Indianapolis native & current resident. Here to learn about my family and remember friends.

My family

Some of my direct ancestors came from Germany, Ireland, and England in the 1800s. Almost all of the others descend from early English colonists. Because of that, I'm distant cousins (6th-15th) with tons of famous people and every US president. That's not why I enjoy genealogy, but it is a fun fact.

Since the early 1600s, my direct ancestors lived in over 20 states. In the past 150 years, they primarily lived in IN, KY, IL, NY, TX, and MS. My mom's paternal side has been in Indianapolis for that whole time.

What I do here

As part of my genealogy hobby, I also make edits for distant relatives, my friends' families, and completely random people I come across in my research. Using newspapers along with birth, marriage, death, and other documents, I link people with their relatives and add biographical details. I do this because Find A Grave isn't behind a paywall or sign-in page. It's often the first place that people go to research their relatives.

If I submit an edit to a memorial and you want more evidence, please message me. I'm usually not going to clutter a memorial page with census pages, marriage records, and death certificates, particularly ones that contain sensitive information. But I am happy to provide these documents if you'd like.

I put most of my work on Family Search, which is free, so you can also check that person's sources there. Find A Grave is a genealogical resource, but it's not a comprehensive records database. It's here for the purposes of remembering a person. If I post a photo or newspaper clipping that is about the wrong person or upsets the survivors, please send me a polite message so I can remove it.

Feel free to use my pictures on genealogy sites.

I don't maintain many memorials myself. Occasionally, people have transferred random memorials to me when I edit them, so I don't have connections to some of the memorials on my list. They're simply people whose info I came across and added to the site. I will gladly transfer memorials upon request, unless they are my family (and not yours also.) Please go to "edit" tab and send a correction with this request, rather than using message option.