About

About Heartland Genealogy

Welcome to Heartland Genealogy!
With several generations of my family rooted in Kansas, I’m truly a product of the Heartland. Genealogy has been my lifelong hobby, and from the early days of the internet I’ve been committed to freely sharing my research. When personal websites were still in their infancy, I created a space to post my findings—and because every site needed a name, Heartland Genealogy was born. The platforms and tools have changed over the years, but the name and the mission have remained constant.

My Kansas Roots

Below are my eight 2nd great-grandfathers and the Kansas counties where their families lived:

  • Alexander Briles – Coffey County
  • Washington Marion Crawford – Ford County
  • Hiram Currey – Leavenworth County
  • Richmond Fisk Hammond – Ford County
  • Albert Hutchinson – Doniphan County
  • George Mentzer – Woodson County
  • James Marshall Ricketts – Woodson County
  • Thurston Kennedy Wells – Allen & Woodson Counties

These families—and their stories—form the backbone of my research.

My Genealogy Website History

This site is an effort to resurrect my original Heartland Genealogy page once hosted on RootsWeb (currently offline). I also use this space to post ongoing research projects, transcriptions, biographies, and updates as I complete them.

For many years I recorded my research in The Master Genealogist (TMG) and published through John Cardinal’s Second Site software. The Wayback Machine still preserves my 2014 site. When TMG was discontinued, I explored many alternatives before ultimately transitioning to RootsMagic, which I now use for my primary research database.

As part of this transition, I am actively syncing my work with FamilySearch. My grandfathers can be found there as:

Most of my data is also available on Ancestry.com under Heartland Genealogy.

My Writing & Blogging

I strive to record family stories, share research experiences, and document the process of uncovering our ancestors’ lives. Over the years I’ve written on multiple platforms:

Because of changes to the Blogger editor, I have returned to WordPress, but my archived work remains available on Blogger for anyone researching Crawford families.

You can also find me on social media:

  • Twitter/X: @mcphilbrick
  • Facebook: Marcia Crawford Philbrick

My Use of AI Tools

As genealogy evolves, so do the tools we use to explore and share family history. I occasionally use AI technologies—such as ChatGPT, Google Notebook LM, and Suno.com—to help with editing, brainstorming, creating narrative elements, or generating illustrative images. These tools assist my writing, but all genealogical facts and conclusions are based on traditional research and verified sources. Any AI-generated images or creative narrative elements are used for illustration only and should not be interpreted as historical evidence. I value transparency in my writing and strive to clearly communicate when AI has influenced a post.

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