In Chapter 21 of The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy. Fourth Edition, author Val Greenwood cautions genealogists that during ‘pick and shovel research’–when the documents we need are not online and we must go to them in person—we will be glad we know how to abstract those records. At the outset of the chapter, the[…]Read more
David Dobson, our most prolific writer and compiler, has been on a roll again. In 2021, we published his excellent guidebook, Scottish Genealogy: The Basics and Beyond, which has garnered rave reviews from other experts like Chris Paton. We recently put together his multi-book series on the Scots-Irish into a fully-indexed two volume set entitled,[…]Read more
Chapter Five of The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy. 4th Edition, by Val Greenwood, is entitled “Libraries and the National Archives (NARA).” In a way the chapter title is understated because many libraries have digitized their family history holdings (e.g., personal papers, published family histories, military records, etc.) and made them available for free on[…]Read more
The Russian war in Ukraine has caused much worry about the loss of archival records. A small portion of records were scanned before the war started in February. Soon after the war began in February, staff from FamilySearch International stopped scanning Ukrainian archive records. Their work only had started in late spring 2021. Meanwhile Ukrainian[…]Read more
What if your Aunt Rose walks up to you and says, “I understand you’re into genealogy, so explain to me in plain English the difference between second cousins and first cousins twice removed.” Could you do it? If you cannot, if you’re a little confused about the “removes,” consider the following excerpt from Jackie Smith[…]Read more
The June 2022 issue of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly (NGSQ) features a long review of Dr. David Dobson’s 2021 book, Scottish Genealogy: The Basics and Beyond. Norman D. Nicol, Ph.D., the writer of the review and an expert on Scottish family history himself, assesses each chapter of the book, often adding a suggestion here[…]Read more
Like their present-day counterparts, old newspapers are a great source of marriage and obituary notices. In fact, early newspapers are sometimes the ONLY source of genealogical information for a specific locality at a particular point in time. Since 18th- and 19th-century newspapers have not come down to us with their own indexes, it’s daunting to[…]Read more
Here’s what they’re saying about a few of our popular titles. Free African Americans of North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina from the Colonial Period to About 1820, Paul Heinegg “Heinegg’s pioneering publication has only grown with each edition . . . While these brief biographies are of great value, researchers should also pay attention[…]Read more
“She was of a ‘Coulour browne, or rather tawnye,’ and her age was somewhere between twelve and fourteen. She probably was roundfaced, with the fore part of her ‘grosse’ and ‘thick’ black hair ‘shaven close,’ and the very long ‘thicker part’ being ‘tied in a pleate hanging down’ to her hips. Her hands almost certainly[…]Read more
Engaging in genealogical research requires a commitment of time, energy, and resources. Along the way, we may invest in travel, subscribe to web sites, buy books, establish relationships and more, as we devote ourselves to unraveling the mysteries and connections of our families. One aspect of genealogy that many hobbyists do not make a serious[…]Read more
