hometown
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Check Ancestors’ Historic Connections
Apr 14
With this marking the 150th anniversary of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865 at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D. C., it is an excellent time to reflect on if you had an ancestor somewhere - somehow that has any connection to a major historical event. If you had an ancestor living in or around Washington, D. C...
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Finding Family Ephemera
Apr 1
You are working on your family history, have a family tree established and are getting names and dates in place. However, realize really knowing about your ancestors includes understanding a bit more about their life and the things that mattered to them. So you need to have a collection, if only in a digital photo form, of any letters, business le...
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Why are You Having Problems Locating an Ancestor?
Mar 27
Have you asked yourself that question more than once? Don't worry, everyone, no matter how experienced has one or more ancestors that they barely have a partial name much less any other information about. So the following are some approaches or ideas of what might be cause. Number one reason you might be able to locate more on a specific ancesto...
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Info in an Obituary
Mar 11
The use of obituaries is essential when doing your family history. Most of the time the information was supplied by a close family member. You want to try every newspaper in the area of where your ancestor did live when they died as well as their hometown. Families generally placed an obituary in one or more locations where the decease was ...
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Boys in Blue of Illinois
Mar 5
During the American Civil War (1861-1865), the 'Boys in Blue' were the Federal Union army soldiers. Those in the Southern Confederacy were considered the 'Boys in Gray'. Both due to the color of the uniform. If you had an ancestor who served from the many Illinois (Union) Army regiments, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library has s...
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Canadian Gravesites
Feb 15
With the United States and Canada as neighbors as well as many people having moved to one or the other country over the decades, it is important to have family history resources for both countries. You never know when a missing ancestors from Newfoundland was in New York for a few years and then returned to Canada or a native from Michigan travel...
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Winter Time — Do Those Relative Interviews
Feb 9
One of the most valuable resources could be a phone call away. It is relatives that you can interview, ask questions, exam their photo collection, etc to learn more about your family lineage. With this being winter time and many people are home, making a phone call, maybe a visit to a relative to interview them is great timing. If calling, make ...
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Search Social Media
Jan 27
You are always looking for new methods to connect and learn more about your relatives and hopefully gather new information on ancestors. Using today's social media such as Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter you just might be able to connect to new resources. Locating distant cousins or those with an interest in specific surnames might have photos, ...
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Hometown Traditions at Christmas Time
Dec 25
Just like our ancestors had different traditions and customs within their own family, so would each hometown vary in how their celebrated the holidays. One tradition that is found throughout the decades in the 20th and into the 21st centuries is that of Christmas parades, many of which have carried on this traditions for 60 plus years. There wil...
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Hints to Get Grandma to ‘Talk’
Dec 15
With the family getting together over the next few weeks, this is an excellent opportunity to learn about some the family tales, stories and legends. Of course that is not always easy to get a grandparent, great aunt or uncle to open up and starting telling some family stories. So here are a few suggestions to get the conversation started. First...