Cari A. Taplin, CG @cataplin

Revisiting My Roots: Correcting Errors Back when I was a beginner, I trusted. A lot. I believed everyone out there doing genealogy on the same families as me had been doing it longer and therefore must know more than I did, must have found the records already, and therefore their pedigrees, family group sheets, and trees posted online were correct. What a sweet summer child I was!

Not everything in an online family tree is golden—sometimes it’s pure… compost. Here’s how I’m cleaning up my own early genealogy “garbage.”
#GenealogyJourney #RevisitingMyRoots
#LearningFromMistakes

08.10.2025 14:09 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Revisiting My Roots: Pick the Low-Hanging Fruit Another step I take when working back through my research from when I was a babe in the genealogical woods, is finding the low-hanging fruit. When I started, there wasn't a lot online. I wrote letters to libraries and courthouses, genealogical societies, sent forms in for vital records, etc. I think many of us in the field who started in this before the internet for genealogy really took off remember those days.

Revisiting the basics isn’t a step back—it’s how we strengthen our trees. The low-hanging fruit builds a sturdy foundation. #GenealogyJourney #RevisitingMyRoots #FamilyHistory

01.10.2025 15:38 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Revisiting My Roots: Census Records "One binder trick I love: census originals on one side, my transcription on the other. Quick, clear, and easy to revisit. #GenealogyTips #CensusRecords #FamilyHistory"

One binder trick I love: census originals on one side, my transcription on the other. Quick, clear, and easy to revisit. #GenealogyTips #CensusRecords #FamilyHistory

24.09.2025 13:35 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Saye Family Stories Perspectives on Life in the South, 1777-1899

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21.09.2025 04:31 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Revisiting My Roots: Handling Each Document "I’m revisiting my early genealogy work and bringing my binders up to today’s research standards—citations, organization, and all. My future self will thank me (instead of cursing me) later!" #GenealogyJourney #FutureSelfThanksYou #FamilyTreeFun

I’m revisiting my early genealogy work and bringing my binders up to today’s research standards—citations, organization, and all. My future self will thank me (instead of cursing me) later! #GenealogyJourney
#FutureSelfThanksYou

17.09.2025 13:00 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Revisiting My Roots: My Basic Process "Every genealogy journey starts somewhere—I began as a ‘baby genealogist’ 25 years ago. Today, I’m revisiting that work with new skills and fresh perspective. #Genealogy #FamilyHistory #ResearchTips #KeepLearning"

"Every genealogy journey starts somewhere—I began as a ‘baby genealogist’ 25 years ago. Today, I’m revisiting that work with new skills and fresh perspective. #Genealogy #FamilyHistory #ResearchTips #KeepLearning"

10.09.2025 13:07 — 👍 5 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Revisiting My Roots: A 25-Year Reflection on Genealogy Growth "What happens when you revisit your early genealogy work with 25 years of experience behind you? Spoiler: It's humbling—and a little anxiety-inducing. I'm diving into old files, disproving family myths, and finally catching the fruit I missed the first time." 🔍 #GenealogyJourney #FamilyHistory #GenealogyResearch #ResearchProcess #GenealogistLife #RevisitingOldResearch #ThenAndNow

Revisiting my earliest genealogy research with 25 years of experience has been humbling—and a little anxiety-inducing. I’m fixing old flaws and catching what I missed. #GenealogyJourney #FamilyHistory #RevisitingResearch

16.07.2025 14:01 — 👍 5 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0

Guess when I need to look for a death record? #GenealogistLife

11.07.2025 17:41 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Did MY George Long Serve in the War of 1812? A card said my George Long served in the War of 1812. The timeline—and the records—say otherwise. Resolving conflicting evidence isn’t optional. It’s necessary. Here’s how I tackled a classic case of mistaken identity. #GenealogyResearch #WarOf1812 #GenealogyTips #ConflictingEvidence #FamilyHistory

A card said my George Long served in the War of 1812. The timeline—and the records—say otherwise. Resolving conflicting evidence isn’t optional. It’s necessary. Here’s how I tackled a classic case of mistaken identity.
#GenealogyResearch #WarOf1812 #GenealogyTips #ConflictingEvidence #FamilyHistory

09.07.2025 13:46 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

George Long: Separating Two Men of the Same Name I recently wrapped up a deep dive into identifying the right George Long out of twelve possibilities in Ohio—yes, twelve. Along the way, I found a Civil War pension card attached to dozens of trees... but the man in that file died after my George did. This blog post is a look at how I applied "reasonably exhaustive research" and why original records matter more than ever.

I chased 12 men named George Long in Ohio. One Civil War pension card was for the wrong George Long—but everywhere online. Here’s why examining original records matter.
#Genealogy #FamilyHistory #GenealogicalProofStandard

03.07.2025 14:06 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 1

Said goodbye to two pets within a week of each other. Our cat Holly was almost 17 and our Dog Buddy was almost 16, quite an old age for a large breed. They were both loved and brought us joy. Hard saying goodbye x 2. And they loved cuddling.

25.06.2025 15:20 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

I’m back. I did the appeal and waited. Took about 3 days. 🤷‍♀️

18.06.2025 19:51 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

So my Threads account got suspended because their “technology” detected that my account activity doesn’t follow community standards. Ummm… I don’t post a thing. I read and like. I think their “technology” is messed up. We’ll see how long it takes my appeal to go through.

18.06.2025 01:11 — 👍 5 🔁 0 💬 3 📌 0

Timeline Analysis Getting detailed about Samuel Cook Dimick's timeline.

Getting detailed about Samuel Cook Dimick's timeline.

21.05.2025 13:51 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Timelines: Special Projects, In and Out Tables In and out tables are fun...

In and out tables are fun!

14.05.2025 14:25 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Timelines: Special Projects Comparative timelines...one person or two?

Comparative timelines...one person or two?

07.05.2025 14:07 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Timelines: Tips for Analysis Think about your goal when setting up a timeline.

Think about your goal when setting up a timeline.

30.04.2025 16:46 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Timelines: Why? Why are timelines so great? Let me share...

Why are timelines so great? Let me share my thoughts...

23.04.2025 14:40 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Here's something upbeat! 1 year subscription to Legacy Family Tree Webinars at 1/2 price for new members! Anytime access to 2,300+ webinars from 456 of genealogy’s best educators and 9,400+ pages of syllabus materials you can download and keep. More details genealogybypaula.com

23.04.2025 00:44 — 👍 4 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0

Analysis and Correlation Tools used in George Long Project: Timeline I love timelines. They have so many benefits when it comes to genealogical research. It helps you see an ancestor's life in order. We get so many records, bits of information, and other clues, that putting them in time order helps me to see their life. It also helps to solve some genealogical problems such as if you're working with one man or more of the same name, like my 12 George Longs.

Wrapping up George Long with a timeline.

09.04.2025 13:45 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Analysis and Correlation Tools used in George Long Project: Mind Map To keep track of the data, and to be able to visualize the information I was dealing with, I successfully used a mind map on this project. I shared a very zoomed out view in a previous post. I identified 12 George Long candidates! I had to figure out some way to keep track of them, determine which George Long a particular record belonged to, and compare information so I could eliminate the wrong men.

Take a closer look at my use of a mind map in my George Long project.

02.04.2025 13:16 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

George Long in Coshocton and Jefferson Counties So, after combing through all of the George Longs that just didn't fit the parameters of the George I identified in Hancock County (i.e. age, wife, names of children, etc.) I found only one that could have been the man who moved to Hancock County and bought land there in 1848. There was a George Long who owned land in Coshocton County.

Connection George Long to Coshocton and Jefferson counties.

26.03.2025 14:04 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Two Hancock County Georges While trying to determine WHICH George Long was William's father, I discovered two George Longs in Hancock County, Ohio, of similar ages. George W. Long, Amanda Township One George Long used the middle initial W. He lived in Amanda Township with his wife, Elizabeth. He obtained 160 acres on 20 April 1837 through a cash sale.1 That patent refers to him as of "Franklin County" which is several counties to the south and east of the original cluster of counties from which Carroll County was created.

Two George Longs in Hancock County, Ohio

19.03.2025 13:55 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

“Toe pick!”

08.03.2025 03:03 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Evidence Explained 4th Ed. Study Groups This new study group will work through the first three chapters of the book Evidence Explained, 4th Edition, by Elizabeth Shown Mills. The groups will run for five weeks (schedule options below) an…

A few seats remain in our NEW Evidence Explained study groups. See the link below for dates and registration. We hope to see you there! #genealogy #genealogypants
genealogypants.com/studygroups/...

07.03.2025 18:14 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Full Text Search Finds – More Misfiled Papers I'm working on an project adjacent to my George Long project. I want to identify his wife's parents, or at least her father. Her name was Isabella McCullough. A will was located for a Hugh McCullough leaving things to his daughter Isabella Long. A slam dunk, right? Um no. These people are trying to take away my last remaining brain cells, I think.

Another Full Text Search find!

05.03.2025 15:14 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

A Great Lakes Interlude Before I continue on with the George Long discussion, I wanted to take a moment to share some details about something that is coming up. Registration is open for GRIP Genealogy Institute. I have the great pleasure to coordinate a course on the Great Lakes, and I wanted to share some information about the course's contents and why it is an important region for genealogical research.

We hope you will join us to learn about the Great Lakes region and how it impacted your ancestors!

27.02.2025 16:11 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

NEW! Study Group Based on Evidence Explained 4th Ed. We (Cyndi Ingle and I) have developed a five-week study group based on Elizabeth Shown Mills’s book Evidence Explained 4th Edition. This will be a nice companion to our study group based on T…

@cyndingle.bsky.social and I have developed a new #genealogy study group based on Evidence Explained 4th edition. Check out my blog post for more info. genealogypants.com/2025/02/24/n...

24.02.2025 13:42 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Identifying 12 Candidates In my recertification project, I examined census, tax, land, and probate records and identified twelve candidates in the right time and place to be George Long, father of William Long. But how did I decide on those twelve? Census - The biographical sketch of J. W. Long mentioned in the last post stated that William's father was George Long and he arrived in Ohio in 1817 from "North of Ireland" to Carroll County, Ohio, where he married and had several children.

Keeping thoughts and evidence organized with a mind map.

19.02.2025 14:52 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Recertification: What is it? And What Did I Do? Once you pass your first portfolio with the Board for Certification of Genealogists, you have to submit a project every five years that shows you are not only keeping up with your skills but also improving on any shortfalls they noted in your last portfolio. This time only one project is required at minimum, but it must meet the…

What is "recertification"? And I share about the research I did for my recertification project.

12.02.2025 15:26 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Cari A. Taplin, CG

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