This sixth and final issue of 2025 features articles on Missouri, “The Show-Me State”. This issue, like all issues in this continuing series, will feature the state’s history, including how to find great historical and genealogical records and more:

● Mining Genealogical Gold: Finding Historical Missouri Records (and the stories behind them). Within the borders of this singular state, one finds the full measure of our national experience – conquest and conflict, progress and pain, triumph and tragedy. Missouri tells America’s story. It stands at the crossroads of East and West, North and South. The currents of American history flowing through its terrain just as surely as the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers carve their paths across its landscape. To understand Missouri is to grasp the essential character of the United States itself.

● Going to War Over Heaven on Earth: Regulating the Mormonites in Missouri. This extensive article covers an unfortunate and sad piece of Missouri history, sometimes referred to as “The Mormon War”. Joseph Smith and his Saints wanted a place in Missouri they could call home, or “Zion”. Other Missouri settlers became suspicious of their motive and over time the situation escalated until, after a great deal of bloodshed, Mormons were forced to leave.

● The “Wild West” of the Civil War: A Border State Torn Asunder. Few states experienced the Civil War as intensely as Missouri. As a border state that remained in the Union, Missouri became a battleground where Union and Confederate sympathizers struggled for control. Regular armies, guerrilla fighters, and civilian populations all participated in a conflict that tore communities apart and left lasting scars on the state’s landscape and psyche.  Listen to a short excerpt:

● Adventures in Research: What Happened to Stephen Paul? Several years ago my cousin (Laura) created a Facebook post with a letter she had uncovered while researching her husband’s family; the letter gave me the idea for researching the author’s story to publish on my blog. I was intrigued and wanted to try and discover what really happened to the letter’s author, Stephen Paul, who at the time was married to Narcissa Ann (Gresham) Paul, the great-great-great grandmother of Laura’s husband. Following is an updated account of what I initially uncovered.

Enjoy the issue!