Cemeteries can be an incredibly rich source of information for your family history research, and just one of the places where you can collect your dead relatives. Whether you are there for research or just to visit, cemeteries can also be incredibly beautiful, with meaning built into the landscape. Atlas Obscura spent time uncovering the meanings behind some of[…]Read more
Tag: Genealogy Tips
Look to the Land: Understanding Land Records
By Carolyn L. Barkley When I first began to attend genealogical conferences, I heard a speaker from the North Carolina State Archives say, “When I hear someone ask for marriage records or wills, I know that the individual is a genealogist; when I hear someone ask for land records, I know that the individual is[…]Read more
Utilizing the Library of Congress Genealogy Website
The US Library of Congress (LOC) is the greatest repository of published works in the country including genealogy, local history books and periodicals. Whether or not you are planning to visit the LOC, located in Washington, DC, in-person soon, it will benefit you to visit its website. To get on the LOC site, start at its homepage:[…]Read more
Death Records: A Checklist of Ten Documents Every Genealogist Should Own, By William Dollarhide
This blog is an adaptation of an article by William Dollarhide that appeared in a Genealogical Pointers in December 2006. Here are ten places to look for a death record. All ten sources should be obtained for every ancestor on your pedigree chart and every member of a family on your family group sheet. 1.[…]Read more
Fill in the Census Records Research Gaps
Utilizing census records are a fundamental resource for any genealogists. There are two situations discussed here where the federal census records leave information gaps. Namely, when you’re searching for a relative before the federal census of 1790, and when you can’t find someone you know should show up on a federal census. A relative who predates[…]Read more