In Chapter Four of Genealogy in Reverse: Finding the Living. A Practical Guide for All Genealogists, Cheri Hudson Passey points out that we won’t find all the genealogical records we seek on the Internet. In some cases, we can make real progress if we reach out to actual people who share our ancestry. But who[…]Read more
The Order of the Crown of Charlemagne in the U.S.A. has produced a number of volumes that describe the authorized descendancies of its members. Genealogical.com publishes the first three volumes in this series. In the Preface to Volume I, compiled in 1941 by Marcellus Donald R. von Redlich, the author names the royal personalities through[…]Read more
Judy Jacobson’s masterwork, History for Genealogists: Using Chronological TimeLines to Find and Understand Your Ancestors is crammed with potential clues for family historians. In fact, the book’s subtitle says it all: (1) Historical events can tip off researchers as to the whereabouts and reason why a forebear shows up somewhere, and (2) The same information[…]Read more
As we mentioned in the June 25 issue of “Genealogy Pointers,” Cheri Hudson Passey’s new book, Genealogy in Reverse: Finding the Living. A Practical Guide for Genealogists, offers new hope to family historians who have lost their way. It does so by showing them how to contact a lost or unknown cousin, etc. who may[…]Read more
Chapter 13 in The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, Fourth Edition, by Val D. Greenwood, provides an excellent overview on the availability and use of vital records (births, marriages, deaths, and divorces) in genealogy research. The author offers a brief history on the keeping of official vital records by various government entities. He then explains[…]Read more
MY GPC LIBRARY, our eBook subscription program, consists of about 800 eBook titles and growing. Subscribers can look for names or places across all our eBooks–not just book by book—in a single search. The platform allows you to set bookmarks, make notes, and add citations as you work. Because you will have access to the entirety of[…]Read more
William Wells Newell was the founder of the American Folklore Society. He is best remembered for his 1883 book, Games and Songs of American Children, which catalogues 160 games and rhymes enjoyed in the United States and abroad. Some of the games are familiar to us: “London Bridge is Falling Down,” Virginia Reel,” “London Bridge[…]Read more
Virginia’s Northern Neck is comprised of the present-day counties of Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, and Westmoreland. (The oldest records for Richmond County date from its origin as part of Old Rappahannock County.) We have already devoted several issues of “Genealogy Pointers” to descriptions of Dr. Robert K. Headley, Jr.’s magnum opus, Northern Neck of Virginia Pioneers,[…]Read more
Stuart Blandon Traiman, M.D., manages the genealogy blog, Six Generations. In March 2024, he posted a detailed review of the Fourth Edition of Elizabeth Shown Mills’ EVIDENCE EXPLAINED: CITING HISTORY SOURCES FROM ARTIFACTS TO CYBERSPACE. It’s here that Dr. Traiman commented: “Inside the book, there is an entirely new Chapter 3. This chapter simplifies the[…]Read more
Sources provide information, from which we identify evidence for analysis. A conclusion drawn from sound analysis may then stand as proof. In these two sentences, Elizabeth Shown Mills defines the proper use of sources to come to valid conclusions in historical research. Your Stripped Bare Guide, Mrs. Mills’ latest work on citing and using historical[…]Read more
