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Tax records offer genealogists a treasure trove of information beyond just confirming where ancestors lived, revealing financial circumstances, family relationships, and even marriage dates.

• Heather Jenkins, president of the Johnson County Genealogical Society and Heartland chapter of APG, specializes in tax record research
• Tax records connect to all aspects of life including birth, death, marriage, and property ownership
• The 1798 "window tax" led homeowners to brick up windows and redesign staircases to avoid taxation
• Bachelor's tax or "unmarried tax" lists can help determine marriage dates when ancestors disappear from these rolls
• Examining tax records can reveal an ancestor's true financial status, often showing apparent wealth hiding significant debt
• Tax records may list estates under executors' names rather than the deceased's surname
• Research brick walls are often in the researcher's methodology, not in the data itself
• Creating specific research plans for tax records helps target the most relevant repositories and sources

Find Heather Jenkins at: https://balancedgenealogy.com

Email your genealogical questions to HittintheBricks@gmail.com

Be sure to bookmark linktr.ee/hittinthebricks for your one stop access to Kathleen Brandt, the host of Hittin' the Bricks with Kathleen. And, visit us on YouTube: Off the Wall with Kathleen John and Chewey video recorded specials.

Hittin' the Bricks is produced through the not-for-profit, 501c3 TracingAncestors.org.

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Revolutionary War research presents unique genealogical challenges, as records are scattered across multiple countries and unconventional sources. Kathleen answers audience questions from her recent presentation, explaining why many ancestors appear to vanish from Revolutionary War records.

For presentation handouts and slides from Kathleen's April 12th presentation "From Muskets to Manuscripts," visit linktr.ee/hittinthebricks

Be sure to bookmark linktr.ee/hittinthebricks for your one stop access to Kathleen Brandt, the host of Hittin' the Bricks with Kathleen. And, visit us on YouTube: Off the Wall with Kathleen John and Chewey video recorded specials.

Hittin' the Bricks is produced through the not-for-profit, 501c3 TracingAncestors.org.

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Most family trees contain unexpected branches, but few conversations address the complex relationship between Irish American and African American heritage as candidly as our latest episode.

a3Geanealogy blog

Be sure to bookmark linktr.ee/hittinthebricks for your one stop access to Kathleen Brandt, the host of Hittin' the Bricks with Kathleen. And, visit us on YouTube: Off the Wall with Kathleen John and Chewey video recorded specials.

Hittin' the Bricks is produced through the not-for-profit, 501c3 TracingAncestors.org.

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The stories of our female ancestors are often stripped down to the simplest narratives – they were farm wives, mothers, teachers – but beneath these sanitized descriptions lie complex lives filled with surprising choices, passionate relationships, and occasionally scandalous secrets. Join Kathleen and John as they peel back the layers of family folklore to reveal the true stories of the women who came before us.
The women were secretive, the documents were not!

Be sure to bookmark linktr.ee/hittinthebricks for your one stop access to Kathleen Brandt, the host of Hittin' the Bricks with Kathleen. And, visit us on YouTube: Off the Wall with Kathleen John and Chewey video recorded specials.

Hittin' the Bricks is produced through the not-for-profit, 501c3 TracingAncestors.org.

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Join us with Glenn North, Director of Inclusive Learning and Creative Impact at the Museum of Kansas City, as we talk about the vital connection between art, history, and social justice.

Visit Glenn's site at:

https://www.glennnorthpoetry.com/

Lynch Family by Joseph Hirsch

https://art.nelson-atkins.org/objects/24036/lynch-family

Be sure to bookmark linktr.ee/hittinthebricks for your one stop access to Kathleen Brandt, the host of Hittin' the Bricks with Kathleen. And, visit us on YouTube: Off the Wall with Kathleen John and Chewey video recorded specials.

Hittin' the Bricks is produced through the not-for-profit, 501c3 TracingAncestors.org.

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Unlock the secrets of your ancestry with Sherri Camp, our featured genealogy librarian from the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library.

Join us as Sherri takes us on her remarkable journey through the world of genealogy and discover the invaluable resources available at the library, including the family history collections.

Resources Cited:
The Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library
https://tscpl.org/

Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society
https://www.aahgs.org/

Kansas Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society
http://www.kaahgs.org/

African American Topeka
by Sherrita Camp
https://a.co/d/aY0j8sT

Black Profiles in Courage: A Legacy of African-American Achievement
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Alan Steinberg:
https://a.co/d/6fqL0hE

Be sure to bookmark linktr.ee/hittinthebricks for your one stop access to Kathleen Brandt, the host of Hittin' the Bricks with Kathleen. And, visit us on YouTube: Off the Wall with Kathleen John and Chewey video recorded specials.

Hittin' the Bricks is produced through the not-for-profit, 501c3 TracingAncestors.org.

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Unlock the secrets of turning your family's rich history into a dynamic digital treasure trove with the help of Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing. Discover how digital publishing not only facilitates easy distribution but also creates a lasting resource for family reunions.

1. Prepare Your Book for Publishing
2. Publish via Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)
3. Choose Distribution Settings
4. Set Your Pricing
5. Share the Book with Your Family
6. Gifting Copies

• order copies of your book at the author's cost (for print books)
• send gift copies of the Kindle version

For Document conversions:
Website: https://calibre-ebook.com/

Related Blogs:
"Reads over Royalties"
"EPUB with InDesign, Page Breaks"
"Secrets with the Trees" by John A Brandt

Be sure to bookmark linktr.ee/hittinthebricks for your one stop access to Kathleen Brandt, the host of Hittin' the Bricks with Kathleen. And, visit us on YouTube: Off the Wall with Kathleen John and Chewey video recorded specials.

Hittin' the Bricks is produced through the not-for-profit, 501c3 TracingAncestors.org.

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In this genealogy podcast episode, we discuss the significance of presidential libraries for genealogical research as part of our 2025 Presidential Library series. These libraries are an underutilized resource for genealogical projects, and Kathleen has uncovered dozens of ancestral documents for clients using them.

Kathleen also shares tips and tools for tackling genealogy brick walls and researching common surnames. For one client, she navigated the challenges of researching the surnames North, Hams, and Heard.

As always, we’re excited to share a helpful genealogical tool. Have you tried the libcat.familysearch.org catalog? This powerful tool can fast-track your brick wall research and even help you bypass calls to the courthouse. Just sign in with your familysearch.org username/password.

If you’re unfamiliar with FamilySearch, signing up for free access is simple—no credit card required, just a username and password.

Let’s take a moment to thank FamilySearch for digitizing and freely sharing their invaluable resources!

Be sure to bookmark linktr.ee/hittinthebricks for your one stop access to Kathleen Brandt, the host of Hittin' the Bricks with Kathleen. And, visit us on YouTube: Off the Wall with Kathleen John and Chewey video recorded specials.

Hittin' the Bricks is produced through the not-for-profit, 501c3 TracingAncestors.org.