Sep 5
Every era has its own way of expressing emotions or events. Some of those regional or national expressions or slang words remain in present-day vocabulary, but most are dropped over the decades. The following are from newspapers during the 1800s (19th century). A few are a bit strange, but were considered accepted at the time. Here are some for...
Sep 4
Available on Ancestry.comĀ is the massive collection of Wills across the nation now made digital. It is a scanned digital copy of the actual (mostly handwritten) Wills of original people. These documents cover well over 100 million people, including the deceased (names, dates) as well as their family, friends and others involved in the prob...
Sep 3
If you won the lottery and were about to receive one million dollars, you would likely be extremely happy. One million is a big number. AncestryDNA has good reason to be excited about the number one million. They recently reached it! AncestryDNA is a DNA testing service that utilizes autosomal testing technology. It combines advanced DNA s...
Sep 3
Everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing the Tuesday morning of the September 11, 2001 during the attack on the New York City World Trade Center. In that ground zero location now is a special 9/11 Memorial and the 9/11 Memorial Museum. The 9/11 Memorial opened September 1, 2011 and the Museum in May 2014. To better learn...
Sep 3
Back in the early 1980s, Don and Jeannie Hartman began making their collection of family genealogy in digital format. From there they placed their collection (vital records, notes, photos, family trees, etc) online to share with others. As it turned out they had a massive collection of many surnames besides 'Hartman'. The family was from Pennsylv...
Sep 2
Every year, Family Tree Magazine sifts through the internet and selects the very best genealogy resources it finds. This list is then shared with readers who might be looking for some new and interesting genealogy blogs to enjoy. This year, some of the selections are more than blogs! The Best Genealogy Blogs of 2015 list was released on Family T...
Sep 1
Having an official document directly filled out by a specific ancestor can provide so much information. One of the best examples is the original application a person filled out for the Social Security Administration. For the date they completed the application will be about names, addresses, occupation, birth date, exact place of birth, the mothe...
Sep 1
The No Story Too Small blog has come up with a series of writing prompts for family historians. If you did each and every one of them, you will end up blogging about 52 ancestors in 52 weeks. It is also entirely possible to pick and choose which themes you want to cover, or to substitute your own themes instead. One of the optional themes fo...
Aug 31
With putting your family history together you have created a lasting and permanent record to be shared and enjoyed throughout the decades. But something is missing. The family story is not just names, dates and photos -- there are numerous stories with each individual, family branch or surname. The creators of 'EveryStory' have made that possibl...
Aug 29
With Europe at war during what was called 'The Great War' beginning in 1914, America felt it needed to be prepared to expand their army if called on. So a special draft registration form was created for males born from September 11, 1872 to September 12, 1900. It didn't matter if they were born in a different country, if they were living in Ameri...
Aug 27
This being my 32nd wedding anniversary, I'll provide some information on what a wedding for our ancestors in the 1800s might have been. Most weddings were held in a private home - the bride's family or groom's family or even a friend's home. About the 1820's church weddings started becoming more popular, but home weddings continued to remain pop...
Aug 27
There are several genetically heritable diseases. Those who are aware that the genes for a particular disease run in their family can have a doctor do a DNA test. What if you are a person who wants to have a baby from a donated egg or from donated sperm? There is now a company that can check that DNA for you. Parents have DNA testing done in ...
Aug 26
What qualities do you look for in a romantic partner? Many people can think of physical qualities that they find attractive. People also tend to want a partner to match their own personal religious, political, and social views. A company called Instant Chemistry believes the key to finding a good romantic partner is by having the potential coupl...
Aug 25
Family heirlooms are precious. Often, the value of the heirloom is apparent only to the family it belongs to. Old photos, junk jewelry, and inexpensive knick-knacks bring back memories and connection to ancestors. Sometimes, people find family heirlooms in some very weird and unexpected places. MyHeritage has a helpful blog that includes a list ...
Aug 25
Yes, these really existed in the late 1800s (1870s to 1900). It was a method for either a young lady or young man to make known to the other their interest in each other. It was a very early form of texting someone today. It was a way to introduce yourself rather than using the formal calling call. On the flirtation card you let if be known that...