As the subtitle–Using Chronological Time Lines to Find and Understand Your Ancestors— to the 2016 expanded and revised edition of Judy Jacobson’s best-selling book, History for Genealogists indicates, this sought after book contains scores of historical chronologies that genealogists can access in order to place their ancestors in time and place. As Judy puts it:[…]Read more
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
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
We are continuing to share some of Val Greenwood’s time-tested advice from the new 4th edition of his Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy. Following are Greenwood’s suggestions concerning the nature of genealogical sources. [av_hr class=’short’ height=’50’ shadow=’no-shadow’ position=’left’ custom_border=’av-border-thin’ custom_width=’50px’ custom_border_color=” custom_margin_top=’30px’ custom_margin_bottom=’30px’ icon_select=’yes’ custom_icon_color=” icon=’ue808′ font=’entypo-fontello’ admin_preview_bg=” av_uid=’av-97kdzm’] “We may read printed or published[…]Read more
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
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
Here’s a familiar genealogical conundrum: A researcher has traced his/her ancestors from present-day California back to the Dust Bowl-era in Nebraska, into Missouri just as it was achieving statehood, and finally to Indiana in the 1830s. At that point, the trail has grown cold even though legend has it that the family patriarch was a[…]Read more
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
