United States
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Library & Archives of Canada
Sep 14
With the entire northern length of the United States bordered with the Commonwealth nation of Canada, it is very possible a few ancestors were born, lived or died there. In fact an aspect most people don't realize is that many young men during World War I who were not accepted in the military in their native United States (health or occupational re...
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Newspapers Researched
Sep 10
Newspapers are one of the most valuable resources for family historians. The online site titled; Elephind allows you to search over 50 million items from 1,145 newspaper titles. The researcher can search across many newspaper collections simultaneously rather than having to visit each collection separately. Many of the smaller newspaper collection...
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Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
Aug 21
These maps known as Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps are of small, medium and large sized towns and cities date back to the 19th century and well into the 20th century. They can be very important in locating where a family business, shop and neighborhood would have been at a specific time frame. The Sanborn Company (started by Daniel A. Sanborn), an Am...
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What Was Your Ancestor’s Occupation?
Apr 5
Many times that question is very easily answered – they were a farmer. In 1790 with the first US census there was a total population of approximately 3.9 million, of which 90% were in agriculture – farming. Going fifty years later, 1840 census, the population was 17 million of which 69% were in agriculture. The very beginnings of the industrial...
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The 1930s Writers’ Project
Mar 18
One of the many New Deal projects to help get people back to work during he 1930s Great Depression was the WPA (Works Project Administration) for writers. One was named 'Folklore Project' and the other 'Federal Writers' Project'. This paid writing assignment put over 6,500 men and women around the country to work, paying them a subsistence wage ...
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Civil War Photos
Feb 22
With the the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War (1861-1865), people are infatuated with finding as much information as possible. They are interested not only in the events, battles, people, Lincoln assassination, etc. during those years, but mostly learning if they had any relatives involved with the war directly related or part of the ex...
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Menus and Photos 1851 to 1930
Dec 30
In a past FamilyTree.com Genealogical Blog, I had written about cruise lines, railroad and airlines menus and locating them online in a digital format. The New York Public Library has an even greater collection of menus from restaurants, hotels, banquet rooms all over New York and other locations – also in digital format. It is the Miss F...
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Cushman Photos and Slides 1930s to 1972
Dec 18
It is nice to come across a large collection of photos that cover or represent a certain region or time period. Photos are the best method to get an idea of how our ancestors looked, dressed, their activities and what their state, region or community looked like at a certain time period. The Indiana University Archives – Digital Library Progra...
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Slave Insurance Registry
Nov 20
It is said anything can be insured for the right premium. Well, this was the case even for slaveholders of the southern states in the first half of the 19th century. Recently several of the archives from the old established insurance companies from the 1800s have been discovered by present-day insurance companies. In these archives was documentati...
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Missed Someone in the US 1940 Census?
Sep 17
If you have a large database of ancestors, you can easily overlook a relative who might appear in the 1940 census. Since there is so much information on this newest census, you will want to check for every person. I found a second cousin I did not have on a list. It turns out he was a young man of 18 years old living with an aunt and uncle lear...