Category: Genealogy Pointers
“Parish Vestry Books Mitigate Lost Virginia County Records,” by Virginia Lee Hutcheson Davis
With the transcription and publication of The Albemarle Parish Vestry Book, 1742-1786 [Virginia] the last of the colonial Virginia vestry books is accessible to researchers. Complete with an every-name index for ease in finding persons, this publication represents a boon to researchers searching for ancestors in Surry and Sussex counties, Virginia, as well as neighboring[…]Read more
RESEARCH TIPS FOR USING COURT RECORDS– FROM 4TH EDITION OF THE RESEARCHER’S GUIDE TO AMERICAN GENEALOGY
For this issue of “Genealogy Pointers” we are once again highlighting sage advice for genealogists from America’s most respected author/teacher Val Greenwood. Below, we have included excerpts of Mr. Greenwood’s recommendations—indicating chapters and page numbers from the 4th edition of The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy–pertaining to immigration and passenger records, Revolutionary War and other[…]Read more
FREE! 2018-2019 Genealogical.com Catalogue
Genealogical.com is proud to announce its 2018-2019 Combined Catalogue! The catalogue is 34 pages long, illustrated, and features indexes to authors and subjects. In all, the catalogue refers to upwards of 400 of our newest and most popular books and CDs (though not to all 2,000 of publications found on Genealogical.com). Without a doubt, the[…]Read more
Genetic Genealogy & the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS)
Using DNA to find your family heritage has become an everyday topic of conversation. If you haven’t personally sent a saliva sample in the mail, you know someone who has. And you can barely miss a day without seeing a commercial from Ancestry or My Heritage advertising one of its DNA products. Just a few[…]Read more
Royal Lineage Research, by the late Carolyn Barkley
I have often viewed royal lineage research with more than a little skepticism. As a newly-elected genealogical society president, I can remember inviting visitors to a society monthly meeting to introduce themselves and tell a bit about the focus of their research. A man stood up, identified himself, and told us that he had researched[…]Read more
Will Your Genealogy Pass the Test of Time? by Richard Hite
[av_image src=’https://genealogical.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/2017-11-05-05-34-06.1f57953c24fd8041d68074e472523f5cb3720209-223×300.jpg’ attachment=’5382′ attachment_size=’medium’ align=’right’ styling=” hover=’av-hover-grow’ link=’manually,https://library.genealogical.com/printpurchase/ozld5′ target=’_blank’ caption=’yes’ font_size=” appearance=’on-hover’ overlay_opacity=’0.4′ overlay_color=’#000000′ overlay_text_color=’#ffffff’ animation=’no-animation’ admin_preview_bg=” av_uid=’av-5u4eyp’] View Book Details [/av_image] Sustainable Genealogy: Separating Fact from Fiction in Family Legends, by Richard Hite, is a wonderful collection of cautionary tales for the practicing genealogist. In the following selection from Sustainable Genealogy, Mr. Hite illustrates[…]Read more
“What Our Ancestors Died of,” by the late Terrence Punch
Some genealogists collect only ancestors, that is, people from whom they are personally descended. When traced out on a sheet of paper or a spreadsheet you have a pattern resembling an inverted Christmas tree, wide at the top and pointed at the bottom. Others take a great deal of trouble to track down collateral relatives,[…]Read more
“Census Substitutes,” by the late Carolyn Barkley
This article originally appeared on our prior website/blog in March 2010. It is reprinted here with minor alterations. In January of 2010, Ancestry.com announced to its subscribers the introduction of the “1950 Census Substitute” and urged us to “discover your parents, grandparents – – maybe even yourself.” Taken at face value, this announcement was pretty[…]Read more
Organizing Your Genealogy Project
If you are beginning to accumulate a fair amount of paper in the early stages of your research, it’s probably time to take stock of what you have and how you plan to organize it–even before you enter the information into a computer database–lest you start drowning in an ocean of paper. Our popular author,[…]Read more
The Genealogical and Scholarly Significance of Royal Descents of 900 Immigrants, by Gary Boyd Roberts
The Royal Descents 900 Immigrants to the American Colonies, Quebec, or the United States(RD 900), genealogist Gary Boyd Roberts’ magnum opus, identifies an awe-inspiring number of historical figures from Continental Europe, the British Isles, or the United States who are related to millions of Americans. Anyone descended from an immigrant in this work can plot[…]Read more
“Research Procedures: Preparing for Research,” by Harold Henderson
“Where do I start?” is a question often asked by inexperienced and more experienced genealogists alike. The problem is that starting off on the wrong foot can often result in time wasted or require re-visiting sources already consulted. [av_image src=’https://genealogical.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/2018-04-17-04-50-20.68983f8c735befefac2d9e1371afd616db38c7d6-223×300.jpg’ attachment=’4691′ attachment_size=’medium’ align=’right’ styling=” hover=’av-hover-grow’ link=’manually,https://library.genealogical.com/printpurchase/Xeger’ target=’_blank’ caption=’yes’ font_size=” appearance=’on-hover’ overlay_opacity=’0.4′ overlay_color=’#000000′ overlay_text_color=’#ffffff’ animation=’no-animation’ admin_preview_bg=”[…]Read more