documents
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FamilySearch – England
Mar 9
Many people have ties to England, part of the United Kingdom, especially since America was a British colony before 1776. Yet, many will have ancestors who came to America all during the 1800s and into the 1900s. There may well be family branches still living in England, that would be fun to locate. A good starting point in research relating to dat...
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FamilySearch–Germany
Mar 7
The online, free site of FamilySearch.com has a large database of records from Germany. If you have identified ancestors coming from Germany especially between the early 1800s into the early 20th century, you may be in luck in locating additional information. Some of the types of databases on Germany and its residents include: births-marriages and...
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Find Extra Documents with FamilySearch
Feb 13
FamilySearch.org has massive files done by volunteers to index censuses, draft cards, death certificates, and other similar records that were made on pre-printed forms because the information contained in them is consistent and standardized. Those are the easy records to make available for your researching of an ancestor. What can be difficult are...
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Plymouth Archive Research
Feb 11
There is online the Plymouth Archive covering 1620 to 1691 with some items beyond those dates. You'll find court records, colony laws, 17th-century journals and memoirs, probate inventories, wills, town plans, maps and fort plans, all relating to the Plymouth Colony of Massachusetts. The site is laid out like a research room: Click the area you wa...
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Refrain from These Slip-Ups
Feb 1
As you just start or continue on your family history research you want to be aware of any possible mistakes or slip-ups in your search. The following are a few thoughts on what to avoid doing. Number one is never accept 100% someone elses family research. They may have everything sourced but you need to recheck every aspect your with what you do k...
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Where to Go for Vital Records
Jan 29
The majority of vital records you need are stored with the individual states. So an ancestor could have been born in Virginia, married in New York, divorced in Vermont and died in Georgia. So each of those states needs to be contacted to get copies of the vitals records for birth-marriage, divorce and death. You need a good source to find the info...
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Avoid Unintentional Booby-Traps
Jan 11
You have worked on researching your family history and have a good start on the creation of the family tree. Yet, even the most experienced researcher can fall into an unintentional booby-trap. Normally a 'booby-trap' refers to a set up by someone to scare or harm someone else. The following instead are unintentional booby-traps that were unknowing...
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Civil War Documents Scanned
Dec 3
The Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission (James I. Robertson Jr. Civil War Sesquicentennial Legacy Collection) spent several years going to counties across Virginia asking residents to look in their attics and forgotten chests to see if they had photos, documents, letters, journals, etc related to the American Civil War. ...
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Know What That Means?
Oct 21
Genealogical terms can be a bit confusing as well as key words found in vital records. So to help out, here are a few with their meanings. Bann - used on marriage forms in the 18th and early 19th century referring to the intent or promise to marry. Many times a future groom or his family had to put up some money or property to prove he was serious...
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Forms to Help Organize Your Research
Oct 19
To get organized, placing the research information you have collected can be placed on specific forms designed to that data. Below are just a few such forms to assist you. Property would be covered with DEEDS for those selling or giving property and those receiving it. Then marriage records from states and the information about the couple, where...