About This Blog

 Welcome! I'm Laurie, a genealogist who believes every family story deserves to be be told with care, clarity, and evidence.

This blog is my place to share discoveries, mysteries, and moments of connection that come from digging into the lives of the people who came before us. I've spent years researching my family lines -- from Missouri roots to the branches that stretch across states and generations -- and I've learned that genealogy is equal parts detective work, storytelling, and stewardship.

Here, you'll find:

  • Ancestor snapshots that bring individuals to life through documents, maps, and context
  • Research journeys that show how I evaluate evidence, test hypothesis, and untangle conflicting records
  • DNA insights from multi-tester analysis and cluster mapping
  • Migration stories that trace how and why families moved, settled, and built communities
  • Family land and legacy posts honoring the places that shaped our people
My goal isn't just to share names and dates -- it's to build a clear, accessible narrative that my family (and yours, if you're researching similar lines) can understand and enjoy. I write with both relatives and fellow researchers in mind, balancing storytelling with solid methodology.

If you're a family member visiting to learn more about our shared history, welcome. If you're a fellow genealogist looking for research strategies, case studies, or just a bit of camaraderie, you're in the right place.

Thank you for being here.
I hope these stories help illuminate the past, spark conversations in the present, and preserve something meaningful for the future.

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Popular posts from this blog

Finding Lintsfield

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🌱 The Man Who Started It All If you had told me years ago that the Fleming line -- the one no one in the family could explain -- would become the backbone of my genealogical work, I would have laughed. We didn't have stories. We didn't have documents. We didn't even have a rumor. We had a name: Lintsfield Fleming That was it. No dates. No wife. No children. No context. Just a name floating in family memory like a loose thread waiting for someone to tug on it. I didn't know then that tugging on that thread would unravel and reweave an entire lineage. 🔍 Starting With Nothing When I first opened a blank research page for Lintsfield, I felt like I was staring into fog. There were no census entries that made immediate sense. No Find A Grave memorial. No family stories passed down. Even his name was unusual enough that I wondered if it had been misremembered. But the more I searched, the more I realized something important: Lintsfield wasn't the mystery -- he was the ke...
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This Week in the News: Echoes from the Ozarks

  The Tragic Death of Emil R. Farmer, 1918 In March and April of 1918, newspapers across southwest Missouri followed a heartbreaking story from Linn Creek—one that rippled through Camden County and left a young widow and a widowed mother in deep grief. This week’s look back brings us the short, bright life and tragic death of Emil R. Farmer , age 22, whose name appeared repeatedly in the headlines during the spring of World War I. A Dispute at the Ford On Sunday afternoon, March 17, 1918, Emil Farmer was driving his buggy across the ford of the Niangua River near Linn Creek on his way to church. According to multiple reports, he encountered Earnest (Ernest) Kendrick , also 22, a neighbor and fellow draftee. Tension had been brewing between the two young men over their draft classifications—Farmer had been placed in Class IV as the sole support of his widowed mother, while Kendrick was in Class I and expected to be called up sooner. Witnesses later told authorities that Kendrick h...
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Richard Kelley of Ninety-Six District, South Carolina

  Research Report: Richard Bussey Kelley This report was created on 29 April 2026 by Kelley – Parker Genealogy Research Question / Goal: Is Richard Bussey Kelley related to James Kelley of Clark County, Ohio? Website ID / Links ·        FamilySearch: (GP9R-3CX) https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/GP9R-3CX ·        WikiTree: (Kelley-396) https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Kelley-396 ·        Find A Grave: FROM FAMILYSEARCH FAMILYTREE According to his FamilySearch Family Tree profile (GP9R-3CX) Richard Kelley was born about 1735 in Virginia, British America, the son of James Kelley and Sarah Nelson. His siblings were: Matthew, Nimrod, Matthew William, Jonathan Henry, Nelson, Matthew, David, James W., Rebecca, and Eleanor. He died about 1800 in Union County, South Carolina. There are currently no sources that verify this information. Richard Kelley was married twice...
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