Dec 7
Even if you had no ancestors stationed in Hawaii during the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, your parents, grandparents, great grandparents were deeply affected by this sudden bombing of U. S. Naval ships and facilities. In remembering on this 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, it is of benefit to examine some of the resources about the pe...
Dec 6
The most fascinating aspect of looking for information on your ancestors is that you never know where the next great resource will come from. One very nice online site; VMI - Virginia Military Institute, has a great archive about the VMI alumni. It is very possible you may have never considered the possibility that an ancestor attended the Virg...
Dec 4
It is essential to learn your family ethnic background when doing your family tree. There are numerous organizations and clubs who solely focus and assist individuals of a particulate ethnic group. One of the major organizations in the United States is ‘POINT’ which stands for ‘Pursuing Our Italian Names Together.’ Their goal is to help...
Dec 2
Today with so many current print items (newspapers and magazines) no longer actually printed, but rather in digital format, it can be a great advantage that our ancestors did have the traditional print newspaper, that they were saved and now can be in a digital form to be viewed anywhere, anytime. The newspapers of yesteryear were filled with eve...
Dec 1
I love finding new ways to display photographs. I've been seeing a lot of ideas for how to display photographs in jars that I think are great ideas for gifts, or for just decorating your home with heritage photos. They can act as a conversation piece or a way to teach your children about where they come from by displaying photos in your home of you...
Nov 30
Numerous times you will see where an ancestor’s birth, marriage or death date are written May 11, 1712/1713 and you are not sure which year the event actually occurred. This is due to a change in the type of calendars used and when they were adopted. First, an explanation of each calendar. The Julian calendar was created by Julius Caesar bac...
Nov 28
Time for Christmas or Hanukkah shopping is with us and trying to come up with the perfect gift can be difficult. If you have a friend or relative who does the family research there are many cool selections to aid any researcher - novice or advanced. This includes you, if you do the research - here are some ideas to add to your ‘want list.’ ...
Nov 26
Finding any old photographs is of great assistance to historians and those researching their family background. With so many people having lived at one time or another in the many boroughs of New York, the online collection of vintage photos offers a wonderful treasure chest to explore. The site, Photographic Views of New York City, 1870s - 1970...
Nov 25
The continued story of Pilgrim - John Billington. John Billington and his family were on the Mayflower and came to Plymouth in 1620. They all survived the first harsh winter of 1620-1621. They celebrated their first harvest with a feast which would eventually be known as ‘Thanksgiving.’ By 1622, John Billington expressed his dissatisfac...
Nov 24
People generally have the notion that the Pilgrims of the Plymouth Colony in the 1620s were a very docile, proper group of people, just seeking a new homeland to worship as they saw fit. Yet, that original group of 102 passengers on the tiny Mayflower ship of 1620 was quite diverse. The following is about one family who stood out from the rest at...
Nov 22
You would think the place to start researching for any ancestral Pilgrims would be with each of the surviving Pilgrims and work toward the present time. Only that is the very hard way since there can be so many descendants. If a Pilgrim couple had nine children and each of those children had five or more children the numbers very quickly add up. ...
Nov 20
This time of year near Thanksgiving one reflects on those brave souls on the Mayflower ship who came to a new land on November 11, 1620. Generally, everyone refers to all those individuals as ‘Pilgrims’ but in truth only 41 were Pilgrims. Many others were indentured servants, paid servants and hired workers to assist the Pilgrims set and run ...
Nov 18
You are working hard to gather facts, stories and information on your ancestors. You hope you might eventually put the photos, information and documents you have located into a book about your family over the decades. However, did you think maybe someone, another one or generations before you, may have already done that very process? That is w...
Nov 16
Today there are so many organizations and medical faculties to help treat and care for individuals with special needs; such as those afflicted with mental disorders, dementia or handicaps. However, that was not the case for most of America’s history. Families generally kept a relative in their home, rarely going outside, keeping them isolated fro...
Nov 14
An amazing online site titled; ‘Tennessee Virtual Archive’ has a superb series of collections which span the 19th and 20th century history, people, events and culture of Tennessee. This region dates back to the 18th century when it was part of North Carolina and even the short-lived State of Franklin which would ultimately become part of th...