Thank you Linda Teather, Jim the Historian, Joy Path, Aimee Liu, Cindy Gibbons, Rob Riley, Remembering Them214, and many others for tuning into my live video with your generous comments for Linda Stufflebean, the voice behind Empty Branches on the Family Tree. Whether you’re joining by app or by web, live or in comments, it’s lovely to have your insights as part of this community.
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!
Today, Linda treated us to a master class in the unsung research skills every genealogist needs: perseverance, creativity, and patience. Her story about her ancestor, John Adams, begins with mythbusting. Many celebrated family stories do. In this case, her long-held family belief of a close connection to the John Adams who was fabled in American History.
Nope, that wasn’t true.
Her journey of discovery peels back the layers to reveal a story that may be even more interesting with a case study in “FAN club” research techniques, and the impact of divided loyalties in a family.
As background, you may want to review Linda’s original post about John:
In addition, Linda submitted two other stories to the Stories250 series:
Revolutionary War Soldier Joses Bucknam: Another Unexpected Military Experience
The Revolutionary War Experience of John Stufflebean: Probably Not What He Expected
Learn more about Linda’s blog, Empty Branches on the Family Tree, featuring a detailed archive and index (including over 100 posts about the Adams family alone).
While she maintains a profile here on Substack and reads many publications, she does so using Feedly, a useful “skybridge” between platforms. Learn more about that in a Tips post on my sister publication, MissionGenealogy.
About Stories250
Learn more about the series at Projectkin.org/stories250, view all recordings and posts, then explore the posts in an interactive timeline here:
The series will conclude in a Zoom meeting session featuring the stories of contributors on July 9th, followed by the publication of all posts in a commemorative magazine. Learn more in this post released yesterday:
July 2026 | Commemorating Your Stories250
Nearly 250 years ago, a group of rebels gathered to propose a country founded o…
Finally, free to share this post with your genealogy friends and family. While you’re there, invite them to join this thriving and generous long-form family history storytelling community on Substack, WordPress, Blogger, and dozens of other blogging platforms.
