Can You Help Us Return Photos to This Family?

OK, genealogy detectives, we have another mystery for you to solve. You may remember that in early December, we posted some military documents from a soldier named James Ronald that needed to be returned to his family. We got several responses with suggestions of things for us to do, but, luckily, one of our members, Norm Miller, recognized the surname. He made some phone calls, and, amazingly, discovered that a relative of the Ronald family was related to his own family. Several more phone calls later, and the documents were on their way to Arnold, Missouri, where they will be forwarded to the Texas family who has been eagerly awaiting their return. Kudos and many thanks to Norm for reaching out and making the contact!

Doing Genealogy? Don't Forget History and Geography Too!

If you have been researching your family for a while, you have undoubtedly encountered tragedy. We often speak of the “good old days,” but the reality was that life was difficult and harsh, especially for pioneer families throughout the nineteenth century. It is especially important for genealogists to understand the conditions in which our ancestors lived, and to do so, we need to work not only with names, dates, and places, but with an understanding of history and geography.