history
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County Histories
Apr 19
An often overlook resource are the county history books and pamphlets done in the late 19th century and early 20th century. There was a big push for counties to record their history and include the local residents who helped establish the county. The former Confederate states of the south were the only ones to have the fewest county's devote their ...
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Souvenir Books
Mar 21
It is so helpful to locate postcards and vintage photos of the family hometowns, especially those covering the years our ancestors lived there. There might even be scenes from the streets or neighborhoods and businesses connected with your ancestors. Here is another overlooked resource that provides similar images .. a 'Souvenir Book'. This concep...
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Historic Timelines
Jan 25
It can be a great benefit if you know of some of the historical events occurring when specific ancestors lived. Of course, you first need to know their approximate birth to death dates. From there you can look up about the major events. For example, an ancestor who lived in Virginia between 1750 and 1815 would certainly been affected by the America...
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Spice Up Your Family Tree with Historical Events
Dec 5
Each branch of ancestors on your family tree lived during a certain time frame or era in American History or of other nations in the world. They may or may not have been affected by each historical events (weather, wars, economic depression, elections, etc) but you can do some research to better learn of what events happened during their life. The...
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Ancestors Affected by a Disaster?
Oct 3
Whether man-made or something from Mother Nature, there can be any number of disasters over the decades that could have affected your ancestors. Gathering information about your family is not just names, dates and places, it is truly a quest to discover the narratives of our ancestors' lives, even the sad and tragic times. An online site named 'Ge...
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World Events & Your Ancestors
Sep 11
Today's date; Sept 11th - a day that everyone who was living anywhere in the world knows and remembers where they were - it is '9/11' and the attack on several NYC buildings, in Washington, DC, and airplanes. It made and continues to make a major impact on those directly or indirectly affected by those attacks. This is so true for any of your ance...
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Images of America
Sep 5
Knowing more about your specific family and its heritage also means learning more about the family hometown. Using postcards, local libraries, museums can prove to be excellent resources in discovering about the place your ancestors call home. There is also a long-standing published series of books by Arcadia Publishing which might just have that ...
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Mount Vernon “Lives Bound Together” Exhibition
Oct 26
The “Lives Bound Together: Slavery at George Washington's Mount Vernon” exhibition explores the personal stories of the people enslaved at Mount Vernon, while providing insight into George Washington's opposition to slavery. The exhibition is held in the Donald W. Reynolds Museum at George Washington's Mount Vernon. The “Lives Bound Togeth...
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What Your Ancestor’s Summer Picnics Were Like
Jul 14
Picnics today can be as simple as driving your family to the local park to eat sandwiches and drink sodas while sitting on a picnic blanket. Or, you might use the grill at the park to cook hot dogs while you are there. Have you ever wondered what your ancestor's summer picnics were like? Victorians enjoyed having picnics. The popularity of picni...
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Decode Civil War Military Telegrams
Jun 29
Yes, what an opportunity! The project is by the National Archives, Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens; the Papers of Abraham Lincoln at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum; North Carolina State University to digitize and transcribe the Union Army telegrams from The Thomas T. Eckert Papers. Such an undertaking...