You’ve probably run across the word “Ahnentafel” over the course of your research, but have you ever had it explained? The word’s origin is German for “ancestor table.” These days, however, it refers to a particular kind of numbering system used to keep track of our ancestors. Best used with pedigrees, as opposed to the[…]Read more
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 Midwest Book Review, a longstanding source for acquisition librarians responsible for adding to their collections, recently endorsed the Second Edition of Ellen and David Berry’s guidebook, Our Quaker Ancestors. Finding Them in Quaker Records. The review, which appeared in the August 2022 issue of “The Bookwatch” follows below: “The second updated edition of Our[…]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
Genealogical.com is delighted to announce its publication of the preeminent textbook for Scots-Irish genealogy. This 2018 second edition is a massively expanded version of its 2005 predecessor. The new edition includes additional information on church records and landed estate papers, as well as new chapters looking at records relating to law and order, emigration, business[…]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
