Like most folks, The Legal Genealogist was not born a family historian.

I dabbled for years, listening to (and doubting) the family stories, but I really didn’t get serious until I realized how many members of my family I’d already lost — and it was getting harder and harder to sit down with anyone who actually knew anything about the family history.

That’s when I decided I had to stop just listening and start researching. I did some research trips, I got a database program, I met some other folks who were actually doing genealogy right.

And that’s when — more than 20 years ago — I did something that was one of the most important things I have ever done as a genealogist.

I joined the National Genealogical Society.

Then I went to my first NGS conference, in Chicago, where I went to a session every possible time period for four days and ended up so overloaded and mindblown that — by the last lecture on the last day — I’m not sure I could have told you what the topic was, who the speaker was, or even where I was. It was amazing. It was wonderful.

I had found my tribe.

I’ve renewed my NGS membership every single year. It’s been a game-changer in so many ways. There are so many member benefits: subscriptions to the peer-reviewed journal, the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, and the magazine, the NGS Magazine; access to the newspaper portal NewspaperArchive; discounted registration to the NGS conference each year; discounts on NGS books; and so very many options for enhancing my genealogical knowledge and skills through education.

In these past 20-plus years, I’ve read every issue of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly and the NGS Magazine — and I’ve written for both. I’ve been to pretty much every NGS conference since that first one, and spoken at more than a few, and even keynoted one of the conferences in St. Charles. I’ve taken classes offered by NGS; I’ve given classes for NGS. I’ve used my member discount to buy NGS books.

I’m still learning, every day.

And one of the things I’ve learned is, quality genealogical education — classes, institutes, publications and more — doesn’t come free. It’s expensive, so much so that member dues alone can’t support everything NGS does, not just for genealogical education but in working towards preserving critical genealogical records and in keeping access to those records open for us all.

That’s why, when NGS asked me to serve as the honorary fundraising chair for 2026, I immediately said yes.

In this celebratory year — America’s 250th — I personally have given $250 a month, $3,000 in all, to support all the things that NGS does.

Now I’m challenging you in these last few days before this summer winds down to join me in supporting NGS — to give what we all can to ensure that the mission of excellence in genealogy through education, records preservation and access continues to move forward.

And there are goodies if you can pitch in. Anybody who donates $50 or more gets a seat in an exclusive webinar I’ll give. Up that to $100, and it’s the webinar and bonus materials. Up that to $250, and we’ll toss in recognition in the NGS Magazine.

Now… I’m hoping some folks may want to do a little more. And for some of us “of a certain age,” there’s a way we can contribute and help our own tax situations at the same time. Some of us may be in that good-news-bad-news situation where we set aside assets in tax-free accounts during our working years — that’s the good news — but we now have to take required minimum distributions (RMD) which are taxable — that’s the bad news.

But if we make a charitable contribution the right way — it’s called a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) — that can let us both accomplish our giving goals and reduce our tax burden. Say we’re supposed to take a $10,000 RMD, but before we take anything, we have our IRA custodian send a check for $3,000 directly to the National Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 128, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701. The $3,000 is a QCD since it was sent directly to the qualifying charity, and it’s tax-free. Then we only pay tax on the $7,000 we still have to take as the RMD for the year. Win-win!

Maybe, on the other hand, it’d be easier to make a smaller but regular gift on a monthly basis. If that works for you, there’s a new goodie being offered. Set up a new monthly gift to NGS by September 30th and you’ll get a 2027 calendar featuring the best-known spoiled-rotten-but-totally-gorgeous genealogy cats in the world: Rowan and Griffin, Ragdolls extraordinaire who have more followers on Facebook than I do these days. (If you need a Rowan-and-Griffin fix, my photos on Facebook can be found here.)

Stalking the elusive wild leaf…

Info on the whole summer challenge can be found on the NGS website — the short-form link is https://bit.ly/jgrchallenge2026.

Yes, I know it’s a tough time economically. Yes, gas prices are up and disposable incomes are down. But yes, I also know I want NGS to be there next year and the year after and the year after, committed to genealogical education, records preservation and access.

Join me. Join NGS. Join the summer challenge.

Besides, a webinar, bonus goodies, a cat calendar?

How can anyone resist?

Cite/link to this post: Judy G. Russell, “Before summer ends…,” The Legal Genealogist (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog/ : posted 16 Sep 2026).

There is a difference — such a difference — between “I read about it” and “I remember.”

And, for nearly a third of the American population, that difference is oh so real today.

They are the ones born after that day.

That brilliant sunny cool crisp September day.

That day that is now 25 years in the past.

September 11, 2001.

A day that those of us who were old enough then do remember.

A day we cannot forget.

We remember how the events of September 11, 2001, were fast-paced and horrific:

• At 8:46 a.m., 25 years ago today, American Airlines Flight 11 out of Boston, Massachusetts, crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center.

• At 9:03 a.m., 25 years ago today, United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center and exploded. Both buildings were burning.

• At 9:37 a.m., 25 years ago today, American Airlines Flight 77 out of Washington Dulles, crashed into the western side of the Pentagon and exploded. All on board and 125 in the Pentagon were killed.

• At 9:59 a.m., 25 years ago today, the south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed, crashing into the streets below.

• At 10:03 a.m., 25 years ago today, United Airlines Flight 93 was crashed by its hijackers into a field in Pennsylvania after the passengers made a desperate attempt to retake the aircraft. All on board died.

• At 10:29 a.m., 25 years ago today, the World Trade Center’s north tower collapsed from the top down. A cloud of ash turned day to night in the narrow streets of lower Manhattan.

In those few horrible moments between 8:46 a.m. and 10:29 a.m., nearly 3,000 men, women and children lost their lives to senseless, mindless, blind hatred. So many people — among them my neighbors, my colleagues, my friends — wiped from the face of the earth.

Some in an instant. In a heartbeat. Vaporized as murderous fanatics drove crowded airplanes into first one, then the other of the towers of the World Trade Center.

Some in long agonizing moments of fear and pain as they waited in vain for rescue.

Some in the corridors and hallways of the Pentagon.

Some in a determined fight to keep their hijacked plane from being used as yet another weapon of terror.

But, in the end, gone. All gone.

Today, they are names on the walls.

In New York, they are inscribed in brass.

They begin with Gordon M. Aamoth, Jr.

They end with Igor Zukelman.

In Pennsylvania, they are chiseled into stone.

They begin with Christian Adams.

They end with Kristin Gould White.

At the Pentagon, they are in steel and granite.

They begin with Paul W. Ambrose.

They end with Yuguang Zheng.

They were Americans and British and Pakistanis and Dominicans and Indians — citizens of more than 90 countries. They were men, and women, and children. On that day, they were as old as 85 years. They were as young as two. Some were as yet unborn: eleven of the women were pregnant on that day.

Those of us who were alive that day remember it all. We remember as though it happened yesterday. Yet 25 years have passed since that terrible day. Time enough that, you might think, the wounds would have begun to heal.

They have not. It is still hard, so hard, to get through this day of remembrance, every year, on 9/11. We who remember can’t help but weep on this terrible day. For everything we lost. For everything that should have been. For all those whose lives were lost. For all who remained behind, broken and bereft.

But I have to set aside the desire to curl up and simply cry today. Because, today, I have a promise to keep.

Today, and every year on this day, I must do what I swore I would do, 25 years ago, as I walked with my friend Toni through the streets of lower Manhattan, and stared at the posters with the faces of the missing, and at the empty firehouses, and at the twisted steel girders.

I promised that I would remember.

It is time now to fulfill that promise for this year. It is time again to remember. It is time again to open the film cannister into which I brushed some of the dust of Ground Zero, time again to touch that dust with my own hands, and time again to stand witness.

To make sure that I do not forget.

That we do not forget.

That no-one forgets.

That all those lives will never be forgotten.

To say, one more time, this year and every year, as long as I have life and breath, in words and images, NEVER FORGET.

Cite/link to this post: Judy G. Russell, “Year 25… never forget,” The Legal Genealogist (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog/ : posted 11 Sep 2026).

Hard to believe, isn’t it? It’s Labor Day 2026 already! Kids back in school, days growing shorter… fall is right around the corner.

As genealogists, we all appreciate Labor Day as a day off from work, a day when maybe we can sneak in a little extra research.

The Legal Genealogist proposes that we spend at least a little of that extra research time looking into the particular records of our particular ancestors who contributed to giving us that day off, and that research time.

Our labor union ancestors.

A century and more ago, we wouldn’t have had today off. We wouldn’t have had eight-hour work days, 40-hour weeks, paid vacations, employee health benefits, worker safety laws, compensation for on-the-job injuries or any of the other myriad benefits we think of today as perfectly ordinary and routine.

Each of these was fought for by our working ancestors and the unions they formed to stand up to big business. They fought for them, and sometimes died for them.

So… where can we find some of these labor union resources, records and repositories?

Well, there are some cool tools we can use.

First, we can use ArchiveGrid — a search tool that helps located archival materials held by more than 1400 archives, libraries and museums.¹

I did a quick search for the term labor union there this morning and got a “mere” 26,058 hits ranging from the labor union collection at the Cleveland Public Library to the records of the Cigar Makers International Union of America at the University of Maryland.

Or we can use the map.

This cool tool was created by Conor Casey for the Labor Archives Roundtable of the Society of American Archivists. Its title says it all: Interactive Map of Labor Archives in the United States and Canada: A Directory.² (Note: If that link doesn’t work, try this one or this one!)

Highlighting everything from the Labour Archives at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia to the Center for Labor Education & Research Labor History Archive at University of Hawai’i, this tool works like any other Google map: there are pins on the map showing the repositories and zooming in lets us choose which repository we want to look at if there’s more than one in one location, like New York City or Minneapolis.

The interactive map is based on another cool tool that Casey updated and put on the web: a listing called Labor Archives in the United States and Canada: A Directory, most recently updated in Spring 2021.³

Now… some caveats. First, either of these will take us directly to online collections we can poke around in at 3 a.m. in our bunny slippers. They’re tools that help us identify repositories. We’re going to have to do some work to find what’s available online. Second, the map and archive list links are now five or more years old, which means links are sometimes going to be broken. The pin to Dalhousie University’s collection produces an Oops! Page not found! response, but the collection is still there — at a different link.

With those warnings, in either case, we have the information we need to find repositories we need to begin to research our labor union ancestors.

Happy Labor Day.

Cite/link to this post: Judy G. Russell, “Labor Day 2026,” The Legal Genealogist (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : posted 7 Sep 2026).

SOURCES

Rabbit! Rabbit! Rabbit! Well, at least that’s what we all should have said if this had been posted on time! (Can we say “tech issues,” boys and girls? I knew we could…)

So, seriously, no, The Legal Genealogist doesn’t expect that to buy good luck for the month, but hey… you never know, right? And with as fast and furious as things are happening in 2026, well, let’s just say it can’t hurt.

Just yesterday we were hoping for a few warm days to start the spring and summer seasons, and now we’re heading directly into fall. Kids back in school, people even seriously starting to talk about the holidays… two-thirds of the way now through the year.

So… what’s up next? Lots, and as always you’re welcome to come along for the ride as much as possible.

September 2026

• Monday-Friday 31 August-4 September: The last of the 2026 full-week institutes, the Genealogical Institute on Federal Records, takes place at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. A seat in this comprehensive overview of federal records and researching in the federal archival repositories is one of the most hotly-sought-after items in genealogy. I’m honored to be presenting on Making a Federal Case Out of It and Busted, bankrupt, Banged Up: The Stories in Federal Court Records, both on Friday, 4 September. For info on trying to secure a slot for 2027, check out the Gen-Fed website.

• Thursday, 10 September, 6 p.m. EDT: The Virginia Beach Genealogical Society is hosting the presentation The Ethical Genealogist in a hybrid format at the Virginia Beach Central Library and via Zoom. Non-members can check the website for a link to register or email a Zoom link request to meetings@vbgsva.net.

• Monday, 14 September, 1:30 p.m. EDT: The Genealogy Society at Flat Rock (NC) will host the presentation Courting America: Using Court Records for Genealogy. I’m presenting virtually, but the meeting is in person at the Flat Rock Village Hall. It’s free to members and $10 to non-members. For more information about the society and membership, check out the society website.

• Thursday, 17 September, 11 a.m. EDT: My two sessions in the Researching New York: Resources and Strategies course at IGHR, both focusing on New York court records, will be offered on this third once-a-week session for this multi-week course. If this kind of institute course interests you, keep an eye on the IGHR website for future offerings.

• Thursday, 17 September, 7 p.m. EDT: The Avon Lake (Ohio) Public Library is hosting the virtual presentation Making a Federal Case Out of It. For more information and to register, see the library’s event page.

• Friday-Saturday, 18-19 September: The North Carolina Genealogical Society is holding its 2026 Fall Conference at the McKimmon Center in Raleigh, NC in person and virtually. I’m honored to be keynoting the conference with the presentation Fairs, Felons and Fake News: Early North Carolina Laws and I’ll give three more talks as well: “Don’t Forget the Ladies” – A Genealogist’s Guide to Women and the Law; DNA and the Golden Rule: The Law and Ethics of Genetic Genealogy; and Landing The Ancestors: Using Lands Records in Genealogy. I’m just one of an amazing group of 25 experts speaking live or streamed (or both). For more information and to register, check out the conference website.

• Friday, 18 September, 10 a.m. PDT/1 p.m. EDT: In between sessions of the NCGS conference, the Bainbridge Island Genealogical Society will host the virtual workshop When Worlds Collide: Resolving Conflicting Evidence. Seats are limited and preference will go to BIGS members, so watch for registration information on For more information and to register, see the society’s event page.

• Wednesday, 23 September, 7 p.m. EDT: The Virginia Genealogical Society is hosting a series of online discussions called Barbara’s Book Club, focusing on the fabulous content of the new VGS publication by Barbara Vines Little, A Researcher’s Guide to Virginia’s Historical Records. I’m moderating the discussion on Chapters 9 and 10, which examine the Colonial Land Office and The Northern Neck/Fairfax Proprietary. For more information, check out the event page and click on this link to register.

• Saturday, 26 September, 1 p.m. EDT: The Pennsylvania Chapter, Palatines to America is hosting its virtual Annual Meeting and Fall Webinar, where I’ll be presenting Putting Those Records to Work and The Legal History of Title Origins in Pennsylvania. For more information, see the event page and register at this link.

October 2026

• Saturday, 3 October, 3 p.m. BST/10 a.m. EDT: The Devon Family History Society, Exeter, England, is hosting its virtual Annual General Meeting and Webinar, where I’ll be presenting The Robot Genealogist: Separating Fact from Fiction in AI-Assisted Research. For more information, see the event page and sign up for the socie4ty mail list at at this link.

• Wednesdays, October 7 and October 14, 7 p.m. EDT: The Family History Academy is hosting Genealogy’s Secret Weapon: Tax Records from Whiskey to Watches. — a virtual two-part course that I’m so excited about. Think about it: even when our ancestors left behind nothing but footprints in places where they lived, the tax people found ’em — and created records about them. We’re going to look at records from all over — not just the US, but Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom too. For more information and to register, see the FHA course website.

• Thursday, 15 October, 7:00 p.m. EDT: The Ford’s Colony (VA) Genealogy Club is hosting the virtual presentation Where There Is–or Isn’t–a Will. For more information, see the society’s meeting schedule page.

• Wednesday, 21 October, 6:00 p.m. CDT/7 p.m. EDT: The St. Louis County Library is hosting the virtual presentation From 1619 to Juneteenth: Slavery and the Law Before the Civil War. For more information, see the library’s events calendar page.

Come on out and join us, if you can, for one or more of these events and note, in some cases, that registration will be free or at a reduced cost to members of the host society — and some are limited to members only… There are some reaaaaaaally good reasons for joining genealogical societies… Just sayin’…

Cite/link to this post: Judy G. Russell, “Coming up: September-October 2026,” The Legal Genealogist (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : posted 2 Sep 2026).

Excuse me?

Where exactly did July go?

It seems like yesterday was just July 1, and now it’s August 1 already.

Part of that is because of the busy institute schedule in July, for sure, and if you’re already missing the institute experience, be aware that there are courses offered once a week starting in August or later from both the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) and the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) with seats open. At IGHR, registration for Researching New York: Resources and Strategies (once-a-week course held Thursdays, September 3 through October 29) remains open until August 8 and for Core Course Two –Intermediate Genealogy and Historical Studies (once-a-week course held Thursdays, October 15 through November 12) registration runs through September 15. SLIG is offering seven fall once-a-week courses and information is on the institute website.

So… what’s up next for The Legal Genealogist? Lots, and as always you’re welcome to come along for the ride as much as possible.

August 2026

• Thursday-Sunday, 6-9 August: The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania holds its four-day virtual Pennsylvania Genealogy Event (PaGE). It’s a unique format, with access to 32 presentations by 24 experts provided for two weeks before the event itself, live interactive Q&A sessions during the four days of the event, gathering sessions for attendee discussions led by a moderator, and 90-day replay access to the lectures and the Q&A sessions. Topics cover just about every aspect of Pennsylvania research, from indentured servitude to migration to church records. I’ll be presenting In That Case: Using Published Pennsylvania Court Cases (live Q&A Sunday, 9 August, at 10:30 a.m. EDT) and Courting Pennsylvania: The Courts of the Keystone State (live Q&A Sunday, 9 August, at 11:15 a.m. EDT). For more information and to register, see the PaGE 2026 page.

• Sunday-Friday, 16-21 August: The Utah State Society, Daughters of the American Revolution is hosting its in-person DAR/FSL Week in Salt Lake City, open to DAR members and other genealogists from around the country who want to learn more about genealogical research while taking advantage of the facilities of the world-renowned FamilySearch Library. Experts from the Library will be joined by individual presenters during the week. My own topics are: Where There Is – or Isn’t – a Will; Courting America: Using Court Records for Genealogy; “Don’t Forget the Ladies” – A Genealogist’s Guide to Women and the Law; Dower and Dowry: Women, Property, & Legal Records; NARA Mythbusters: Your Family IS in the Archives; and No Vitals? No Problem! – Building a Family through Circumstantial Evidence (A Family for Isabella). Registration is closed, but keep tabs on the event Facebook page for possible last-minute slots due to cancellations. Note that this program won’t be offered in 2027 because of hotel availability (the Salt Lake Temple Open House will take every available room for months in 2027!).

September 2026

• Monday-Friday 31 August-4 September: The last of the 2026 full-week institutes, the Genealogical Institute on Federal Records, takes place at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. A seat in this comprehensive overview of federal records and researching in the federal archival repositories is one of the most hotly-sought-after items in genealogy. I’m honored to be presenting on Making a Federal Case Out of It and Busted, bankrupt, Banged Up: The Stories in Federal Court Records, both on Friday, 4 September. For info on trying to secure a slot for 2027, check out the Gen-Fed website.

• Thursday, 10 September, 6 p.m. EDT: The Virginia Beach Genealogical Society is hosting the presentation The Ethical Genealogist in a hybrid format at the Virginia Beach Central Library and via Zoom. Non-members can check the website for a link to register or email a Zoom link request to meetings@vbgsva.net.

• Monday, 14 September, 1:30 p.m. EDT: The Genealogy Society at Flat Rock (NC) will host the presentation Courting America: Using Court Records for Genealogy. I’m presenting virtually, but the meeting is in person at the Flat Rock Village Hall. It’s free to members and $10 to non-members. For more information about the society and membership, check out the society website.

• Thursday, 17 September, 11 a.m. EDT: My two sessions in the Researching New York: Resources and Strategies course at IGHR, both focusing on New York court records, will be offered on this third once-a-week session for this multi-week course. See the course page for more information and to register — but note registration is only through August 8.

• Thursday, 17 September, 7 p.m. EDT: The Avon Lake (Ohio) Public Library is hosting the virtual presentation Making a Federal Case Out of It. For more information and to register, see the library’s event page.

• Friday-Saturday, 18-19 September: The North Carolina Genealogical Society is holding its 2026 Fall Conference at the McKimmon Center in Raleigh, NC in person and virtually. I’m honored to be keynoting the conference with the presentation Fairs, Felons and Fake News: Early North Carolina Laws and I’ll give three more talks as well: “Don’t Forget the Ladies” – A Genealogist’s Guide to Women and the Law; DNA and the Golden Rule: The Law and Ethics of Genetic Genealogy; and Landing The Ancestors: Using Lands Records in Genealogy. I’m just one of an amazing group of 25 experts speaking live or streamed (or both). For more information and to register, check out the conference website.

• Friday, 18 September, 10 a.m. PDT/1 p.m. EDT: In between sessions of the NCGS conference, the Bainbridge Island Genealogical Society will host the virtual workshop When Worlds Collide: Resolving Conflicting Evidence. Seats are limited and preference will go to BIGS members, so watch for registration information on For more information and to register, see the society’s event page.

• Wednesday, 23 September, 7 p.m. EDT: The Virginia Genealogical Society is hosting a series of online discussions called Barbara’s Book Club, focusing on the fabulous content of the new VGS publication by Barbara Vines Little, A Researcher’s Guide to Virginia’s Historical Records. I’m moderating the discussion on Chapters 9 and 10, which examine the Colonial Land Office and The Northern Neck/Fairfax Proprietary. For more information, check out the event page and click on this link to register.

• Saturday, 26 September, 1 p.m. EDT: The Pennsylvania Chapter, Palatines to America is hosting its virtual Annual Meeting and Fall Webinar, where I’ll be presenting Putting Those Records to Work and The Legal History of Title Origins in Pennsylvania. For more information, see the event page and register at this link.

Come on out and join us, if you can, for one or more of these events and note, in some cases, that registration will be free or at a reduced cost to members of the host society — and some are limited to members only… There are some reaaaaaaally good reasons for joining genealogical societies… Just sayin’…

Cite/link to this post: Judy G. Russell, “Coming up: August-September 2026,” The Legal Genealogist (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : posted 2 Aug 2026).

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America,

WHEN in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

WE hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

HE has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

HE has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

HE has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

HE has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

HE has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

HE has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

HE has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

HE has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

HE has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

HE has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

HE has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

HE has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

FOR Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

FOR protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

FOR cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

FOR imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

FOR depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

FOR transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

FOR abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

FOR taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

FOR suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

HE has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

HE has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

HE is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

HE has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

HE has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

IN every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

NOR have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

WE, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Cite/link to this post: Judy G. Russell, “July 4, 2026,” The Legal Genealogist (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : posted 4 July 2026).

It’s the halfway mark.

Seriously.

Half of 2026 is gone already, in the blink of an eye.

It’s hot, humid and even downright sultry in much of the United States as we continue full speed in the summer institute season and more — things like methodology workshops, a special free copyright presentation sponsored by NYG&B and… and… and…

So… here’s what’s coming up:

July 2026

• Tuesday-Thursday, 7-9 July: The Midwest African American Genealogy Institute (MAAGI) holds its courses in a virtual format, and I’ll be teaching in two of the tracks: Track 1A, Fundamental Methods and Strategies for Genealogical Research; and Track 1B, Methods and Strategies for Slavery Era Research. For more information on all tracks, and to keep an eye out for 2027 courses, see the MAAGI website.

• Thursday, 9 July, 7 p.m. EDT: The New York Genealogical & Biographical Society is hosting the hybrid (virtual or in-person) presentation Borrowed, Shared, Preserved: Copyright for Genealogists as part of its Preserving Your New York Story series. You can attend in person at the NYG&B headquarters, 36 West 44th Street, Suite 711, New York City, or online (I’ll be online myself). For more information and to register — required, but free, see the event page.

• Saturday, 11 July, 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT): The Orange County California Genealogical Society is hosting the virtual members-only workshop No Vitals? No Problem – Building a Family through Circumstantial Evidence. For more information, see the Meetings & Events page and to join, see the membership page.

• Monday-Friday, 13-17 July: The GRIP Genealogy Institute holds its second session of the summer in person on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh. I’m actually taking a course myself that week, but will be teaching for others in two courses: Surrogates and Substitutes – the 1890 US Census Exemplar coordinated by Cecelia McFadden and Kate Townsend; and Skill-Building Practicum for Genealogical Research Success coordinated by Sunny Jane Morton. For more information on the GRIP Genealogy Institute, fall courses still open and announcements for 2027 as they are made, head over to the the GRIP website.

• Monday-Friday, 27-31 July: The Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) holds its weeklong immersive session in a virtual format. There are six courses offered during this week, including the course I coordinate, Advanced Methodology and Evidence Analysis. Other courses are offered in a once-a-week format, with three of those upcoming later in the year. For more information about all courses, see the 2026 courses page at the IGHR website, and use this link to register for future courses.

August 2026

• Thursday-Sunday, 6-9 August: The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania holds its four-day virtual Pennsylvania Genealogy Event (PaGE). It’s a unique format, with access to 32 presentations by 24 experts provided for two weeks before the event itself, live interactive Q&A sessions during the four days of the event, gathering sessions for attendee discussions led by a moderator, and 90-day replay access to the lectures and the Q&A sessions. Topics cover just about every aspect of Pennsylvania research, from indentured servitude to migration to church records. I’ll be presenting In That Case: Using Published Pennsylvania Court Cases and Courting Pennsylvania: The Courts of the Keystone State. For more information and to register, see the PaGE 2026 page.

• Sunday-Friday, 16-21 August: The Utah State Society, Daughters of the American Revolution is hosting its in-person DAR/FSL Week in Salt Lake City, open to DAR members and other genealogists from around the country who want to learn more about genealogical research while taking advantage of the facilities of the world-renowned FamilySearch Library. Experts from the Library will be joined by individual presenters during the week. My own topics are: Where There Is – or Isn’t – a Will; Courting America: Using Court Records for Genealogy; “Don’t Forget the Ladies” – A Genealogist’s Guide to Women and the Law; Dower and Dowry: Women, Property, & Legal Records; NARA Mythbusters: Your Family IS in the Archives; and No Vitals? No Problem! – Building a Family through Circumstantial Evidence (A Family for Isabella). DAR members can get more information at the event Facebook page. Everyone can register at the registration link, and hotel info is here. Note that this program won’t be offered in 2027 because of hotel availability (the Salt Lake Temple Open House will take every available room for months in 2027!).

Come on out and join us, if you can, for one or more of these events and note, in some cases, that registration will be free or at a reduced cost to members of the host society — and some are limited to members only… There are some reaaaaaaally good reasons for joining genealogical societies… Just sayin’…

Cite/link to this post: Judy G. Russell, “Coming up: July-August 2026,” The Legal Genealogist (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : posted 1 July 2026).

The Legal Genealogist has said this before.

Specifically, four years ago, when this film first came out.¹

What I said then is still the truth today: Ancestry is often the company genealogists love to hate.

Along with every other subscriber, I have to admit that — sigh — it’s expensive.

It’s often unresponsive to concerns.

It makes changes to things that don’t need to be changed and doesn’t fix things that do need to be changed.

And did I mention expensive?

Yeah, all that.

And then…

And then…

It takes the lead on a project like this one. Four years ago, it released the film A Dream Delivered:
The Lost Letters of Hawkins Wilson in advance of Juneteenth,² in partnership with Paramount:

It’s just as powerful today, on Juneteenth 2026, as it was four years ago.

Watch it.

Just watch it.³

Wow.

Cite/link to this post: Judy G. Russell, “For Juneteenth 2026, the letters,” The Legal Genealogist (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog/ : posted 19 June 2026).

SOURCES

Sumer is icumin in!

Yep, it’s almost summer in the northern hemisphere as June rolls into 2026. The National Genealogical Society conference has wrapped up and it’s time to head into the summer institute season and more.

There are lots of things coming up that, as always, The Legal Genealogist invites you to come along on, and above all else — remember, it’s the summer institute season. And there’s a virtual course coming up fast that’s a particular favorite of mine: the course I coordinate for the GRIP Genealogy Institute. Running June 22-26, it’s Women and Children First!: Research Methods for the Hidden Half of the Family.

I’m really proud of the stellar faculty for this course — Blaine T. Bettinger, Catherine Becker Wiest Desmarais, Alec Ferretti; Michael S. Ramage, Richard G. Sayre and Ari Wilkins join me in examining all the ways to find and document the women of our families—mothers, sisters, wives—and the children they bore and raised. From the obvious topics of school and work records to the way these family members were disguised behind tick marks in the census, from clues hidden away in manuscript collections to the clues hidden away in our very genetic code, the resources and skills highlighted by this course will answer the question of why we should—and how we can—research women and children first and help us recreate our family trees far beyond the father-to-son-to-son bloodlines of genealogy past.

It’s a fun course, it’s an important course, and it’s a course where — every single time it’s offered — students make breakthroughs in their research that give them amazing insights into their own families.

For more information, see the course page at the GRIP website, and use this link to register for virtual courses.

And of course there’s more coming up:

June 2026

• Saturday, 13 June, 11 a.m. EDT: The Hudson County (NJ) Genealogical & Historical Society is hosting the virtual members-only presentation Doing Time – Prison Records as Genealogy Resources. Members get log-in info for all members-only webinars automatically, but there’s still time to join! See the society membership page.

• Monday, 15 June, 7 p.m. EDT: The North Hills (PA) Genealogists are hosting the presentation From Blackstone to the Statutes at Large – How Knowing the Law Makes Us Better Genealogists in a hybrid setting (I’ll be virtual, but you can be there virtually or in person!). For more information and to register for either format, see the Meetings & Events page.

• Monday-Friday, 22-26 June: As explained above, the GRIP Genealogy Institute holds its first session of the summer in a virtual format, and my course, Women and Children First!: Research Methods for the Hidden Half of the Family, will be part of that week. For more information, see the course page at the GRIP website, and use this link to register for virtual courses.

July 2026

• Tuesday-Thursday, 7-9 July: The Midwest African American Genealogy Institute (MAAGI) holds its courses in a virtual format, and I’ll be teaching in two of the tracks: Track 1A, Fundamental Methods and Strategies for Genealogical Research; and Track 1B, Methods and Strategies for Slavery Era Research. For more information on all tracks, see the MAAGI tracks page, and use this link to register.

• Saturday, 11 July, 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT): The Orange County California Genealogical Society is hosting the virtual members-only workshop No Vitals? No Problem – Building a Family through Circumstantial Evidence. For more information, see the Meetings & Events page and to join, see the membership page.

• Monday-Friday, 13-17 July: The GRIP Genealogy Institute holds its second session of the summer in person on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh. I’m actually taking a course myself that week, but will be teaching for others in two courses: Surrogates and Substitutes – the 1890 US Census Exemplar coordinated by Cecelia McFadden and Kate Townsend; and Skill-Building Practicum for Genealogical Research Success coordinated by Sunny Jane Morton. For more information on all the in-person courses and how to register, see the courses page at the GRIP website, and use this link to register for virtual courses.

• Monday-Friday, 27-31 July: The Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) holds its weeklong immersive session in a virtual format. There are six courses offered during this week, including the course I coordinate, Advanced Methodology and Evidence Analysis. Other courses are offered in a once-a-week format, with three of those upcoming later in the year. For more information about all courses, see the 2026 courses page at the IGHR website, and use this link to register.

Come on out and join us, if you can, for one or more of these events and note, in some cases, that registration will be free or at a reduced cost to members of the host society — and some are limited to members only… There are some reaaaaaaally good reasons for joining genealogical societies… Just sayin’…

Cite/link to this post: Judy G. Russell, “Coming up: June-July 2026,” The Legal Genealogist (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : posted 1 June 2026).

It is Memorial Day here in the United States — the official holiday and the end of the three-day weekend during which we honor those who gave all for the cause of American freedom.

It was added to the federal holiday calendar in 1888 as Decoration Day¹ and moved to the Monday holiday calendar along with Labor Day, Columbus Day and Veterans Day in 1968.²

It is a time set aside for us all to honor the men and women who died in the service of this country in order that we might live free.

And The Legal Genealogist will never spend this day without pausing to remember the booksends of our family’s losses.

One in the Revolutionary War.

One in World War II.

Richard Baker was just 23 years old when he died, that cold December day in 1776. Unmarried. Leaving no descendants. He was born 23 December 1753, most likely in Culpeper County, Virginia.³ As far as we’ve been able to determine, he was the 10th of 13 children born to Thomas and Dorothy (Davenport) Baker of Virginia.⁴

He was serving with his older brother, my fourth great grandfather David Baker, in the 3rd Virginia Regiment of the Continental Line when Washington crossed the Delaware just after dark on Christmas Day 1776. They were headed to what is known today as the Battle of Trenton.

One of Washington’s aides, believed to have been Col. John Fitzgerald, recorded the conditions faced by those troops that day: “It is fearfully cold and raw and a snowstorm setting in. The wind is northeast and beats in the faces of the men. It will be a terrible night for the soldiers who have no shoes. Some of them have tied old rags around their feet; others are barefoot, but I have not heard a man complain. They are ready to suffer any hardship and die rather than give up their liberty.”⁵

Washington wanted to attack just after daybreak but the crossing took longer than expected. By 6:00 A.M., the storm not abating, the conditions were miserable. One commander sent word that the men’s muskets would not fire due to being exposed to the elements. Washington sent word back to rely on the bayonet: “I am resolved to take Trenton.” ⁶ And, somehow, Washington and his troops succeeded in taking Trenton, and they did so at a small cost to his small force.

But part of that cost was paid by Richard.

There aren’t any details of his death. Just a poignant and quiet statement by his brother David many years later when David applied for a pension: “In a few days after we joined the main army the battle of White Plains was fought. We retreated & recrossed the Deleware The next Battle was at Trenton the 26th of Decemb – I was guarding the Baggage during the battle & had a Brother by the name of Richard killd in that action.”⁷

Some 167 years later, another family member gave his all. My mother’s cousin, Philip Cottrell — her uncle John’s only son — died in a plane crash as a Marine Corps pilot in World War II. He was appointed to the Naval Academy in 1941, but — like many enrolled in the nation’s service academies — had opted out of the classroom and into active duty. He wanted to fly — and he earned both his wings and a second lieutenant’s commission at Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1943.⁸

He was assigned to a training squadron at the Mojave Marine Corps Air Station — a station which saw four pilots killed in training accidents between the 13th of August and the 7th of September in 1943. And the first to die in those terrible weeks… Philip Cottrell.⁹

His roommate told a local newspaper: “The squadron had gone up about 2:30 p.m. to get in a couple hours of target practice. Phil was piloting the tow plane. When he attempted to let out the long target sleeve, it became entangled and wouldn’t unfold. Having no target to shoot at, the squadron decided to go back to the base. Phil was to pull in the ‘sleeve’ and follow them in. Apparently, the target was blown up against the side of the engine as Phil was hauling it toward the cockpit, and it became ignited. His plane afire, Lt. Cottrell had no choice but to jump. It is believed the fuselage of the plane struck him on the head as he leaped. He never pulled the ripcord.”¹⁰

Each of them gave his life for the freedom that all of his kin — and all of us Americans — enjoy today.

And today, on this Memorial Day 2026, we express our thanks.

To Richard. To Philip.

And to all who have given their all that we might live free.

Cite/link to this post: Judy G. Russell, “Memorial Day 2026,” The Legal Genealogist (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : posted 25 May 2026).

SOURCES

Image: Emanuel Leutze, “Washington Crossing the Delaware,” Metropolitan Museum of Art
Image: Gerry Metzler, “Vought F4U Corsair,” CC BY-SA 2.0