The Strange Enchantment of the Family Tree

The pig, the Quaker and the $10 superpower, plus best reads from 2025 and new podcast episodes.

My obsession with family trees tends to come in waves.

The first wave rolled in during the 80s when I was in high school. The assignment was to interview family members and create a family tree. I can still picture the crude, hand-drawn chart in pencil, smudged with eraser marks and a bit of creative non-fiction.

My dad’s family arrived in Michigan in the 1840s, and many of them never left. I could have corroborated the dates scribbled on that page, but I was a teenager. Who was going to fact-check me?

I relied on the “facts” my parents tossed around over coffee at the kitchen table—mostly family folklore. For instance, my father insisted his grandfather, William Sodt, died after cutting his arm while butchering a pig. I remember nodding, encouraging the story while secretly trying to figure out how to fit a pig into the branches of my chart.

I think it’s safe to say he cut his arm, it got infected, and he died at the young age of 28. But working the pig into the narrative certainly makes it more memorable.

William’s wife, Rosina, buried him the same year she gave birth to their fourth child. I eventually sorted out that she died eight years later at the age of 39. While the family legend claimed they both died in their twenties—which is much more dramatic—the truth was actually more haunting.

The cause of death listed on Rosina’s death certificate was exhaustion.

My great-grandmother died at 39 from simply having nothing left to give. It just breaks my heart.

Rosina and William’s Children, the youngest is Reuben Sodt, my grandfather.

Cousin Bait

Decades passed before the next obsession took hold. In 2012, I decided to publish short family histories through our online magazine, LifeInMichigan.com. I’ve come to think of these pieces as Cousin Bait. You toss them into the internet and see who bites.

The bait included:

• The Emigration Story of William George Sodt - Life In Michigan

• Family Folklore: Andrew Lewick - Life in Michigan

• The Brown Family History - Life In Michigan

• Born Lula King and died Louise Catherine Brown – Life In Michigan

• Two Years in the Life of Ruth Lewick 1913-1914

• Ruth Lewick One Room School House 1912 – Life In Michigan

• 1947 Wedding Remembered – Life In Michigan

It worked. A cousin I didn’t know existed contacted me and invited me to visit his father at a memory care facility in Indiana to see the “Family Bible.” I know what you’re thinking: You didn’t actually believe him, did you?

I did. And I went. (But I took a friend with me. I’m not that stupid.)

The Latest Wave: Quakers and Kidnappings

That wave eventually receded, but it never fully went away. It lingered on the edges of my to-do list until I watched Ken Burns’ The American Revolution. Suddenly, I needed to know: Did I have any “Revolutionary” relatives?

I pulled the trigger on the Ancestry “All Access” plan and added the $10 Pro Tools feature. Its superpower is finding duplicates and possible errors in your tree—perfect for someone like me who tends to dive in headfirst and barely come up for air.

It didn’t help that I was also listening to What We Can Know by Ian McEwan. It’s a total whodunit for genealogy nerds, featuring a scholar from the year 2119 who is obsessed with a poet from 2014. He pores over her “Cloud” remains—texts, emails, and journals.

It made me wish for the things my ancestors didn’t leave behind. Instead of digital footprints, I have countless black-and-white photos with no names, no dates, and no clues.

But just when I’d had enough of the mystery, I discovered a plot twist. My sixth great-grandmother had been kidnapped at twelve years old and brought to America from Scotland. She was bought by a Quaker miller named Caleb Pusey.

That definitely beats the pig story.

She served out her time, married twice, and her son, Joshua Brown, became a Quaker minister and abolitionist. My tree is heavy with Quakers, which is great for research—record-keeping is their superpower.

I also finally found my Revolutionary soldier: William Dixon, who served for seven years. His wife’s name was Grizzy A. Bell. (I am not kidding.) William founded a settlement in Mason County, Kentucky, in the 1780s. Finding his records immediately put The Last of the Mohicans in my head—Hawkeye yelling to Cora, “You stay alive! I will find you!”

I’m still riding this wave, chasing down fragments to turn into stories. I’m even heading to the Upper Peninsula Publishers & Authors Association Spring Conference in May to hear Dianna Stampfler speak. It feels like the right place for research and good leads to collide.

Have you gone down a similar rabbit hole? I’d love to hear your favorite genealogy tools, research tips, or family surprises in the comments.

Life In Michigan Updates

The latest Life Michigan Podcast episode is out!

If you have an idea for a guest, email me (info@lifeinmichigan.com). We are looking for anyone who is creative, passionate, and has a story to share about their Life In Michigan. Don’t be shy.

The latest episode of Fans with Bands just dropped!

Phyrxian Sun

Just one new article on LifeInMichigan.com. Click on the image to read the whole article.

We were recently featured on the Mitten Music Podcast.

🗓️ Never Miss an Event Chuck has been hard at work on our public Google Events Calendar. From book launches to local gigs, it’s all there. Subscribe to the Calendar

You’ll find things like this on the calendar!

Please join Megan Schikora for the launch of her debut novel, A WOMAN IN PINK! The unnamed protagonist believes that she has found her Johnny Cash, that she is his June Carter, and that theirs is a great love story. The story that unfolds throughout the novel is not the one she tells herself. Find more at https://literatibookstore.com/.../fiction-literati-megan....

The event is at Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor. It will include a brief reading and a conversation with the author about the book.

We are planning to attend and are headed to the Hidden King afterward. We would love it if you joined us.

The Cozy Nook

I recently crunched the data on my 2025 reading habits. I listened to 49 Audible books last year—averaging about four a month. It’s a lot of hours walking. These are the stories that really stayed with me:

My Five Favorites:

• Raising Hare: A Memoir by Chloe Dalton: A beautiful, quiet story about the bond between a human and a wild animal.

• The Uncool: A Memoir by Cameron Crowe: If you love music and journalism, this is a must-listen.

• Pachinko by Min Jin Lee: An epic, heartbreaking family saga that mirrors my own recent obsession with lineage.

• The Gales of November by John U. Bacon: A haunting look at the Edmund Fitzgerald; no one writes Michigan history quite like John.

• What We Can Know by Ian McEwan: The “genealogy whodunit” I mentioned earlier—essential for anyone who wonders what we leave behind.

Honorable Mentions:

• Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout: A return to characters I love; it feels like catching up with an old friend.

• The Correspondent by Virginia Evans: A gripping historical tale that made Chuck cry.

• Brothers by Alex van Halen: A raw and surprising look at the bond behind one of rock’s biggest bands.

• By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult: A fascinating dive into Shakespearean theory and the power of women’s voices.

• The Bird Way by Jennifer Ackerman: This will change how you look at the birds in your own Michigan backyard.

I’m always on the hunt for my next great listen. What were your best reads from 2025? Drop them in the comments!

P.S. Are you heading to the Upper Peninsula Publishers & Authors Association Spring Conference in May? If you’re going, let me know! Maybe we can grab a beer or coffee.