“He was excited. Excited and happy, like a dog which has followed a cold trail for a long time, and suddenly finds it a hot one.” Nurse Detective Hilda Adams about Inspector Patton 68 Research in tax records has produced this reaction of excitement for many genealogists and has resulted in many “hot trails.” A[…]Read more
The following list of counties was derived from Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920, by William Thorndale and William Dollarhide (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1987). The original purpose of the Map Guide was to show the evolution of county boundaries from one federal census to the next; to allow a better understanding[…]Read more
By Gary Roberts RD 900 differs fundamentally from the series of volumes by David Faris and Douglas Richardson (1996-1999, 2004-2013), Plantagenet Ancestry, Magna Charta Ancestry and Royal Ancestry. Faris-Richardson cover in lavish detail all (or certainly most) Plantagenet or Magna Carta descendants, a few more than 250 17th– (and a very few 18th) – century[…]Read more
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
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-inspring number of historical figures from Continental Europe, the British Isles, or the United States who are related to millions of living descendants. Anyone descended from an immigrant in this work can[…]Read more
How many times have researchers kicked themselves for not knowing that someone else had already done their spadework for them? It’s for this reason, if you are about to delve into church records, that you must learn about the WPA Church Inventories. As Sunny Morton and Harold Henderson explain in Chapter Three of How to[…]Read more
Professional Genealogy: Preparation, Practice & Standards, edited by Elizabeth Shown Mills, contains innumerable lessons and guidelines leading to successful genealogy results. Chapter 14, written by Harold Henderson covers “Research Procedures.” Mr. Henderson divides his discussion into three sections (before, during, and after research) that describe the steps we should take when implementing a research plan.[…]Read more
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
Sunny Jane Morton and Harold A. Henderson’s book, How to Find Your Family History in U.S. Church Records, describes the major genealogical sources for Christian denominations in existence prior to 1900. Denominations covered include: Anglican/Episcopal, Baptist, Congregational, Dutch Reformed/Reformed, various German denominations, Latter-Day Saint, Lutheran, Mennonite and Amish, Methodist, Quaker, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic. Once[…]Read more
As Sunny Morton and Harold Henderson write in the Introduction to their new book, How to Find Your Family History in U.S. Church Records, “ . . . there’s never been a better time to make [church records] a routine part of the research process.” As Morton and Henderson emphasize, while church records once took[…]Read more
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
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
