Apr 13
You may have seen photos of some of your female ancestors wearing a piece of camphor glass jewelry or you might have inherited a piece, but did you know about this once very popular style of jewelry? Camphor glass is clear glass that has been treated with hydrofluoric acid vapors to give it a soft, lovely frosted, whitish appearance. This effect r...
Apr 11
Everyone has a collection of vintage family photos with no name, date or location on them. Some of the people pictured may have lived decades before anyone living today was even born. However, to help with some identification here are a couple of ideas. Number one is to check with some of your older living relatives. That includes all branches of ...
Apr 9
On Wed., April 10th, across the United States and even overseas, is recognized as 'Siblings' Day'. This special recognition started in 1998. Not just the present siblings you might have now, but also those who have passed away and do not forget to add the siblings of your parents (your aunts-uncles) and siblings of your grandparents. Each and every...
Apr 1
During the month of April, it is recognized in the United States as 'Scottish-American Heritage Month'. Have you located any Scottish ancestors? If you do have Scottish ancestors, you can take pride in their many achievements over the years in the United States, and even those achievements made while in Scotland. Even if you do not have any Scott...
Mar 21
Doing family research if you just happen to have several very common, proliferate surnames can prove to be a challenge. I just came across a not so proliferate individual's given and surname for the 1940s-1960s – that of Walter Ashley – and I just discovered there were two of these gentlemen living within 50 miles of each other and approximatel...
Mar 9
You are going over a census record – 1860, 1880, 1900 or any other and you spot a name of someone who could be a relative. They might not be living with other known family members with the same name but rather was a 'boarder' or living with other family members with a different surname. To check you have the right person do the following. Revie...
Mar 7
Whether you are new to doing your family history research or been at awhile, you do need to be careful and not assume all items, information, records are 100% accurate. There can be falsehoods you should be aware of. Here are just a few. One of the most important records in the US Federal Censuses. For the first time (and what would later turn out...
Feb 27
A big collection of newspapers from across the state of Georgia are now available from the Digital Library of Georgia. These are search-able articles which can be viewed free online from the Georgia Historic Newspapers database. With nearly 54,000 pages of newspaper articles going from 1780s to more recent times – 1990s. The dates vary on the reg...
Feb 25
There is more to your family tree than the collection of names, dates, and locations. Of course, there are the stories and tales that go with each and every one of your ancestors. What can be really fascinating is when you find some peculiar connects over the decades to the family lineage. For example, you might find that every major military war ...
Feb 17
You can get frustrated when trying to locate any images of some of your ancestors. You have checked with other relatives, to see what they have, but you may need to go beyond. Unfortunately, people cleaning out estates sold off vintage family photo albums. Using the online site 'Lost Faces' may be of some assistance. They have collected many vinta...