Grasshoppers can be a nuisance.  However, when they turn into huge creatures with bright red legs and  long wings that work together to satisfy their huge appetites, they can destroy your entire livelihood. The Jury Homestead In 1869, John Charles Jury Sr., his mother, children, sister, and his brother’s family moved from Ontario, Canada to Bourbon County, Kansas.  Once in Kansas, they set up housekeeping in a clapboard house.  By 1871, they had moved to

  Sometimes a single event can totally change your life.  Rod’s Uncle Kenny (great-uncle, but referred to as uncle) was only 15 when an event occurred that likely changed the direction of his life.   On the Job Smith Baking Company 2 26th and O Street, Lincoln, Nebraska. Source: Lincoln State Journal March 7, 1926. When Great-Uncle Kenneth Duane Van Allen (Uncle Kenny) was not quite 16, he got a job working at Smith Baking

It seems that when people tell their history, especially about people that are no longer living, that the stories become bigger, better, different than they were originally, or in some cases completely manufactured.  That said, most of them are based on at least a grain of truth.  Thus, they can’t be completely dismissed.   Key Elements A good genealogy story – not a true one, but a good one that intrigues people and gets them

Figuring out all the names, nicknames, ordering of names, and initials for a person is one of the great challenges in genealogy.  Sometimes the answer is obvious with research and sometimes it isn’t.    The Debate My Grandmother Dessie May (Thomas) Pellett and her youngest brother “Bud” Thomas always argued about their mother’s real name.  Was her real name Sadie Ella or was it Sadie Ellen and Ella was a nickname?   They couldn’t ask

      When we think about people who settled along the trails westward, we often think about the hardships that they encountered.  We may wonder if they were traveling west and simply gave up and decided to settle in that location or if the location was their original destination. However, we often don’t consider the business they did catering to . . . or in some cases taking advantage of . . . people