Feb 17
Everyone at some time in their lives has heard stories told by family members of ancestors who either met a famous person, accomplished some great feat, was a war hero, invented a time saving device or somehow brought honor and glory to the family name. There may also have been a few tales of the “black sheep” of the family who even had a shady...
Feb 16
No episode this Friday, February 17th, the next one is the following Friday, February 24th with the actor Blair Underwood on NBC at 8 pm Eastern Standard Time. There were many surprises in store for Underwood as he journeyed to his original roots in the continent of Africa and then to his southern roots in America. There is always something ne...
Feb 15
If you had to name the one location in America where many of our emigrant ancestors may have lived for years, it would have to be New York City. It being a very large city, there were certain neighborhoods where different ethnic groups congregated. Those early immigrants usually had to live in small apartments on crowded streets with all types of...
Feb 13
Besides seeing the unusual aspect of the name ‘Valentine’ as a given or surname in genealogy, this February holiday is also a great opportunity to learn a little bit more about any family ancestors or relatives who were born or married on or near Valentine’s Day. If you see a couple who married around that date, it was more than likely rel...
Feb 11
There are surnames such as Valentine, Love, Heart and Cupid. The family name of Valentine is English and comes from the Latin term ‘valens’ which means something very strong and healthy. Additional spellings for Valentine include Vallentine and Vallantine. Some notable individuals with the surname include Robert John Valentine who was a profess...
Feb 10
Marisa Tomei was born in 1964 in Brooklyn, New York. Her family heritage is that of Italian-American. Her career as an actress on television, movies and the stage has won her many awards since 1983 with her biggest break in her performance in My Cousin Vinny in 1992. On the NBC prime time WDYTYA series with Marisa’s family journey of discove...
Feb 9
Traditional entertainment centered on the local singer, musician or theater play in a town. Once vocal recordings were created on early records and made available in the home the door was wide open for other forms of entertainment. Nothing captured the imagination of people everywhere like the movies shown in a theater on a large screen. These...
Feb 7
One of the standards for amassing all the available genealogical resources and making it accessible to everyone for years has been Cyndi Ingle Howells with her ‘Cyndi’s List’. Her next step was to assemble the many family history / genealogical articles, stories and blogs that are created everyday. She has put them in one place online with ...
Feb 5
After the massive destruction the city of New Orleans, Louisiana (the Big Easy) suffered in 2005 due to a hurricane, it is encouraging to see the New Orleans Public Library has an excellent biography and obituary index available on their web site. It has death notices and obituaries from various newspapers covering from 1804 to 1972. It alphabetica...
Feb 3
There is the National Archives in Washington, D. C. which holds and preserves many of the nation’s most precious historical documents, images and recordings for future generations. In every U. S. state there is also a state archivist department in charge of saving that individual state’s history. To help oversee and cooperate such a massive job...
Feb 2
Friday evening - Feb. 3rd, at 8 pm Eastern Standard Time on NBC prime-time network the third season of WDYTYA - 'Who Do You Think You Are?' begins. The hour -long program will be each Friday night. The first show will have actor, Martin Sheen. His family background comprises Irish and Spanish heritage. He was born in Ohio in 1940 and nam...
Feb 1
One of the best resources for any family history researcher is the ability to find clues and even snippets of information at their fingertips. With the use of the world-wide web (Internet access) and a search engine, almost any topic, name, place can be located. When one thinks of search engines the first to come to mind is Google. It has rise...
Jan 30
With so much digital information available these days we have to stay organized or we could miss out on some new and worthwhile information. The Google search engine offers Google Alerts, an efficient method of being reminded when a topic, a surname, an article, a keyword of interest becomes available on the Internet. Instead of you taking time onc...
Jan 28
The number of cemeteries across the United States is enormous; even for such a young nation. When you add in world-wide the cemeteries still in existence, there are millions of graves everywhere, all which represent our ancestors. There are many volunteers who have taken the time to visit cemeteries in their locality, photograph the headstones o...
Jan 26
There is nothing better than watching professional genealogists in action to not only inspire you, but also provide that extra incentive for you to continue on your own family tree research. Starting on February 3rd, a Friday night at 8 p.m. Eastern and 7 p.m. Central, the Who Do You Think You Are? celebrity originated genealogical NBC network show...