We’ve written previously about our new guidebook, The Complete Guide to Lineage Societies, by Dr. Kimberly Nagy. In scarcely 80 pages, Dr. Nagy tells you everything you need to know if you’ve ever wondered about becoming a member of a lineage society. She begins with a description of what lineage societies have in common, what[…]Read more
Tag: Genealogy Pointers
Locating Your Roots. Discover Your Ancestors USING LAND RECORDS, By Patricia Law Hatcher
Land records–grants, deeds, mortgages, surveys, and more–are among the most valuable resources for genealogists to prove relationships and to point to new relationships. Why? One of the strongest motivators for American immigration was land, and one of the strongest motivators for migration within America was land. Because of this, land records are the most common[…]Read more
‘Generation by Generation’ Helps Genealogists Focus on Objectives and Stay Organized
In her August 30, 2023 review of Generation by Generation: A Modern Approach to the Basics of Genealogy, by Drew Smith, organizational expert Janine Adams observed, “Like Drew, I wish a book like this had been around when I started doing genealogy research. It’s so clearly laid out and clearly written, with bits of humor[…]Read more
Citation Tips: Citing History Sources—Flexibility & Choices. By Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL, FASG
To celebrate the release of the new fourth edition of Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace, EE’s author offers guidance drawn from the new edition. This is the fourth in our four-part series. ( View Part 1 | View Part 2 | View Part 3 ) Citations are flexible structures. They are not rigid formulas from which we dare[…]Read more
Half-cousins Abound in RD 900 Second Edition
One of the reasons millions of Americans—and especially descendants of New England colonists—have royal ancestry has to do with inheritance practices of western European nations. As Gary Boyd Roberts explained in the Volume 19:3 (2018) issue of American Ancestors Magazine, “Younger sons or daughters of kings (who are entitled to nothing) become or marry nobles,[…]Read more
Table of Contents from THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO FAMILY TREEDNA: Y-DNA, Mitochondrial, Autosomal and X-DNA
The Complete Guide to FamilyTreeDNA: Y-DNA, Mitochondrial, Autosomal and X-DNA, by Roberta Estes, is now available in print and eBook editions. To say that this new book covers its topic from A to Z would be an understatement. Even the helpful glossary of terms at the back of the book runs to seven pages. To[…]Read more
Free Newspapers for German Genealogy
Let’s say you are looking for the German origin of one of your ancestors, and you’ve exhausted your English-language sources. You are familiar with German genealogical words and phrases because you own a copy of Ernest Thode’s German-English Genealogical Dictionary. You’re reasonably confident that the missing ancestor came to the U.S. from Berlin, so what[…]Read more
Citation Tips: Do All Citations Require Layers? By Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL, FASG
To celebrate the release of the new fourth edition of Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace, EE’s author offers guidance drawn from the new edition. This is the third in our four-part series. ( View Part 1 | View Part 2 ) Previous posts in this series introduced the concept of layered[…]Read more
Did You Know This about Family TreeDNA?
In previous issues of “Genealogy Pointers,” we have pointed out various features of Roberta Estes’ new book, The Complete Guide to Family TreeDNA. We will continue to do so in the weeks and months to come. The book is currently available in e-Pub format and a black and white print edition. Based on popular demand,[…]Read more
“Fishing or Researching?”, by the late Terrence M. Punch
Before the Internet was generally in use, people seeking their family trees sooner or later went to an archives in search of information. We spoke with relatives to elicit stories and details about the family. Some hung around cemeteries or called in at the local Registry of Deeds or the Probate Court. Pastors and parish[…]Read more
Books by Louise Foley Capture Early Virginia Land Patents
Consider the following 17th-century Virginia land patent abstract: “MATHEW PRICE, son and heire to JOHN PRICE, late of Va., labourer, 150 acs. Henrico Co., upon Turkey Island Cr., 23 May 1638, p. 558. E. by S. upon sd. Cr., W. by N. toward Bremo, S. by W. upon land granted to his late father, now[…]Read more
Citation Tips: What Exactly are Layered Citations & Why Do We Need Them? By Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL, FASG
To celebrate the release of the new fourth edition of Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace, author Elizabeth Shown Mills offers guidance drawn from the new edition. This is second in our four-part series. (View part 1) Technology has complicated the process of citing our sources. With digital images delivered online or through other[…]Read more