We’ve run this article by the late, great Nova Scotian genealogist, Terry Punch, a few times; however, it is such an important cautionary (and humorous) tale about the search for church records, we’re running it again today. Some years ago, when religious sectarianism was closer to the surface, people spoke of the marriage of a[…]Read more
Category: Genealogy Pointers
Progen PPS explains options for family history writing
Another valuable chapter in Professional Genealogy: Preparation, Practice & Standards, edited by Elizabeth Shown Mills, illustrates the different ways in which genealogists have structured their published work over the years. Chapter 22, “Crafting Family Histories,” which was written by Michael Leclerc, itemizes seven different formats for family history writing that have appeared over many decades.[…]Read more
Val D. Greenwood on Land Records
The last few issues of “Genealogy Pointers” have addressed land records in one way or another. Before moving on to other topics, we would be remiss if we failed to share the expert advice concerning deeds and other land records that is available in the 4th edition of The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, by[…]Read more
Proof Arguments & Case Studies
We couldn’t have been prouder! It seemed like everybody who visited our booth at the RootsTech conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, was talking about Professional Genealogy. Preparation, Practice & Standards, edited by Elizabeth Shown Mills. A number of people mentioned that they had signed up for a home study course based on Progen PPS.[…]Read more
Irish Newspapers Online from Tracing Your Irish Ancestors. 5th Edition, by John Grenham
The all-new 5th edition of the definitive textbook for Irish roots, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors, by John Grenham, is now available from Genealogical.com. Over the next few weeks and months we will be calling attention to important features of this remarkable book, starting with the one below. The most important development in Irish genealogy since[…]Read more
Finding Your World War I Ancestor
Suppose family legend has it that your great-grandfather served in the Polish army during World War I. If his service records have survived, you assume you will be able to find them without any trouble. In reality, however, it is not quite that simple. Between October 1914 and September 1917, for example, some Polish combatants[…]Read more
“Land Records—More than Mere Conveyances of Real Estate,” by Robert Barnes
Researchers who take the time to go beyond an index to land records may find many items of interest in a particular volume that may have not been indexed by the clerks of the county court. For example, some indices may omit some references, such as depositions and ‘posted wives,’ but one should double check[…]Read more
Find Ten Things Wrong with the Painting
Readers of this newsletter know that author Jack Crowder is a dedicated student of the American Revolution. In the last six months, we have published two of Jack’s books on the subject. In Women Patriots of the American Revolution, Jack Crowder highlights roughly 90 women who went beyond the norm in supporting America’s struggle for[…]Read more
The Ancestry of the New British Royal Baby Explained in RD 900 – By Gary Boyd Roberts
Perhaps surprisingly to many readers, the new royal child—Archie Harrison Mountbatten Windsor–is descended from six of the 970 immigrants to the U.S. treated in Gary Roberts’ two-volume Royal Descents of 900 Immigrants (RD 900). The five the royal baby inherits from the late Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother or from the late Diana Princess of[…]Read more
“African Americans in the American Revolution,” by Jack Crowder
At the time of the Revolutionary War about 20% of the colonial population were African American; the number of blacks that ultimately fought for the Americans side was estimated to be over 5,000. By the year 1779, sources indicate that 15% of the army was black. When the war began, George Washington was opposed to[…]Read more
New Study Concludes that Teaching Family History to Children Builds Personal Resilience
According to a survey of young people conducted by psychologists at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, “children who know more about their families and family history are more resilient and tend to do better when facing challenges life.” Researchers also learned that youngsters who knew more about their family’s past had more self-confidence and a[…]Read more
What Your Relatives Can Tell You about the Great Depression & WWII
As Emily Anne Croom writes in her book, Unpuzzling Your Past. The Best-Selling Basic Guide to Genealogy, “Collecting family history also means trying to fit the family into the history of the community, county, state, and nation. You can find the political, economic, and social history of these areas in books and contemporary newspapers, but[…]Read more