America

  • A Moment in Time – 1850

    Apr 11

    Look at the year 1850 in the United States, a young nation; no American Civil War yet, the Gold Rush just began, many of our ancestors were starting to move further west to the Great Plains in the covered wagons, the Industrial Revolution was just getting started, travel on the rivers was by steamboats and there was approximately 23.2 million peopl...

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  • Key Ideas When Researching Your Ancestors

    Apr 9

    You are just beginning or you have worked for awhile on putting together your family history. No matter what the situation, everyone comes across some stumbling blocks, those ancestors you don’t know where to research or you just not sure which direction to proceed with. Here are some key ideas to try when you’re stumped.  First, remember y...

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  • Nicknames of Our Ancestors

    Apr 4

    How frustrating when checking databases looking for a certain ancestor and you have a surname but can not locate that individual because no known given name matches.  You look over vital records and might see a couple different given names for the same person, some of which are each totally different.  You wonder if you have the right person or e...

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  • My First Find on the 1940 Census

    Apr 3

    It was 9 a.m. on Monday morning, April 2nd along the east coast and I started by searching on the newly released 1940 US Federal Census on Ancestry.com.  The only locations with images available at that point in time on the first day were nine states (California, Delaware, Indiana, Maine, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia)....

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  • Chicago – What a Town!

    Mar 24

    Along Lake Michigan is the great mid-west city of Chicago, Illinois. It has served as a magnet for thousands of people to settle in and around this city for decades.  You may well have ancestors who at some time lived in Chicago. There is an online site titled Chicago Ancestors, sponsored by the Newberry Library in Chicago which offers a variet...

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  • Ancestral Phrases, Sayings and Clichés – Part 2

    Mar 12

    Did you come across familiar sayings in the earlier blog, strange little clichés you have heard all your life?   Here is an additional set of familiar and unusual phrases from our ancestors.   Upper Crust Refers to the high society or wealthier classes in a community.  It originated when making bread in the 1500s was done using a ra...

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  • No 1890 US Federal Census – Now What?

    Mar 6

    There was a U. S. Federal census taken across the country in 1890.  Unfortunately, in January 1921, most of the stored records for the 1890 census were severely damaged in a fire at the Commerce Department Building in Washington, D. C.  A few portions of a hand-full of Federal censuses representing a few states survived the fire. The census befor...

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  • Using State Censuses

    Mar 4

    You may only know about the U. S. Federal censuses which have been taken every ten years since 1790 which are a wonderful source of information in tracking and learning about your ancestors. What you need to investigate is the data available in the numerous states censuses. The beauty of using a census done in an individual state, at a certain t...

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  • The Great Irish Move to America

    Feb 27

    If you have located any Irish ancestry in your lineage, you would want to locate when that branch left Ireland for the America.  A reminder, many Irish immigrants went to other ports, not just New York City.  Many went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania or to New Orleans, Louisiana or even resettled in Canada, coming into the ports in Quebec or New Br...

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  • Ancestral Patent Medicines & Home Remedies

    Feb 25

    For our grandparents and great grandparents, most did not go to doctors on a regular basis. Instead people around 1900 (in many countries) used various home remedies, homeopathic methods or an array of ‘patent medicines’ such as Omega Oil which claimed to be "natures own remedy for pain, with a sparkling green color, and there’s nothing else ...

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