Among its many features, Roberta Estes’ acclaimed book, DNA for Native American Genealogy includes step-by-step instructions, with illustrations, on how to use DNA testing at the four major DNA testing companies to further your genealogy and confirm or identify your Native American ancestors. Among the many other topics is a discussion of Population Genetics and[…]Read more
Category: Genealogy Pointers
Understanding Spanish Parish Records
English-speaking researchers and historians working with Spanish documents, as well as native speakers unfamiliar with early Spanish handwriting, face two hurdles—understanding the handwriting and vocabulary, and grasping the records’ institutional, historic, social, and cultural context. The new book, Mastering Spanish Handwriting and Documents: 1520-1820, by George R. Ryskamp, Peggy Ryskamp and H. Leandro Soria, addresses[…]Read more
Book Documents White Slave Children in Colonial MD and VA
The following article is excerpted from the book, Without Indentures: Index to White Slave Children in Colonial Court Records, by Richard Hayes Phillips. Drawing on records found in county courthouses, Dr. Phillips has compiled incontrovertible evidence of 5,000 children who were kidnapped from Ireland, Scotland, England, and New England and sold into slavery in Maryland[…]Read more
Milestones of our Ancestors Itemized in “History for Genealogists”
Did you know that boundaries of the State of Arizona were not finalized until the Gadsden Purchase of 1853? Gold strikes played an important role in enticing Americans to settle in Alaska. Can you name the dates of the strike at Sitka, Sindham Bay, or the Yukon? Following the American Revolution, a number of the[…]Read more
New Pocket Guide to Irish Genealogy Explains Griffith’s Valuation
The vast majority of Irish census records prior to 1901 no longer exist. Consequently, as Brian Mitchell explains in his New Pocket Guide to Irish Genealogy, census substitutes are of great importance to Irish researchers. Perhaps the most important, and certainly the most famous, substitute is Griffith’s Primary Valuation. Conducted between 1848 and 1864, the[…]Read more
WWI Draft Registration Cards Explained in ‘Generation by Generation’
As we’ve noted before, Generation by Generation: A Modern Approach to the Basics of Genealogy, our new genealogy guide is divided into two parts. Part I (“For All Generations–Preparing to Research”) discusses such things as relationships between family members, naming practices, genealogy software, how to review existing research, and the basics of DNA testing. Part[…]Read more
Understanding Spanish Abbreviations in Historic Documents
English-speaking researchers and historians working with Spanish documents, as well as native speakers unfamiliar with early Spanish handwriting, face two hurdles—understanding the handwriting and vocabulary, and grasping the records’ institutional, historic, social, and cultural context. The new book, Mastering Spanish Handwriting and Documents: 1520-1820, by George R. Ryskamp, Peggy Ryskamp and H. Leandro Soria, addresses[…]Read more
Janis Joplin Descended from Royalty
The new Second Edition of The Royal Descents of 900 Immigrants to the American Colonies, Quebec, or the United States identifies 600 major historical figures in its 1,700+ pages. These celebrities range from W. H. Auden and Jane Austin to Thomas Mann and Karl Marx, and from John Kerry and Robert E. Lee to Aristotle[…]Read more
Tracing Your Belgian Roots
The history of Belgium is entwined with the religious and political wars of early modern Europe. Part of the Low Countries–which today comprise Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg–Belgium was ruled by Hapsburg Spain from 1516 until 1713 and was an important battleground in the extraordinarily violent Thirty Years War from 1618 to 1648. Over the next[…]Read more
Understanding Vital Records is Vital!
Chapter Thirteen of The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy (Fourth Edition) is all about vital records and their use for genealogy. Author Val Greenwood explains why most states outside of New England were so slow to require and standardize records of birth, marriage, death, and divorce. In fact, for a number of states vital recordkeeping[…]Read more
“The Researcher’s Guide” Explains Uses, Value and Limitations of Census Research
As we have noted on a number of occasions, Val D. Greenwood’s Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy discusses and explains in detail all the major sources for genealogy research in the U.S. The volume devotes two chapters to census records that explain the contents of and differences between the official U.S. censuses 1790-1940, colonial censuses,[…]Read more
Handling Secrets & Sensitivities When Writing Family Histories, By Michael J. Leclerc, CG
(Excerpted from Michael J. Leclerc, “Crafting Family Histories,” Elizabeth Shown Mills, ed.,Professional Genealogy: Preparation, Practice & Standards (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2018), 519–44.) Writing family histories is one of the most meaningful ways we can communicate the results of our research to our family members and even ourselves. Our projects can be large or small.[…]Read more