Prairie Roots Genealogy

04/14/2026

The Library of Congress' Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity for Government plus Libraries, Archives and Museums (C2PA for G+LAM) released a new white paper titled "Content Authenticity and Provenance in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: A Call-to-Action for the LAMs Community." Given the role that libraries and archives in particular play in family history research, this is relevant to genealogists as well.

Covering four foundational pillars for this community, the white paper doesn't advocate for or against AI, simply for responsible use of it and preparation from libraries, archives, and museums for how to protect the authenticity of their collections. A glance at the number of Ancestry trees linking people to European royalty with no sources besides other trees shows how much people want to believe stories even when there's no proof. Now imagine a world where you can't trust digitized records even at a reputable repository.

It's great to see the Library of Congress' C2PA for G+LAM community of practice release a plan for this that supports authenticity above all. If you want to read more about this white paper or read the paper itself, head to the link in the comments.

04/13/2026

Check out the newest installment of our newsletter, where I discuss issues with using AI for photo restoration, the recent changes to Canadian citizenship by descent, and what I've been working on for clients. You can read it at the link below or head to our website to sign up to get these delivered right to your inbox.

https://buttondown.com/prairie_roots/archive/3-ai-is-ruining-our-family-photos/

04/02/2026

I have strong feelings about AI, but especially when it comes to using it to "restore" old photos. More thoughts at the link, but what do you think?

https://www.prairierootsgenealogy.com/blog/the-uncanny-valley-why-im-wary-of-ai-photo-restoration

03/23/2026

I didn't grow up in Wisconsin, and although I am descended from Michiganders and grew up in Nebraska and Iowa so it's not like I grew up in a totally different part of the world, Wisconsin certainly has its own special culture that I am regularly surprised by. I'm rarely surprised by the Wisconsin love of cheese, but this week while researching at I saw this article in an 1986 issue of The Tribune out of Montello, Wisconsin. Cheese distribution by income and household size!

Have you ever found a newspaper article while researching that made you chuckle? I love seeing stuff like this.

03/20/2026

Did you know that as of 15 December 2025, the "first-generation limit" for Canadian citizenship has been removed? 🇨🇦

What does that mean for you? If you have a Canadian-born ancestor—even several generations back—you might already be a Canadian citizen and just not have the papers to prove it yet.

I recently attended a panel with immigration lawyers and the IRCC to get the scoop on the new Bill C-3 process. There is a lot to navigate, but it's definitely exciting for those of us with Canadian ancestors.

I just posted a full breakdown on the blog, including 7 key takeaways from the experts.

Read the full guide here: https://www.prairierootsgenealogy.com/blog/new-horizons-for-canadian-descent-insights-on-bill-c-3-and-the-citizenship-process

You may have seen the headlines: Canada’s citizenship laws have changed. These updates profoundly affect descendants of Canadians living abroad—especially those of us in the United States, where border crossings historically were incredibly common. As of 15 December 2025, Bill C-3 removed the &q...

03/11/2026

Help Us Preserve the History of St. Francis Xavier

Our ancestors’ stories are written in stone, but time and nature often hide them from view. On May 15th, join the American-Canadian Genealogical Society for a Cemetery Clean-Up Day at the historic St. Francis Xavier Cemetery in Ecorse. As the recording secretary for ACGS and a descendent of some of the folks buried here, this is important to me!

Whether you have family buried here or simply love local history, we need your help to clean stones, clear debris, and pick up light brush so these markers can be preserved for future generations.

Event Details:
📅 Wednesday, May 15, 2026
⏰ 2:00 PM – 7:00 PM (Stay for an hour or the whole afternoon!)
📍 St. Francis Xavier Cemetery, Ecorse, Michigan

We’ll provide the guidance; we just need your hands! This is a wonderful way to give back to the community and connect with fellow history lovers.

Sign up to volunteer here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0449AEA728A2F9C25-62133651-stfrancis

03/02/2026

My top advice to anyone researching their family history, which I might talk about too much: be wary of other people's statements of fact that you find online.

We’ve all been there: You’re working on your tree, and a little green leaf or a "hint" pops up. It’s tempting to click "Add to Tree" and feel that rush of progress. But as a professional genealogist, I’ve seen how one wrong click can lead you down a rabbit hole of someone else's mistakes.

The truth? Online trees are leads, not proof. One of the biggest pitfalls for researchers is the "Shared Tree" or "Family Hint" that lacks a primary source. If a tree says your ancestor was born in 1842 but doesn't link to a birth record, census, religious record, or other record from that person's lifetime, particularly around when they were born, that date is just a guess.

My #1 Rule for Research: Always look for a Primary Source—specifically, records created at the time of the event.

Instead of trusting a hint, look for the actual image of the record.

Check for conflicting dates.

Ask: "Who provided this information, and did they actually know the person?"

Genealogy is a puzzle, but we want to make sure we’re using the right pieces!

Question for you: What’s the weirdest or most obvious error you’ve ever found in someone else’s online family tree? Let’s swap "shaky leaf" stories in the comments! 👇

02/27/2026

What does a (missing) 1900 tax stamp tell us about a family’s fortune?

Lately, my research has taken me into the rugged mining history of the Pacific Northwest, specifically looking at the Clein family between 1890 and 1920.

In genealogy, Land and Water Rights records can tell the story of the years in between censuses and vital records. For the Cleins, these documents—complete with the noted revenue stamps required by the War Revenue Act of 1898—act as a financial "pulse" for the family. (The actual stamp would've been on an original record, not the register book that we see here)

In the early 1900s, the Cleins were navigating a massive shift in the Oregon gold fields. The era of the individual miner with a gold pan was fading, replaced by high-capital industrial mining. By tracking their mining transactions and the taxes paid on them, we see a family:

Adapting to Change by moving from simple claims to complex water rights to selling out entirely to a larger operation as the "easy" gold disappeared.

Encountering the cost of doing business in a "boom or bust" economy where every deed required a literal stamp of government approval.

After just a few years, transitioning out of the mines and into the next chapter of their lives.

These records aren't just about taxes or land; they are about the ambition, risk, and resilience it took to survive in the West.

Tell me in the comments: Have you ever found a "boring" tax or land record that actually changed how you viewed an ancestor’s life?

02/18/2026

Are you familiar with the many changes that the Detroit area has gone through since the first French-Canadian settlers arrived in 1701 to build a fort? Check out my newest blog to learn more, including a timeline of the city of Detroit.

https://www.prairierootsgenealogy.com/blog/beyond-the-motor-city-french-canadian-roots-in-early-detroit

02/12/2026

My latest newsletter just went out! This month, I’m sharing a peek behind the scenes of my recent client work—including a journey into the court records of Seattle and a citizenship breakthrough that had me cheering (and startling my spouse!).

Inside this issue:

* The secret to organizing your digital photo chaos.

* Why you should think twice before clicking "accept" on those Ancestry hints.

* Details on my upcoming free talk: "The Irish in the Great Lakes."

Don't miss the next one! You can read and subscribe at the link below or by heading to buttondown.com/prairie_roots



https://buttondown.com/prairie_roots/archive/are-your-online-trees-leading-you-astray/

02/09/2026

History shows us that "legal status" has always been a moving target.

As I look through naturalization petitions from the early 1900s, I’m reminded that the documents we treasure as "family heritage" were once just the bureaucratic hurdles our ancestors jumped to prove they belonged on this soil.

Whether they arrived in 1820 or 1920, their stories remind us that movement is a human right—and that "belonging" is often just a matter of who was holding the pen at the time.

Every branch of a family tree is a story of migration. Some came by choice, some by force, and all arrived on land that already had a history long before the first record was filed.

What does the word "home" mean to you when you look at your family's migration map?

Image credit: U.S. District Court, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Petitions for Naturalization, 1848–1991, Ernst Krueger; citing National Archives (RG 21) via Ancestry.

02/09/2026

The album was left behind for months in the terminal's lost and found before airport staff brought it to the bookstore for safekeeping.