Jul 15
Ready to plan out a roots trip? This type of genealogy focused vacation requires more planning than a typical vacation would. Getting the most you can out of a roots trip involves combining your genealogy research with real world locations (as well as things like travel and hotel arrangements). Where do you want to go? You might be aware that...
Jul 14
The stories that you are told about your family history are interesting, inspiring, and a great way to feel connected to those who passed away before you were born. Unfortunately, not every story that has been passed down from one generation to the next is entirely factual. There are ways to separate the fact from the fiction in your family tree....
Jul 13
Organization is so important when doing your family history. Remember you are recording and looking up about two major family branches — your mother’s and your father’s side. Each of those branches had two more branches, your grandparents, so now you have four major branches. If you don’t use some helpful forms and organizational sh...
Jul 13
To step back in time to know more about your family and their hometown is to locate a postcard. The collecting and sending of postcards (some with actual photos) was a very popular social sharing activity for decades. Especially between the late 1890s into the 1950s, postcards were saved and shared all the time. Not used just during a vacation bu...
Jul 13
Genealogists who have been struggling to find information about their Native American ancestors might find the data they are searching for in resources that are specifically dedicated to the records of Native Americans. It will help if you can figure out where your ancestor was at the start of the 19th Century, and where he or she was at by the en...
Jul 11
Whether you are just starting or have been working on your family tree for while, you might think there are no interesting, fascinating or intriguing stories about your relatives. The real life facts are that every family tree does have interesting stories about their ancestors -- it is just a matter of uncovering them. Most of the time family ta...
Jul 9
Oh, it happens so many times, you can't find an ancestor in a specific federal census. They were still living, so why can't you find them? You do have to think outside the 'box' to find some relatives. First check census records for that ancestor before and after a specific census date. Find them in 1860, then in 1880 if you are looking for them...
Jul 9
Having trouble finding records for your ancestors who were Freedmen? A new resource might inspire you to try again. Records from the Freedmen's Bureau have been digitized are some are already accessible. The Freedmen's Bureau was the popular name for the United States Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands. It was established by Congre...
Jul 8
Have you hit a “brick wall” with your genealogy research? There's that one ancestor who has proven to be very elusive. You've tried everything you can think of but are having no luck. It's possible that a Boolean search could help you find your ancestor. What's a Boolean search? The answer to that question goes back to George Boole. He is be...
Jul 7
Need ideas for this summertime -- well it is a great opportunity to arrange a family reunion. It doesn't have to super large, it could even be a certain family branch. Whichever family members are invited is up to the host. The most important item is to do certain activities while you or the host has everyone gathered in one spot. First, s...
Jul 7
Need some ideas for your family history blog? The No Story Too Small blog has been creating four new ideas every month. Those who started this project at the beginning of the year would end up with blogs about 52 of their ancestors by the end of the year. One of the topics that they picked for this month is “independent”. The topics selec...
Jul 6
It is important to keep your genealogy research organized. There are many different ways to do it, and what works well for one genealogist might not be the best choice for another. One fairly simple way to keep all the important data organized is by putting it into a timeline. Professional organizer and amateur genealogist Janine Adams has a ver...
Jul 5
You quickly find there is alot of room for 'human error' when working on your family tree. First are the primary and then secondary resources you use. Census records, birth, marriage and death records are all important and considered primary sources. However, they were still created by a person -- so human error can be involved. I have neve...
Jul 3
Want to add an interesting map to your family documents or do something a bit different at the next family reunion- well try mapping all the states and / or countries you have either lived in or visited. There are a couple different ways you can do this very simple online map titled Maploco. Have a map of just places a specific branch of the f...
Jul 1
The online site of 'Fortepan' has a collection of over 51,868 photos from around the globe and dating back to the late 1890s and early 20th century. Any of the high resolution photos can be downloaded to your computer. There are descriptions along with a time frame for each. The variety is tremendous of images of buildings, streets, rural areas...