Many thanks to , , , , , and all our friends and members joining us today from around the globe. From my home in Berkeley, California, and Emma Cox’s, some 30 miles south of London, near the iconic Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, England, was a delight for us to welcome you to today’s special Friday Substack live program previewing next week’s Emma Explores program.
As succinctly put it, today’s was a very “rich conversation.” And if you’re watching the video, you’ll see my cat Zarabeth photobombing a few times. 🤭 Your generous ❤️ s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see. Thanks for all you do to be so kind, curious, and creative!
Next week, Emma Explores follows the Mosley line
I always enjoy how these Live programs allow us to both talk about a topic — and get to know each other a little better. Today’s program gave us a preview of the subject of Emma’s presentation next Thursday, Sir John Parker Mosley, 1st Baronet Mosley (1732-1798).1 Emma will share details of his incredible family from the 1720s, what his descendants get up to, who marries whom, and what they do.
The story is rather remarkable for its extensions as it takes us into adventures, controversies, and a bit of the “Stories, Mysteries & Fame” this series is known for. The program is free, but you will need to register.
Tea with a Friend
Like meeting for tea with a friend, our conversation wandered from Winnie-the-Pooh’s 100-Acre Wood to FamilySearch’s Relatives at RootsTech.
FamilySearch: I’ll let you watch the recording to explore the Pooh reference, but let’s start with why FamilySearch came up. This is in anticipation of registration opening on September 24th for RootsTech 2026. Emma shared the advice that everyone consider taking this moment to update their family tree on FamilySearch so that when Relatives at RootsTech opens, you’ll have the best opportunity to find cousins who might help you collaborate on your genealogy. It’s a great tip. Have collaboration ideas for RootsTech 2026? Let’s chat!
My Sixteen/My Eight: As an early one to get behind the idea of sharing one’s Sixteen Great-great-grandparents, Emma recently published a post detailing an index to detailed stories about each of her eight great-grandparents. She credits
for this idea, and it’s one anyone can implement. Take a look and consider it for your own work:
I’ve discussed the power of these kinds of posts for SEO purposes at some length in Projectkin (that “Ball of Hay” in my family) and MissionGenealogy (where I dove into getting the most out of SEO on Substack). These are powerful tools for family historians on the lookout for extended family.
Backup to Go Forward: One of the topics glanced over was archiving your Substack publication. You’ll find Substack’s support article about exporting your data here. And another about exporting your subscriber list here. I highly recommend that everyone with a publication not only do that (and maybe right now…) but also set up a routine so you’re doing it regularly.
Crazy ideas for archiving stories: A simple conversation about backups and archives then led to a larger conversation about archiving these profiles of individuals. IS there a home for such archives on the web? That conversation led into various branches from stories of Americans who fought in the Revolutionary War2 to a more general conversation about a permanent archive for stories published to Substack. I referenced the Internet Archive, and specifically the WayBack Machine, but I’ve added to my queue a discussion of how that can more generally be done as a home for a Family Archive. Stay tuned for more on that.
We covered so many topics, I’ll have to refer you to the recording for the rest. Feel free to reach out with questions in the comments below. It’s always fun to see where you want to take these discussions.
I hope you can join us on Sept. 18th as Emma Explores returns for another exploration into the rich soil of Emma’s family. I always learn tips and techniques I can apply to my family. You can see the full archive of Emma Explores programs at Projectkin.org/emma-explores. I’d also recommend you consider subscribing to Journeys into Genealogy. It’s like chatting with experts each week.
That link ☝️ will take you to the Baronet’s page on FamilySearch, and you’ll see why that matters in a moment.
In the discussion, I referenced the American Battlefield Trust, where I’d learned the remarkable story of James Armistead Lafayette and the Patriot databases of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
