Blog Content
-
Viewing Birth and Death Certificates from Arizona
Jun 17
More states in the United States are adding digital copies of actual state vital records online. Since all states keep their own birth-marriage and death certificates, it is necessary to know where an ancestor was born. If uncertain, the researcher might have to check several states to find the correct relative. For the state of Arizona they h...
-
Canadian Roots
Jun 15
Those searching any Canadian ancestors will need to review the online database called “Our Roots”. Because of the United States being bordered with Canada for thousands of miles, over the centuries many Canadians and U. S. citizens have lived for different periods of time in the neighboring country. Using Our Roots offers online access to s...
-
Your Ancestors Did What for a Living??
Jun 13
That can be the immediate response when someone learns your great grandfather was an ‘amanuensis’ or a ‘colporteur.’ There are numerous occupations our ancestors did that had some strange and unusual names. Many of those jobs do not even exist anymore. The ‘amanuensis’ is what a secretary was referred to as a profession. The te...
-
Viewing Pennsylvanian Newspapers from the 1850s to the 1870s
Jun 11
Besides recognizing the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War over the next few years, this is a time to reflect not just on those ancestors who may have served during the war, but also on the type of life-style such a major conflict had on the home front. If you had ancestors living between 1861 and 1865, anywhere in the United States or i...
-
Digital Newspapers from New Zealand
Jun 9
If you happen to have relatives from New Zealand, the nation southeast of Australia, you are in luck. There are more than one million pages of digitized New Zealand newspapers and periodicals in a collection which covers the years 1839 to 1945 from 63 publications from all regions of New Zealand. There are additional newspapers covering further y...
-
Life Histories Preserved
Jun 7
During the American Depression of the 1930s, the Federal government, under the Works Projects Administration, helped employ many people, especially those with specific skills. One of those type were writers, those individuals who could interview a person in depth and write their life story. This government funded program not only gave jobs to ...
-
Confederate Soldiers – Compiled Service Records and Others
Jun 5
The opposing side in the American Civil War, 1861 - 1865, was the Confederate States of America. If you have determined you had an ancestor who might have joined the Confederate side, you will want to investigate the Compiled Service Records files done in 1903 by the Record and Pension Office of the War Department. The original Confederate Rec...
-
Using the Civil War Union Soldiers Compiled Service Records & Others
Jun 3
Recognizing the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the American Civil War (1861 to 1865) is a wonderful opportunity to investigate any ancestors who participated on either side (Union or Confederate) during that war. However, you might be unsure if any of your ancestors did military service. First, if you have the approximate birth and death ...
-
Free Databases Offered by Ancestry.com & World Archives Project
Jun 1
Anything free is good, so it is always worth checking out the newest databases added by the huge collector of databases, Ancestry.com to their web site. The majority of their information is on a subscription-based fee, either at a monthly, quarterly or annual rate. However, Ancestry.com has always made available any public or free sources of gene...
-
Putting those Half-Siblings on a Family Tree
May 30
The term "half-sibling" is used to represent the family relationship of two or more children who share only one biological parent. One parent due to a divorce or widowhood, may remarry and a child or children are born to this new union. The original or oldest child and any new additions are considered half-siblings; a half-brother or half-sister. C...
-
Is There A Civil War Veteran in Your Tree?
May 28
The American Civil War, 1861 to 1865, was one of America’s most bloodiest conflict with brother against brother in many cases. For genealogical researchers it also today one of the most fascinating aspect of looking for ancestors; to see who served on which side and what happened. In beginning any such journey, first list those known ancestors...
-
The Many Forms of Smith
May 26
Just about every family history researcher has at least one ancestral branch with the surname of Smith or one of the variations of spellings for the name. Yet the most surprising information to a researcher is that Smith branch may not have had that surname but for a couple generations. This English-based name is not only very common in the Eng...
-
Assistance in Locating an Ancestor’s Obituary
May 24
One of the main type of documents a family history researcher looks for is the newspaper obituary on an ancestor. It really only became a common practice to place an obituary on a deceased relative in the late 1800s in America. The late 1800s into the early 20th century was the Victorian and Edwardian eras when things were to be done in a prope...
-
Ancestor Attended Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
May 22
Working on one’s family history, even for decades, can still yield some thrilling and revealing new information. Yet, the key to such a new discovery can lie in reviewing documents one has had in hand for years. I recently had such an exciting find which I just happened to stumble on. A fellow researcher had requested some direct quotes from...
-
How To Ask the Right Questions
May 20
An important and serious approach to learning more about your family history is by doing an interview with a relative. It could be with your parents, an aunt, grandparents, cousin, even a godparent. Generally you need to question a relative who is of a different generation, one that is older and can provide some insight to people and events you m...
Search Blog
Search Surnames
More Resources
Genealogy 101
The study of birth, marriage and death records to discover family relatives. more »
Genealogy Dictionary
Definitions for the most common terms and expressions for the field of Genealogy. more »
Genealogy Site Reviews
Reviews of top genealogy and family tree sites, with feature comparisons. more »
