Blog Content
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Photos and Prints at the Library of Congress
Apr 16
The main element that every family historian looks to have in the family genealogy project is photos of ancestors. Next would be images of the family home or farm and then a family business and next the hometown. Each image allows the researcher to step back in time to better understand and appreciate their ancestor's life and the historical events...
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Was Your Ancestor in the Poorhouse?
Apr 14
As the family historian you have attempted to follow the course of numerous ancestors' lives using census, birth, marriage and death records. You have when and where a certain person was born and may even be able to track them for years. Then a major roadblock, you do not find them in the family home or town, it is as if they disappeared. No record...
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Acts of Kindness to Help in Research
Apr 12
Everyone could use a little help from some friends and that is the basis of Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK). This site is networking of fellow family history researchers in locations not only across the United States and Canada, but in numerous other places around the globe. When investigating about our ancestors, they may have live...
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Finding Births-Marriages-Deaths in West Virginia
Apr 10
The state of West Virginia was once part of the state of Virginia. It broke away from the Confederate State of Virginia and was admitted as a new federal state in June 1863. The West Virginia Division of Culture and History has placed online some of their vital records. The Archives of West Virginia have made accessible information concerning birth...
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Colonial American and 19th Century Terms
Apr 8
The very best sources for a family historian are the primary vital documents; such things as Wills, deeds, journals, letters, certificates and ledgers. Where a problem could arise is in transcribing and interpreting such writings that date back to the 19th century or even into the period of Colonial America. The English language written and spok...
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Looking for Canadian Ancestors
Apr 6
For those researchers doing family history it is very possible there are some relatives who lived in Canada at some time. This is especially true of ancestors with an English, Irish, Welsh or Scottish background. Many Americans have crossed the northern U. S. border to settle for a few years or permanently in Canada. During the two World Wars th...
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What was the Money Valued for Your Ancestors?
Apr 4
One of the interesting aspects of searching one's family history are learning those small details, those things that made relatives from a hundred years ago more real to life. Nothing speaks to the reality of living than money. It has been a very necessary element in our ancestors' lives just as it is today. So as you gather information on ...
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Military Aviation Accidents
Apr 2
Since the invention and then the utilization of airplanes by the military, there have been fatal plane crashes involving service personnel. The military does complete a report of each crash to see if there was a problem with the plane or pilot which contributed to the crash. From such knowledge it is hoped future occurrences will be minimized. ...
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The Elusive Ancestor on the Census
Mar 31
The use of the U. S. Federal Census or any of the state censuses conducted in-between the each decade of the federal population count are a wonderful source of data about our ancestors. It is a way to gauge who was living with their parents, ages, occupations, property values and birth places. Following each decade that an ancestor lived is a min...
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Memorabilia in a Shadowbox
Mar 29
Working on family history is not just names, dates, locations and family stories. Various family members can have heirloom pieces which can be displayed in a shadowbox rather than tucked away in a closet. A shadowbox is an enclosed case where specialize memorabilia is sheathed for display. Encasing the objects does protect them from light on mos...
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Your Family Name As A Geographical Location
Mar 27
There are some interesting services offered by the United States Federal government for those interested in their family history. One branch is the U. S. Geographic Services with their Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). With 2.1 million geographic names in their database, nearly the full spectrum across the United States and US territori...
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African-American Research Site
Mar 25
There all types of ethnic and racial groups and many different web sites to assist individuals interested in a specific group. The site AfriGeneas made it their mission to provide as many resources to people searching their African-American ancestry. The assistance they offer features a searchable database of surnames. This easy engine search a...
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Someone Else found Your Family Photo
Mar 23
A family historian is always on the outlook for treasured family photos. There are long lost cousins who just might have photos of your great grandmother you had never seen. However, there are other people, not related in any form who also looking for old photos. They think of themselves as collections of antique family photos. They also look fo...
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Our Ancestors Communication – By Writing
Mar 21
Everyone has wished they could speak to a certain ancestor to learn more about them. Since that is not possible in most cases, the best way is through what our ancestors wrote. Not all, but most of our relatives from decades ago communicated by writing. Either by penning their thoughts in a diary, letter or journal more can be learned about that in...
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Just Beginning, Try a Collective Listing of Sources
Mar 19
You may have been given by a relative a partial family tree with a few names and dates and you would really like to make that tree grow. You just might need one general search site to help you weed through the countless web sites available. At 'Live Roots' they have created a specialized search engine to all online sites with an easy click to acces...
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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
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