Hi friends!

The start of 2026 has been a busy one around here, but I wanted to update you all on some of what I’ve been up to.

Client Work

Over the past month, I’ve been working with one client to investigate the mystery of her grandmother’s early life, which has taken me to the gold mines of the Pacific Northwest and the court records of Seattle. It’s been a fascinating journey into an area of the country I hadn’t delved into much previously.

I’ve been working with another pair of clients to assist with locating key records for the citizenship process in the UK. The moment that I found the birth record we’d been searching for and let out an exclamation of “YES” (and startled my spouse) is the rush all genealogists love. It’s like placing that one final piece of a puzzle and finally seeing the full picture.

Blog Updates

Some of the newest posts on the Prairie Heart blog have covered everything from photos to best practices for online trees.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Favorite Photo

I’m not doing EVERY week of this fun genealogy challenge, but I’ve been selecting a few topics per month that are of interest to me to share on my blog or social media. As you will read more about below, of course the topic of “favorite photo” appealed to me. For this, I wrote about my great grandmother Claudia Caron and this photo of her, her sister Anna, and their mother Margaret (Morin) Caron. I also talked about her life in general and shared some other photos of her that I love. No surprise that one of the wealthiest branches of my family was the one with the most photos.

Why Online Family Trees Can Be Wrong

One of the most common errors that beginning genealogists make is trusting online trees without paying attention to if they have sources to back up their claims. Don’t just accept those hints on Ancestry or assume what’s on the shared tree at FamilySearch is accurate. Always look for primary sources first and foremost, although online trees can give you leads for your research. Read more tips and advice about online trees at the blog link above.

The Genealogist’s Guide to Photos and Photo Storage

Photos are one of my favorite pieces of the genealogy puzzle. One of my primary hobbies is photography, as well, so I am a person overrun with both physical and digital photos. I created this post with the hope that some of my best practices for storing and organizing photos, especially digital photos, might inspire you. It’s hard to utilize these gems if you don’t know what you have and it’s hard to sift through them. Pro tip: set aside an hour a week or a month to sort through older files or clean-up recent finds.

Upcoming “Irish in the Great Lakes” presentation

Saturday, May 30, at 1pm Central, I’ll be giving a free online presentation for the Wheaton Public Library in Illinois about the Irish in the Great Lakes. This is a topic near and dear to my heart! You can read more about the talk at this link and or you can register below. Pro tip: if you’re looking for ancestors who became naturalized U.S. citizens, consider looking at your state historical society or other state archives. In Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Historical Society has many naturalization records going back to before it was even officially a state!

Register for “Irish in the Great Lakes”

That’s all for this newsletter. Reply to this email and tell me: What is the one record or person that is currently your “brick wall”? I may feature your questions or comments in future emails.

Stay cozy out there and remember to cite your sources!

💖 Janelle

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