Blog Content
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What is a Delayed Birth Certificate?
Jun 11
You may or may not have come across an ancestor with a 'Delayed Birth Certificate'. This type of record came about when Americans needed to prove when they were born for passports (beginning in 1920s) and registration with Social Security (in the 1930s). From the Dept. of Health and Human Resource – a delayed birth certificate is any b...
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23andMe Improves Reports for Caribbean and Latin American Customers
Jun 11
23andMe announced has released a new feature called “Recent Ancestry in the Americas” for customers with ancestry from Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. This is part of 23andMe's ongoing efforts to deliver a more intuitive and comprehensive 23andMe Ancestry Composition Report. This new feature enables these customers to...
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Overlooked Sources of Family History
Jun 9
Family history and the tree is not just name and dates and locations, there should be information on the person themselves, their occupation, hobbies, interests, and achievements. Where is find some of that type of information is by using some of the following. Learning when the first of a family branch arrived in America is very impo...
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Non-Famous Ancestors Still Important
Jun 7
Everyone loves to locate a famous ancestor or one who lived an exciting life or did a special adventure. However, many of your ancestors led ordinary lives, worked, had a family, etc. Yet, you may have missed some very interesting events surrounding an ancestor's life in their hometown. An excellent example would have been if either the Union ...
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FamilySearch Celebrates 20 Years Online
Jun 6
FamilySearch announced that it has celebrated 20 years of being online. It was first launched on May 24, 1999. Two decades later, FamilySearch is a leader in the rising tide of popular ancestry-related services online. FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. It is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organiza...
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75th Anniversary of D-Day
Jun 5
The 75th anniversary of D-Day (Operation Overlord) is Thursday, June 6th (in 2019). On that date 75 years ago, the Allied forces (England, USA, Canada) invaded northern France, held by Germany) by means of beach landings in the Normandy coast. More than 160,000 Allied troops landed along a 50-mile stretch of heavily-fortified French coas...
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Ancestry Surpasses 15 Million DNA Customers
Jun 4
Ancestry announced that 15 million customers have received AncestryDNA results. As the network of people who have taken an AncestryDNA test continues to grow, it makes Ancestry more able to deliver granular insights about heritage and compelling new paths to learn about ourselves through genetics. Ancestry identified three areas which can b...
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The Steerage Act of 1819
Jun 3
In the early 1800s, trans-Atlantic shipping companies seized the opportunity for bigger profits. Ships that had delivered timber from America to Europe could now make money on the return trip, too, packing their holds to capacity with hopeful passengers. As these passengers began to arrive in American ports they were starved and sick, and as deat...
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Use Archival Containers
Jun 1
You try to keep protected any family heirlooms given you for future generations, but it is done properly? Some items you may have overlooked are more recent artifacts, such as the flag from the casket used during a military funeral, that too needs protecting. Just placing heirlooms in a cardboard box, filing cabinet or plastic bin, is no...
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Your Victorian Female Ancestors in the Summer
May 31
With the summer season approaching, what did your female ancestors wear to keep cool and comfortable in warmer weather of the mid-1880s? Victorian women did not throw out hardly-worn dresses each season unless they were extremely wealthy. Instead, they would use ribbons, lace and embroidery to give their outfits a new look, perhaps by cha...
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Common Error on a Census
May 29
It may not have occurred to you, but you really need to examine each person listed in a household on a US Federal Census. You just might be overlooking a relative. Many census takers placed next to the name of an individual 'boarder' or 'lodger' or 'roomer' when in fact that person was a relative of someone in the household. They might ...
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23andMe Made OTA Honor Roll for Privacy and Security
May 28
23andMe announced that the Online Trust Alliance (OTA) honored 23andMe for protection, security, and the privacy of customer data. 23andMe was named to the OTA Honor Roll overall, and ranked #1 in the Healthcare category. In addition to ranking at the top among Healthcare companies and organizations, 23andMe was ranked in the top 50 of all ...
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Telling the Family Story
May 27
It does not have to be a massive job to put together an interesting collection of family stories. The key is to start! First, start the work on your storytelling in smaller chunks will make your project seem more manageable. If you can, set aside a few minutes a day or once a week to write, but don’t beat yourself up if you miss a day ...
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No Photo – Try This!
May 25
You may have not photos of any type for some of your ancestors, especially those who lived in the 1600s-1700s and into a good portion of the 1800s, when there were no cameras. But what many people did was have a silhouette done. That is an outline all in black of their facial, hair and head to shoulders. True, it is not the same as a photo but...
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Your Parents Before they were Parents
May 23
As you do the research on your family, one segment that might prove a bit easier is learning what each of your parents—your mother and father, did prior to their marriage. There just might be some fascinating details that might be overlooked. Number one easiest method is if either parent is still living, is to interview each, or one as...
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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
Reviews of top genealogy and family tree sites, with feature comparisons. more »
