America

  • Early 20th Century Death Certificates of Utah

    Feb 23

    A most important vital record is the official death certificate issued by a state where an individual died. The person may not have lived in that state any length of time, but if they did die for whatever reason with a state’s border, the certificate of death would be issued. However, an obituary in a newspaper could be from another location, the...

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  • Recording Those Family Tall Tales

    Feb 17

    Everyone at some time in their lives has heard stories told by family members of ancestors who either met a famous person, accomplished some great feat, was a war hero, invented a time saving device or somehow brought honor and glory to the family name. There may also have been a few tales of the “black sheep” of the family who even had a shady...

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  • New York City Tenement Life

    Feb 15

    If you had to name the one location in America where many of our emigrant ancestors may have lived for years, it would have to be New York City.  It being a very large city, there were certain neighborhoods where different ethnic groups congregated. Those early immigrants usually had to live in small apartments on crowded streets with all types of...

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  • Celebrate Valentine’s Day the Genealogical Way

    Feb 13

    Besides seeing the unusual aspect of the name ‘Valentine’ as a given or surname in genealogy, this February holiday is also a great opportunity to learn a little bit more about any family ancestors or relatives who were born or married on or near Valentine’s Day.  If you see a couple who married around that date, it was more than likely rel...

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  • Tonight – WDYTYA – Marisa Tomei

    Feb 10

    Marisa Tomei was born in 1964 in Brooklyn, New York.  Her family heritage is that of Italian-American. Her career as an actress on television, movies and the stage has won her many awards since 1983 with her biggest break in her performance in My Cousin Vinny in 1992. On the NBC prime time WDYTYA series with Marisa’s family journey of discove...

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  • First Movie Entertainment Enjoyed By Our Ancestors

    Feb 9

    Traditional entertainment centered on the local singer, musician or theater play in a town. Once vocal recordings were created on early records and made available in the home the door was wide open for other forms of entertainment. Nothing captured the imagination of people everywhere like the movies shown in a theater on a large screen.  These...

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  • Each U. S. State Archivist

    Feb 3

    There is the National Archives in Washington, D. C. which holds and preserves many of the nation’s most precious historical documents, images and recordings for future generations. In every U. S. state there is also a state archivist department in charge of saving that individual state’s history. To help oversee and cooperate such a massive job...

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  • Reminder – WDYTYA

    Feb 2

    Friday evening - Feb. 3rd, at 8 pm Eastern Standard Time on NBC prime-time network the third season of WDYTYA - 'Who Do You Think You Are?'  begins.  The hour -long program will be each Friday night. The first show will have actor, Martin Sheen.  His family background comprises Irish and Spanish heritage.  He was born in Ohio in 1940 and nam...

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  • Celebrities on ‘WDYTYA’ and ‘Finding Your Roots’

    Jan 26

    There is nothing better than watching professional genealogists in action to not only inspire you, but also provide that extra incentive for you to continue on your own family tree research. Starting on February 3rd, a Friday night at 8 p.m. Eastern and 7 p.m. Central, the Who Do You Think You Are? celebrity originated genealogical NBC network show...

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  • Finding the Changing Boundaries of Counties

    Jan 20

    When attempting to narrow down hometowns for our ancestors you will quickly see that some towns no longer exist, were incorporated into another town, had a name change or is now part of a different county.  When looking about the name and location of a county, it is boundaries that have changed the most over the decades within the United States. ...

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