And Go to Experiment. Feel free to try all the buttons, but this is the one you were asking about after the last podcast.


Step 5. Start Your Search using Keywords. Trying to find relationships?





This gave 5545 returns. With both names in quotes it translates just find ever occurence of Thomas Baird and/or Polly Baird. This would allow me to gather places, timeframes, names, etc. But it's AI, I can narrow that if I need to.

Now the Search Tips give you little to work with, but here are a few suggestions.



Are you needing to narrow your search? In my wide search, I learned there are several Thomas Bairds and several Polly Bairds in Ohio. I need the correct 1) Polly Baird 2) I need to confirm her relationship with Thomas, 2) I need her to be married or widowed to a Samuel Thompson. Of, course there are times when we have to widen our search. For example, Wonder how many Thomas and Polly Bairds there are in Ohio?But I want only documents that have both names in it and the bonus if S. Thompson is also named in the same document. You can put all three in your search, but for our purpose (and my need to narrow down one step at a time), I'm showing yu how I do it.

So, I add the "+" sign before each person of interest with the "quotes.. This translates to I want all the occurences of these names in the "same" document.


Wow!That gave only two documents with them together and both documents are in Hamilton Ohio. That was a big lead for me. I wasn't sure where they had moved to/from.

Big Bonus...
These documents answered all my questions. It not only named Polly, it confirmed Thomas was her father and Samuel was her husband.


Oh...and I learned the cause of my confusion

Polly Baird was the daugther of Thomas Baird by his first wife, Jane Kilgore, the daughter of Charles Kilgore of County Knox, Indiana Territory. Here's a link to the document: bit.ly/45ydxW1

Now do you see why I love these AI tools?

September - October 2024 Newsletter

Why Are the September and October Newsletters Combined?

We know that combining the September and October Newsletter is unusual, but hear us out! We are always celebrating our ancestors. Hispanic Heritage Month is honored Sep 15 to Oct 15. It began in 1968 under President Johnson. At the time it was a week-long celebration. However, it was expanded to a month celebration 20 years later in 1988 by President Reagan. So, we are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month! It's a perfect time to uncover your Hispanic family's history and trace your ancestral roots.

 September - October Happenings

Thank You Donors! 

Let's begin with why September is so special. It was birth month! For my birth month, Tracing Ancestors received generous donations from Tracing Ancestors and a3Genealogy followers, listeners to HTB podcast and readers of the Tracing Ancestors Newsletters and a3Genealogy blog posts. Donations received were from $5.00 to $500 dollars and the Board of Tracing Ancestors would like to thank all of our donors. This fundraising campaign kickstarted our 4th quarter financial goals.

Note: if you missed the opportunity to donate, visit tracingancestors.org. All donations are tax deductible (501c3). Visit TracingAncestors.org.

September - October Highlight 

Thank You Civil War Veteran Joseph Chedester

60 Second Soundbite

Many of you may have seen, via social media that I was honored to accept the military flag and dogtags for Civil War Veteran Joseph Chedester. This memorial event, The Final Salute was in late September in Des Moines, Iowa. Be sure to listen to the associated podcast: Honoring Veterans: The Final Salute. 

Prior to going and joining family and representatives for the other nineteen (19) veterans (WWI, WWII) and five of their spouses, I found this article posted by Military OneSource to be helpful: What to Expect During Military Funeral Honors.

September - October: Hispanic Heritage Research 

Here are the 5 tips to uncover your Hispanic heritage.

1. Vital Family Records: Begin by gathering vital records like birth certificates, marriage records, and immigration papers. 

2. Church Records: These may cover baptisms, marriages and deaths. In many Hispanic cultures, Catholic Church records are a goldmine for genealogy. Baptismal, marriage, and burial records often date back centuries. Many can be accessed through church archives or online databases like FamilySearch.org.

3. Immigration and Naturalization Records: These records can reveal when and where your ancestors entered new countries. Ancestry.com and the National Archives are excellent resources for U.S. records, while similar archives exist for countries across Latin America.

4. DNA Testing: Genetic testing through MyHeritageDNA, FamilyTreeDNA,  and ancestryDNA can provide insight into your ancestral origins and connect you with distant relatives for up to 5 generations.

5. Hispanic Genealogy Groups: Online communities and genealogy groups specifically focused on Hispanic ancestry can offer support, share resources, and help overcome language barriers.

And don't forget to interview the elders in your family for both personal and family stories. Oral histories can provide valuable leads and stories that might not be documented elsewhere. Curious how to talk to family. Listen in to this NY -Puerto Rican Genealogy Case. Plus, there's a review on DNA too. 

All Souls Day

In America we celebrate Halloween, 31 Oct. It is celebrated the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day . "All Hallows Eve" or Halloween is of  Christian origin. As in Christmas Eve, it was traditional to celebrate the eve of a holiday. This would be the eve of all Hallows' Day, also called All Saints' Day (1 Nov).. 

In many Latin countries, ancestors celebrated All Soul's Day, to remember the ancestors.  This holiday is not restricted for the Catholic church, as many other Christians oberseve the holiday. It's a celebration that genealogists dream of: family, cemeteries, family tradiditions, and the ancestors! 

This holiday is filled with traditions:

• Mexico, many create private altars for their ancestors. The alters are decorated with photographs, flowers, candy skulls, and candles. 
• Guatemala, people fly kites. There's even a festival, Barriletes Gigantes Festival, or Giant Kites Festival. These kites may be up to 65 feet across! Just write a note to your ancestor and tie it to the kite’s tail. It is said your ancestor can read iit n heaven.
• Peru, families share a sweat bread called loaf of t’anta wawa with a friend or relative. T’anta wawa is baked into the shape of a doll or small child.

As mentioned, others celebrated Allhallowtide  - the 3 days of 31 Oct - 2 Nov. 

Did you ancestor celebrate any of these Allhallowtide?

September - October: Research Tip 
 FamilySearchWiki

Have You Used the FamilySearch Wiki?
When in doubt turn to the FamilySearch.org Wiki on all genealogical topics. This resource will give you tips on beginning your research, record types that are available, and it even points you to other research resources.  There are maps, digitized resources, and guidance on best practices. 

You can use it for your Irish, German, Native American, African American research project. ...you get the point. 

Since it is Hispanic Heritage Month, and we have been flooded with relevant genealogical questions. We have been directing family researchers to this FamilySearch site: Hispanic Family History Resources. First of all it in English and Spanish which helps to bridge generations. Here are just a few of the other features we love:

     1) Online Databases that hold additional information

     2) Records organized by country
      3) Country Maps that can assist with not only the regions but parishes.

These types of outlined resources are available, as mentioned, for a plethora of topics. Don't forget this free resource. It's free. All you need is to set up a user login/password, and plunge in. 

Under the Umbrella
Looking for a One Stop Shop? linktr.ee/hittinthebricks
Help our Fund Grow: tracingancestors.org
Donate Here:

  Zeffy for Hittin' The Bricks with Kathleen
  TracingAncestors.org
                                   

Kathleen Brandt & The Board of Tracing Ancestors   

August 2024 Newsletter

 We are dedicated to helping the DIY genealogists and family historians. Each of our podcasts have an associated blog post article. Matter of fact, even our YouTube channels have associated podcast episodes. Just subscribe to our one stop Genealogy Reference Guide (linktr.ee/hittinthebricks) for both the podcast and a3genealogy associated articles.

Get Started with This Free ancestryDNA Kit 
We are gifting an ancestryDNA kit for one lucky September "suggestion/feedback" giver. All entries must be submitted by 30 Sep 2024. Free? Yes, the Feedback and Suggestions Campaign

Or You Can Use this Link to Purchase. AncestryDNA $39

The Woman Citizen

The Woman Citizen was one of the most influential of the American women’s suffrage periodical. UC Berkeley Library owns some print copies of both periodicals, and most of the issues of both publications are available online via the HathiTrust.

Underutilized Research Records

 Did You Know....?

There Were Laws Just For Women?

Use these laws to further your family research.

We know our female ancestors are hard to trace. But, on the otherhand, they can be our biggest clue to solving a family brickwall. They may have unexpected document that connects a couple generations.

                     Read
Our Ancestor's Love Cost Them Their Citizenship
5 Tips Using Misogynistic Laws to Solve Brickwalls. 

Where to find posted how-to articles?

We give you choices. We do suggest you bookmark, follow or subscribe to your preferred method.

1) All of our how-to articles since 2008 can be found on our a3Genealogy site.

2) If you are only looking for the longer explanation and cast studies for our podcast, just go to our Hittin' Bricks with Kathleen tab.

3) If you want everything written on a topic, either cleak on the tabs in gray, or there's a search bar in the upper left-hand corner. Just type in your topic or keyword (i.e. Civil War, that we narrow down all the titles that are under Military/NARA).

August Highlights
It was all about your ancestors' athletic dreams - high school to Olympian. We grabbed the popcorn and glued ourselves to the Olympic Games in Paris
26 Jul - 11 Aug 2024. It also raised family questions. Was Grandpa really that good at downhill skiing? Where's the scrapbook that we used to go through at Grannies' house? Were those families stories inflated? How can I research these ancestors? 

Podcast:
Researching Your Athlete: High School to Olympian

Article: Need step by step tips? Here's the accompanying article:              

6 Tips to Tracing Athletic Ancestors 

Under the Umbrella

 Looking for a One Stop Shop? linktr.ee/hittinthebricks

Have You Watched the HTB YouTube 1 Minute Shorts?

Help our Fund Grow: tracingancestors.org

Donate Here: Zeffy for Hittin' The Bricks with Kathleen by TracingAncestors                                                       

Kathleen Brandt & The Board of Tracing Ancestors    

July 2024 Newsletter

Last Days for this sale. Now is the time to stock up. 

Just click on image to purchase

Or use our Affiliate Link: 
*Offers end 30 Jul 2024 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Excludes shipping.
Affiliate of ancestryDNA. All proceeds go to the TracingAncestors.org (501c3) Educational Fund.

Feedback and Suggestions Welcomed.
We are gifting an ancestryDNA kit for one lucky August "suggestion/feedback" giver.

Shorts Featured on YouTube July and Podcast 2024

New York Public Library Comes Through for Genealogy.  (<1min)

A media/writer client was looking for a needle in the haystack. We determined that the story we were looking for was salacious enough to hit an obsure South Asian newspapers. but obtaining this American Samoan dual translated newspaper for every publication for the two plus years needed was not easy. Finally I found a source that had every issue.  Listen in to what the NY Public Library did.

Moving in Place (<5min)

They stood still, and yet moved. That's why their records can be found in unexpected cities, counties & even states (i.e. NC to TN or VA - earlyKY). They didn't move their records did! Chewey's Mystery explains it best. 

For a more detailed explanation visit the Article: Chasing Counties: Use County Formation Maps.

July Podcast Featured
As we always say "Your ancestors wanted their secrets to go the grave with them. But their secrets don't have to go to the grave with you." Our featured author, David W. Jackson  has contributed to over 60 titles. He is the founder of the Orderly Pack Rat.

He even covers the free publishing tool of Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and their offerings and services. It seems to be his favorite, for now.

For the Professionals - Another AI Chat GPT Test

Although this presentation has already been launched to colleges/universities, I was most excited on our use in applying AI as a tool. This month has been about writing, and publishing. With that, we must hone in on our marketing skills too. Check out our July Podcast topics above. 

Plus you asked how can AI help a speaker. Check out this case using AI-  
History: Powered by Her Story

Our Hittin' the Bricks with Kathleen hosts was featured in the VoyageKC magazine article Daily Inspiration: Meet Kathleen Brandt. Use link for full article.

July 2024 Featured Genealogy Articles

We do blogposts to 1) complement our podcast episodes 2) for those who want the how-to instructions fleshed out 3) researchers just looking for the Resources Needed 4) believe it or not, everyone has not yet jumped on the podcast / Youtube bandwagon. I myself have not yet figured out Tiktok. Thats ok...we need to put the instructions and resources in writing for future references anyway. 

Plus, we are dedicated to helping the DIY genealogists and family historians. Each of our podcasts have an associated blog post article. Matter of fact, even our YouTube channels have associated podcast episodes. Just subscribe to our one stop Genealogy Reference Guide (linktr.ee/hittinthebricks) for both the podcast and a3genealogy associated articles.  

Following are the topics featured in July

Where to find these posted how-to articles? We give you choices:

1) All of our how-to articles since 2008 can be found on our a3Genealogy site.

2) If you are only looking for the longer explanation and cast studies for our podcast, just go to our Hittin' Bricks with Kathleen tab.

3) If you want everything written on a topic, either cleak on the tabs in gray, or there's a search bar in the upper left-hand corner. Just type in your topic or keyword (i.e. Civil War, that we narrow down all the titles that are under Military/NARA).

We do suggest you bookmark, follow or subscribe to your preferred method.   

A Bit More Under ther Umbrella: 

Looking for a One Stop Shop? linktr.ee/hittinthebricks 

Have watched our HTB YouTube 1 Minute Shorts?
Help our Fund Grow: tracingancestors.org

Feedback and Suggestions Welcomed.
We are gifting an ancestryDNA kit for one lucky August "suggestion/feedback" giver. 

Kathleen Brandt & The Board of Tracing Ancestors