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Fact or Fiction? More Answers on the Dewitt Blackman Mug Book Bio

In " Fact of Fiction: Dewitt Samuel Blackman and the 1890 Mug Book ," I wrote about my project to see how accurate a county history "mug book" biography was for my husband's great-great-great-grandfather. His biography appeared in the book  Portrait and Biographical Album of Sumner County, Kansas, Containing Full-Page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County , published in 1890. For this just-for-fun project, I entered each fact noted in the bio into a spreadsheet and researched each to determine if they were true, false, or somewhere in between. Some claims were about Dewitt, his wife, and their family, while others involved his parents, his wife's parents, and even some generations further back. There were many claims to document, and I didn't complete the task with that first post. I've continued to research the facts, and here's my latest update. The following facts in the biography are tr...
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Mysteries Solved! Cases Studies in Cracking Death and Burial Puzzles


Last year I was excited to hear that the editors of Stirpes, the journal of the Texas State Genealogical Society, had planned to publish an issue with a death theme. Now that might sound morbid, but think about it...there are so many records and resources that we can use to determine death dates, burial places, etc. And they might not be the ones you immediately think of, such as Find a Grave or a death register. 

I have had my share of challenges to determine when various ancestors died, where they were buried, etc. I wrote the article "Mysteries Solved! Case Studies in Cracking Death and Burial Puzzles," for the June 2025 Stirpes issue, "Final Footsteps: Our Ancestors' Journey."

I hope reading about these cases will give you ideas for solving your own death and burial puzzles. 

Let me know in the comments if any of these approaches might work for your case. Or, if you've had a similar success, share them here so we can all learn from one another.

Got Texas roots? Learn more about the Texas State Genealogical Society here. 

Until next time... 

© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2026. All rights reserved.  


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  1. Marian B. WoodJuly 16, 2026 at 4:55 AM

    Fabulous case studies! TY for fresh takes on how to answer such questions about where/when ancestors dies and where they were laid to rest.

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    1. Nancy Gilbride CaseyJuly 16, 2026 at 9:22 AM

      Thank you Marian. I am glad you found it useful. That's the goal! Thanks for reading and commenting.

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  2. Lisa S. GorrellJuly 17, 2026 at 6:37 AM

    Great article and case studies. I loved reading your article last year.

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    1. Nancy Gilbride CaseyJuly 17, 2026 at 8:15 AM

      Thank you Lisa! I appreciate that a lot. Glad you're reading Stirpes!

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