AF-1115: Schuyler Colfax: Speaker, Scandal, and the Shadow of What Might Have Been
Ancestral Findings - Genealogy Podcast
Release Date: 06/28/2025
AF-1137: The Aftermath You Didn’t Expect: PTSD and Its Early Signs
Ancestral Findings - Genealogy Podcast
For generations, families quietly wondered why a veteran ancestor drank too much, kept to themselves, startled at loud noises, or refused to talk about the war. Some were labeled “nervous,” “moody,” or “difficult.” Others disappeared from family life altogether — emotionally, or sometimes physically. But we now understand what they couldn’t name: post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Though the term didn’t exist until decades later, the effects were already showing. And for family historians, this hidden aftermath of war can explain behaviors, disappearances, and...
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AF-1136: A Life Rewritten: When WWII Veterans Changed Everything
Ancestral Findings - Genealogy Podcast
When the Second World War ended in 1945, it didn’t just bring a global conflict to a close — it launched millions of lives into motion. Soldiers, sailors, nurses, airmen, and civilians who had served in some capacity returned to a nation that was about to shift in almost every possible way. For many of our family members, the post-WWII years weren’t about returning to normal — they were about starting something entirely new. They rewrote their lives from scratch. And the paper trail they left behind is worth following... Podcast Notes: Ancestral Findings Podcast: This Week's...
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AF-1135: From Soldier to Civilian: Rebuilding Life After the Revolution
Ancestral Findings - Genealogy Podcast
When we think about , we usually picture them in uniform—standing guard at a winter camp, marching along a dusty road, or writing letters home with inky quills and weary hands. We honor their service. We may even know where they fought and under which command. But what happened after they stacked their muskets and went home? That’s a story worth telling. Because that’s where the rest of their life began... Podcast Notes: Ancestral Findings Podcast: This Week's Free Genealogy Lookups: Genealogy Giveaway: Genealogy eBooks: Follow Along: Support Ancestral Findings: ...
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AF-1134: Discharged and Displaced: Civil War Veterans Who Moved West
Ancestral Findings - Genealogy Podcast
When the Civil War ended in 1865, the United States was scarred but standing. The fields were silent, the guns were still, and the soldiers — Union and Confederate alike — began the long journey home. But what if “home” no longer existed? For thousands of veterans, returning wasn’t an option. They had to start over somewhere else. Many of them packed up and headed west. That decision shaped the lives of entire generations. Why Go West? Podcast Notes: Ancestral Findings Podcast: This Week's Free Genealogy Lookups: Genealogy Giveaway: Genealogy eBooks: Follow Along: Support...
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AF-1133: Pension Paper Trails: Post-War Struggles and Paperwork
Ancestral Findings - Genealogy Podcast
When the gunpowder settled and the flags were folded, Revolutionary War soldiers had to return to lives that often looked nothing like the ones they’d left behind. For many veterans, survival during the war had been only half the battle. The other half was trying to get what was promised to them once peace had been declared. That’s where the pension system came in — slowly, imperfectly, and full of red tape. But for family historians like us, those old paper trails can be a gift. Podcast Notes: Ancestral Findings Podcast: This Week's Free Genealogy Lookups: Genealogy Giveaway: ...
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AF-1132: Murder, Mayhem, and Infamy in the Family Tree
Ancestral Findings - Genealogy Podcast
Every family has secrets. But some secrets are darker than others—and some leave behind headlines, scars, and a trail of records in their wake. Murder cases, unsolved crimes, public hangings, or even whispered suspicions didn’t just mark the individual involved. They reshaped entire branches of the family tree. If you’ve ever come across an ancestor who vanished, changed their name, or whose family stopped mentioning them entirely, there’s a chance something more serious was involved. And even if the person wasn’t guilty, their name may have been dragged into scandal or tragedy,...
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AF-1131: Petty Crimes, Big Consequences: Minor Offenses That Shaped Family Histories
Ancestral Findings - Genealogy Podcast
Not every crime makes headlines. In fact, many of the offenses found in old court records are small—petty theft, vagrancy, disturbing the peace, trespassing, or breaking local ordinances. These weren’t the stuff of true crime novels, but they still mattered. They could lead to fines, jail time, social ruin, or even exile from a town or community. And sometimes, these seemingly minor offenses had ripple effects that changed the course of a family’s story. If your ancestor disappeared from records, left town abruptly, or was labeled a “black sheep,” there’s a good chance a petty...
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AF-1130: Women on Trial: Forgotten Cases and Family Scandals
Ancestral Findings - Genealogy Podcast
In most family trees, the women are harder to trace. They often changed names, had fewer legal rights, and were less likely to appear in records that followed property or voting. But court records—especially when women found themselves in trouble—can be some of the most detailed and revealing documents we have. Whether they were plaintiffs or defendants, women in court often left behind rare windows into their daily lives, hardships, and resilience. Some were victims of false accusations. Others were bold rulebreakers. And a few were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. If your...
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AF-1129: Prohibition, Moonshine, and the Law: Tracing Bootleggers in the Family Tree
Ancestral Findings - Genealogy Podcast
During the 1920s and early 1930s, a jug of illegal whiskey could change a family’s fortune—or tear it apart. Whether your ancestors ran stills deep in the woods or simply served homemade brew at a quiet kitchen table, Prohibition touched nearly every community in America. The records left behind by this period—if you know where to look—reveal a time of defiance, desperation, and secret enterprise. And if you’ve got Southern, Appalachian, Midwestern, or even urban roots, there’s a good chance someone in your family tree ran afoul of the law during this dry era. Let’s take a closer...
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AF-1128: Courthouse Clues: Civil Cases That Tell Family Stories | Ancestral Findings Podcast
Ancestral Findings - Genealogy Podcast
When most people think about court records in genealogy, they imagine criminal charges, jail time, or dramatic trials. But there’s a quieter, more common type of legal record that can be just as revealing: civil cases. These aren’t about crimes—they’re about everyday disputes, debts, business problems, and personal grievances. And they can open a window into your ancestors’ lives in a way no census or marriage certificate ever could. From unpaid bills to broken promises, civil cases leave behind a paper trail of who our ancestors trusted, owed, sued, or were sued by. If...
info_outlineAs we continue our journey through The Forgotten Seconds, we pause to examine the life of Schuyler Colfax—a name once associated with optimism, eloquence, and the future of the Republican Party. He was Vice President under Ulysses S. Grant, a former Speaker of the House, and one of the most prominent political figures of his time. But Colfax’s career was later marred by scandal, and his name, once linked to presidential potential, was swept away in the tide of changing political winds.
Let’s step back into his world and uncover the story of the man who stood beside a general turned president and nearly charted a course for the White House himself...
Podcast Notes: https://ancestralfindings.com/schuyler-colfax-speaker-scandal-and-the-shadow-of-what-might-have-been/
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