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The Supreme Court Heard the Census Citizenship Question Case
May 7
The United States Supreme Court has heard a case called Department of Commerce v. New York. The case is about the controversial citizenship question that the Trump administration wants to add to the 2020 Census. The Justices of the Supreme Court engaged in roughly 80 minutes of intense debate. The SCOTUS Blog (which is not wr...
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Did You Know This about Headstones?
May 5
It is great to locate the cemeteries and headstones marking the graves of your ancestors. Only you won't find all your ancestors. Here are lesser known facts about grave sites and headstones. In the 1700s and earlier there were no cemeteries. People were buried on their family property or outside of the town limits. Later churchyards were used. It...
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Motivation
May 3
Whether you are just starting or having been doing the family history research for years, you might be asked … “What is the reason you are researching your family?” In other words .. your motivation. Of course, everyone does have their own personal reasons but here are a few of the more common reasons. Many people want to know if there is s...
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A Newbie to Family History Research
May 1
That could be describing you, a 'newbie', a beginner to working on gathering and researching your family lineage and to know about your ancestors. You can always welcome advice on the best approach to this awesome task of your family tree. First, have a plan of organization. You have to keep files on your computer and paper (hard copy) files as ba...
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Telegrams
Apr 29
Due to the loss of his wife in 1825 when he was away and there was no quick method of informing Samuel Morse of his wife's death, he vowed to develop a means of communication that was faster than a letter. He would on the concept and developed the telegraph between 1830s to 1840s. Beside a better means of communication, there was a whole new occupa...
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Tell a Story Day
Apr 27
On this day – April 27 – is 'Tell a Story Day' which celebrates story-telling of all kinds. It doesn't matter if its fiction or non-fiction, a tall tale, or folk lore. Today is a day to tell 'em all. Stories can be from a book, other written material, or from memory. Also, an eerie or spooky story is always fun. Family stories can be the best ...
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Collection of News Articles
Apr 25
Always an excellent resource in compiling your family history is the use of local hometown newspaper articles. It can be a short one sentence on a family member visiting friends or an engagement, military service, etc That is it … you never know what might be found. One individual whose service in the military during World War One I was research...
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Descendant of Pocahontas?
Apr 23
You just might be part of some of the 100,000 people who claim to be descendants of Pocahontas through the Thomas Rolfe bloodline. Pocahontas, a Native Indian, was born about 1596 in what would later be the Virginia colony of Jamestown. She is the main character in the story of saving Jamestown citizen John Smith from being killed by her father, Ch...
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St. Charles Public Library is Now FamilySearch Affiliate
Apr 23
The St. Charles Public Library is located in St. Charles, Illinois. It is now an Affiliate Library for FamilySearch. There are only a few hundred affiliate libraries in the United States. As an affiliate library, it is able to offer researchers more than it could before. Researchers will have the ability to view over 350 million restricted ...
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Hair Art
Apr 21
Known as 'hair art' it has been a form of art that began in the 16th century or earlier, and flourished in the Victorian era (1800s). It was used by people wanting to keep a memento of a loved one before the invention of photography. Hair art originated in England and France and then made its way to the United States. This form of art can take the ...
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Writing Ideas about your Ancestors
Apr 19
Trying to write a complete – total family history can be quite a bit. If able to do, go for it, that will be treasured by you, present relatives and future generations. But if doing a full and complete family history is too much now, here are some ideas for some shorter family story ideas. Write about some of the family legends or tales and if y...
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23andMe Genetic Risk Report for TTR-Related Amyloidosis
Apr 18
23andMe added a new Genetic Health Risk report on TTR-related hereditary amyloidosis. It is a genetic, multi-system disease. Transthyretin amyloidosis is a slowly progressive condition characterized by the buildup of abnormal deposits of a protein called amyloid (amyloidosis) in the body's organs and tissues. These protein deposits most fre...
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Bill H. R. 1953 “Hello Girls”
Apr 17
There were approximately 223 American ladies who served in France during World War One. They were not nurses but rather a new position, that of a member of the Signal Corps Female Telephone Operators Unit. They were sworn into the U. S. Army Signal Corps. This position was suggested by General John J. Pershing to improve communications during the ...
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Ancestry is Updating Their Latest Innovations
Apr 16
Ancestry announced that they have updated three of the game changing innovations that they introduced at RootsTech 2019. They are: ThruLines, MyTreeTags, and New & Improved DNA Matches. Ancestry points out: “We launched these features in beta so you could explore them and send us feedback to make your Ancestry experience even better. Our t...
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Patriots’ Day – third Monday of April
Apr 15
This notable date goes to the New England states and especially related to the patriots of the American Revolution. Today it is an official holiday from work and school for the New England states – Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Hampshire. It does not mean other states in the nation don't also recognize 'Patriots...
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