America

  • Cyndi’s List ~~ A Treasure Chest

    Dec 17

    Maybe you have searched the numerous categories of genealogical resources listed on Cyndi's List. But if you have not in the last six months, you are long overdue. The list of categories and topics keeps expanding and being updated. A link that was active 2 years ago could have been changed or even shut down. The addition of new links is the most i...

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  • Christmas Surnames

    Dec 13

    Did it ever occur to you that families could have a surname associated with Christmas traditions? Some you wouldn't be as surprised by like, 'Claus' has in the USA over 1,300 or 'Santa', has 370 individuals. The name 'Christmas' has 1,499 people with that surname, which is quite a few. The most with the Christmas surname, based on the Crestleaf dat...

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  • Storage of Photos with Amazon Cloud

    Dec 11

    Many methods to store one's digital photos and using a couple different ways is the preferred and safest avenue. You have the scanned and digital photos on your computer. Also have them on a disc and / or thumb / flash drive. Use the 'Cloud' method as an alternative method also.   One of the recommended 'cloud' storage services is with Amazo...

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  • Nicknames

    Dec 7

    An ancestor having a nickname can prove to be a handicap during your research. A nickname is a substituted for the proper name of a person. It is often considered desirable, symbolizing a form of acceptance, but can sometimes be a form of ridicule. Some nicknames are given by the parents, grandparents or later by school friends. That nickname could...

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  • Avoiding Mistakes

    Dec 3

    Be careful now to produce mistakes in your family history research or in turn to place mistakes (unknowingly) into your family database. A major problem is when you locate a whole family tree lineage online and accept / copy every person with every date because some it matches what you know about your family line. Too many times, just about all ...

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  • Lesser Used Records

    Dec 1

    Think you searched every official document -- well there just might be some other records you didn't think to try. First, your ancestor may have owned a dog and the hometown they lived in required a dog license. On that official form could be information (address and names) you didn't know about. Another overlooked resource are other census reco...

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  • Searching Using Amazon

    Nov 29

    The online shopping site of Amazon just might have some items to add to your family information and artifacts. If you had a relative who served in a specific US military branch and you know the unit and / or regiment he served in, you might find something related to it. Putting in the Amazon search 'military units' showed over 53,000 items. For exa...

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  • California in 3-D during the 1800s-1900s

    Nov 27

    Newest item available for research are the California State Library digitized collection of about 10,000 old sepia-toned 3-D photos, those done during the mid to late 1800s. These are stereoscopic photos viewed through hand-held viewers that turned the side-by-side double photos into a single 3-D image, a most unusual feature for 1890s. Not all 10...

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  • Thanksgiving Meals—Vintage

    Nov 26

    To get an idea of what your ancestors might have had for their Thanksgiving meal go to the local newspapers. Using Chronicling America (free), Newspapers.com and NewspaperArchives (both with a free trial and fee based) and plugging in a specific year or range of years and locations can producing some interesting information. Use some key words...

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  • Indian-Pioneers Stories of OK

    Nov 23

    The territory of Oklahoma was where many of the country's Native American Indians were resettled. Some did come on their own and others were forced. Mixed in were former African-American slaves who intermarried with the the Indians, plus European settlers looking for land they could homestead. The Oklahoma University Western History Collections ha...

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