Midwest Rural Roots Genealogy & Family Trees

1 week left to put in any orders for Christmas family tree presents ! I need at 1 month to ensure a project is given enough time to research and at times send for documents.

Tis the season !

The urge to serve others no matter the cost.
Thank you to all Veterans
past and present.

Another family tree style that can include up to 7 generations of direct descent gamily history. This project was a surprise wedding gift for a couple on their big day!

*Blacked out for privacy*

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A beautiful show piece for a wedding ! A family tree tells the story of how 2 families become 1 and is just a fun conversation starter at the reception - family and friends will enjoy as well as the wedding couple having it to enjoy forever ❤️

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This weekend my husband and I each had funerals on the same day, in different states. Each family had requested a special kind of tree for their loved one's celebration of life. The 3rd was a spur of the moment gift in thanks to another special family.

Custom orders can always be made - trees that aren't direct descent (spanning out different generations) etc. Let me know what you are looking for in your family history and we can create a custom tree design for your family too !
*Printed/framed tree with my son was printed at a size of 36"x24"
at Rice Lake Printery They do amazing work, quick and fair prices!

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Another family tree style ready to go out ! This template can hold 6 or 7 generations depending on your order and what information I can find.
*Black boxes covering names/dates for privacy.
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Mistakes Made in STONE
When the headstone doesn't match 'correct' birth/death dates

One of the biggest frustrations (or exhilarations in my case) in genealogy and family history research is when pieces of information about a subject/person contradicts others - what is the truth?! This is especially prevalent in historical facts prior to 1900's.

Who was this person, when/where were they were born/married/had children/died ? Finding the answers to those most basic questions can be harder than one may think.

Information- even government documents aren't always correct- for a multitude of reasons. Sometimes things aren't recorded correctly, mistakes can be made, language barriers, tired census takers who didn't care, clerical or transcribing mistakes- there are a multitude of reasons for misinformation.

In this particular case the subject "William Herman Kado/Kadow", finding the subject's father's correct life details was difficult, due to misinformation on his HEADSTONE! How does that happen!? Let's dig into this--

William Herman Kado/Kadow was born Dec 11, 1893 in Spring Valley/Wilson township to Emil Kadow and Amalie Kelm, according to WI birth registry, his SS records, his headstone, his obituary and matching census records.
Searching for William and his folks, I start with the 1900 census; William is listed with his mother Amalie/Mollie (Kelm) Kado, and his 5 siblings, at 6 years old, in Spring Valley, WI. His mother is listed as a widow. (*This information tells us that William's father, Amalie's husband had to have died before 1900.) The youngest child of Amalie on this census is 3 years old; so we can make an educated guess that the father Emil died between 1896 and 1900. We find his headstone at Saint Michael's Cemetery in Wilson, WI, buried next to his wife. The inscription of the dates read 1852-1898. This falls in line with the information previously stated as well as the potential immigration of Emil stating he was born 1852. Next we start looking for an obituary or death notice in 1898-1899 (perhaps he died on Dec 31, so the obit would be in the next year). An death notice is found in the St. Croix newspaper (county of Spring Valley/Wilson) on Jul 15, 1897. . . . wait 1897?! Why would his headstone say 1898!? How do we figure out what is the right bit of info- did he die in 1897 or 1898?

In this case, choosing to go with the newspaper article is the best educated guess we can make. Checking the dates on the newspaper (on the 1st page especially) the year is consistent on all pages of 1897- so that was not a mistake. The headstone is of modern marble and may have been reconstructed or a new one made completely for Emil and Amalie Kadow. It appears as the tho the current headstone is set on top of an older concrete flat slab that may or may not have been an original headstone. The newspaper could not print a death notice a year before the death occurred.

If you have a question or a case that you would like solved in your family tree- contact me and I would love to help you discover your family's past !



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Jun 26, 1899
Wedding of William Thomas Kincaid and Margaret Rose Ironmonger, in Mason City, Illinois.

Colorizing old family photos brings life to your family history !

For those of you questioning why aren't siblings, aunts/uncles etc on the family trees you do? I produce Direct Descent Ancestry, a base person and their direct lines going back 5 generations.

**Direct ancestors are people to whom you are related through parent-child relationships only. Aunts, uncles, siblings, and all other family members who are not direct ancestors or descendants are called “collateral relatives” or “indirect ancestors.” **

These are the main trees that I build for clients BUT I am open to creating other types of trees based upon request.

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Midwest Genealogy -Family Tree Creation

Lots of new trees have been going out lately and I have added a new tree style as well. All trees can be customized with different color schemes, fonts, sizes, etc. I'm always open to new ideas of displaying family trees- shoot me a message today.

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An intriguing case of mistaken Irish descent.

*Don't forget to follow me for more fun genealogy research findings and contact me if you want a family tree done of your very own*

To date, this continues to be one of my MOST interesting finds while doing the genealogical research of a family! In researching the lineage of an Irish family’s surname of Moriarity, in Iowa, I came across some interesting pieces of information that led me to believe that there was more to this family than just Irish lineage.

The initial subject was a John Daniel Moriarity, born June 20, 1889, son of Kate Eigenberger (maiden name) who was married to a Denis Moriarity at the turn of the century in the area of Dubuque County.

After finding the normal bits of information including their obituaries, their marriage documentation, and any census records that matched their name and birth years exactly, including census records from 1885 and further on into their married life in 1900, 1910, 1920 and 1930 – I was instantly confused because the marriage records I had found for Katherine and Denis stated they were married in May of 1899 and John had been born 10 years prior to that - how could that be?

Next, I started searching for any other information I could find using Katherine's maiden name of Eigenberger. What I found was amazing! I found a marriage record from March of 1889 for Katherine, aged 20, to a Louis Feinburg, aged 27— a Jewish salesman — from an entry in a church book. Not only was the marriage local to the Eigenberger farm, but Katherine’s brother was listed as the adult responsible for giving away the bride. The next bit of information I found was from the 1895 census -- which I could not find originally -- included Katherine Eigenberger, aged 15, listed as living on a farm with her family. Listed below the immediate family is a Louis Feinburg, aged 22, a dry goods peddler. That means Louis was living there around 5 years before their marriage!

Next was the 1895 census, where this time I searched for Katherine Feinburg, assuming they were still married 6 years later, and I indeed did find her listed along with her son as: Katherine Feinburg, aged 26, and John Feinburg, aged 5. Louis was not listed with them in the household and searches failed to find him in the county for the next 2 decades.

So the questions became: Was this the same Katherine Eigneberg that became Katherine Moriarity and did John Moriarity start his life as a Feinburg? The pieces of information that helped solve the puzzle came from newspaper clippings from 1899.

In March 1899, Katherine filed for divorce from Louis and it was printed in the local papers; she was granted the divorce based on abandonment of her as well as the child of the marriage, John. In May of 1899, she married Denis Moriarity. John continued to use his surname of Feinburg until at least 1905, where he is listed in the census as John Feinburg, stepson to head of house Denis Moriarity. By the time he was married in 1916, he had adopted the name of Moriarity; also shown by his WWI draft card in 1917.

In conclusion, I was able to discover that John Daniel Morarity's birthfather was that of John Feinburg, a Jewish dry goods peddler, whom unfortunately abandoned his wife and child. John must have had feelings enough about his stepfather Denis Moriarity to take on his surname later on in his young adult life.

*All records are documented in portfolio; information below shows my working time-table notes:

April 1885- census shows John Feinburg living on Eigenberger farm
March 1889- marriage to Louis Feinburg (6 months pregnant); brother present
June 1889- John Daniel Feinburg born
April 1895; John Feinberg listed in census as 5 years old with Catharine Feinburg listed as mother at 26 years old; Louis Feinburg not in county
1898- listed as Catherine Feinburg in sister Maria (Eigenberger) Werthan’s will
March 1899- divorce of Feinburg due to abandonment
May 1899- marriage to Denis Moriarity
April 1905- John Feinburg listed in census as 15 years old

Hey y'all !

My name is Laura and I have a passion for building family trees for that special someone and creating a personally customized display piece. I hope to make your family story come alive.

I'll be posting interesting genealogy research tips and fun findings along the way so stay tuned for modern ways to connect to the past ! I can't wait to share my love of history with y'all.

Thanks for taking the time to stop and see what I am creating.

Framed wedding family tree make a great gift as well as a stunning decor piece, personalized for the wedding day