If tracing your German origins requires that you read documents written in German—if you plan to research ones from the 19th-century or earlier it’s a virtual certainty you will—Ernest Thode’s classic dictionary is one book you should own. This book is designed for the family researcher who has little or no knowledge of German but[…]Read more
If you have Ukrainian ancestors, did you know that a famine called Holodomor claimed the lives of millions of Ukrainians in 1932-33? While the area’s dominant religious faiths were Ukrainian Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Jewish, did you know that Russian Orthodox, Ukrainian Greek Catholic, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic churches also proliferated? Do you know the[…]Read more
By Barbara J. Mathews, CG, FASG, and Darcie Hind Posz, CG(Excerpted from Professional Genealogy: Preparation, Practice & Standards) Societies exist for the sake of their society—not necessarily for the sake of genealogy. Each lineage and hereditary society has a different objective, mission statement, and purpose. Because criteria for applications are not one-size-fits-all, we need to[…]Read more
(The following article is excerpted from Professor Yoder’s Introduction to the three-volume collection, Pennsylvania German Church Records of Births, Marriages, Burials, Etc. From the Pennsylvania German Society Proceedings and Addresses ) We owe the translations of German church registers in these three volumes to the far-reaching historical and genealogical research program of the Pennsylvania German Society. The[…]Read more
Now published in three volumes, and 400 pages longer than the two-volume Fifth Edition, Free African Americans of North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina from the Colonial Period to About 1820 consists of detailed genealogies of hundreds of free black families that originated in Virginia and migrated to North and/or South Carolina from the colonial period to[…]Read more
By Barbara J. Mathews, CG, FASG, and Darcie Hind Posz, CG(Excerpted from Professional Genealogy: Preparation, Practice & Standards) NB: Part One of this article covering lineage society membership, which appeared in the October 19 issue of “Genealogy Pointers,” covered the process of completing a lineage society application. Part Two picks up with the crucial process[…]Read more
When the first English explorers landed there in 1625, they found Barbados to be uninhabited, having been abandoned by its Native American settlers a century earlier. England settled the island in 1627 and, owing to the success of the sugar industry there, would continue to rule it until 1966. By the 1650s, sugar had made[…]Read more
Vera Ivanova Miller, who authored Genealogy at a Glance: Russian Genealogy Research (now in its second printing), has returned with the companion title, Genealogy at a Glance: Ukrainian Research. Demand for the new laminated folder should be brisk inasmuch as 600,000 Ukrainians emigrated to the U.S. and Canada prior to World War I alone, with another[…]Read more
The new 2nd Edition of Free African Americans of Maryland and Delaware from the Colonial Period to 1810. 2nd Edition, by Paul contains genealogical evidence on more than 400 Maryland and Delaware black families (naming nearly 10,000 individuals), with copious documentation from the federal censuses of 1790-1810 and colonial sources consulted at the Maryland Hall[…]Read more
I have been gratified by Americans’ interest in The Royal Descents of 900 Immigrants to the American Colonies, Quebec, or the United States since its publication in 2018. I am surprised, however, at the response the work has received in Great Britain and continental Europe. The late Prince Phillip appears several times and, in addition[…]Read more
During the colonial period, according to law, an Englishman was a person of English descent born on English soil. The English colonies qualified as “English soil,” so an Englishman who emigrated to the colonies could transfer his citizenship to his offspring. (On the other hand, the son of an Englishman born in Holland, for example,[…]Read more
by the late Carolyn L. Barkley (We published an earlier version of this article, by the wonderful librarian and genealogist Carolyn Barkley in 2013. While one or two of the resources Carolyn cites are a bit long in the tooth, most of her tips are timeless.) If you are intending to travel to the Family[…]Read more
