Kansas
Today is Kansas Day
Today, the State of Kansas marks its 150th anniversary of statehood. Modern pop culture regards Kansas as quiet, flat, ordinary, and even boring; alternatively it’s portrayed as an idyllic land of sunflower fields. But neither depiction reflects the reality of historical Kansas. Statehood did not come easy to Kansas. In the 1850′s, Kansas was the kindling ground that became a …
January 29, 2011 Saturday at 3:40 pm
Grand Genealogy Journey: My Kansas City Families
The Gines Family My closest relatives in Kansas City would be in the Gines family, descendants 0f Richard and Sylvia Gines of Shreveport, Louisiana, (who, as far as anyone knows, never set foot in Kansas City). Two of Richard and Sylvia’s sons, William Edward Gines (1898-1955) and Henry William Gines (1903-1980) left Shreveport in 1920 and headed for Kansas City. …
September 27, 2010 Monday at 7:06 pm
Grand Genealogy Journey: The Research-Rich Environment of Kansas City
The Kansas City multi-county, bi-state metropolis is a genealogist’s and historian’s gold mine. First (and these are in no particular order) is the recently relocated site for the National Archives at Kansas City. It’s in the dynamic Union Station District of the city at 400 West Pershing Road. The Archives is now featuring an exhibit in Kansas City on the …
September 25, 2010 Saturday at 4:26 pm
Grand Genealogical Journey: Kansas City, Here I Come!
We’ve had a great trip aboard the California Zephyr from Sacramento to Denver. But in Denver, we part ways with the train, which goes on to Chicago, bypassing our next destination, Kansas City. The quickest way to get to Kansas City from Denver is by air — a one-hour flight for about $149 on all the major carriers except US …
September 11, 2010 Saturday at 7:48 pm
Halloween Census Whacking
With the crisis of my father’s recent illness and the minor drama of my own, I feel like I’ve been way out of touch the last two weeks. It’s time get back into the flow of things. I thought little census whacking for Halloween would ease my way back into writing. So I went hunting for Vampires, Zombies, Ghosts, …
October 31, 2009 Saturday at 6:24 pm
Names, Places & Most Wanted Faces
I started this with a note on Facebook and it was suggested that it would make a good meme for bloggers. The idea is to publicize your surnames and locales to see if anyone elseknows something about them. For me on Facebook, I got several research-helpful replies. So how much better to take it to a wider audience. List the …
February 26, 2009 Thursday at 8:29 pm
"Open" State Vital Records: The Bad and the Ugly
One of Several Posts about Open Government Laws and Genealogy Previously, we spotlighted several states that are particularly “genealogy-friendly” concerning access to state vital records. Now we wade into the swamp of vital records-access horribles. At the edge of the swamp are states that have unreasonably long (100 years or more for birth records; more than fifty years for death …
March 26, 2008 Wednesday at 10:40 pm
Rise Above the Noise and Confusion . . .The Civil War Starts in the Heartland
Our Story So Far: In 1820, the United States Congress decided to link what had been several separate measures to admit Missouri (a slave state) and Maine (a free state) to the Union and to prohibit slavery in the territories north and west of Missouri. This legislative package was known as the Missouri Compromise. The idea was to maintain a …
November 18, 2007 Sunday at 12:32 am
Once Again, "There Are No Easy Cases in Genealogy"
A key objective of the trip to Missouri had been to further identify Sarah Gilbert Johnson, the presumed wife of my great-great-grandfather Ezekiel Johnson. Unfortunately, I made no progress at all on this issue and it continues to frustrate me. I would have to say that this is my leading research objective right now. So I had begun to write …
August 12, 2007 Sunday at 4:29 am
We’re in Kansas City!
We made the trip from St Louis to Kansas City in record time this afternoon with the GeneaBlogie staff photographer (aka Photo Grrl) at the wheel of a 2007 Pontiac Firebird Grand Am. Photo Grrl went to college in Leavenworth, Kansas, several decades ago and is well-familiar with all the speed enforcement agencies between KC and St Louis. On this …
July 26, 2007 Thursday at 6:05 am
