Feb 22
With the the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War (1861-1865), people are infatuated with finding as much information as possible. They are interested not only in the events, battles, people, Lincoln assassination, etc. during those years, but mostly learning if they had any relatives involved with the war directly related or part of the ex...
Feb 10
Many people go to cemeteries to take photographs of the headstones. Countless graves over the decades have been decorated with very unusual and ornate monuments to one's relatives. It has always been a method to bring some remembrance of that individual and many such monuments have withstood the elements of weather and time. So this web site on Gr...
Dec 24
A perfect opportunity to identify photos in family albums is during the holiday week when you can visit with relatives. Never attempt to label all the photos, but even a handful will help you later in some additional research. If you are going to a relative's house and they don't have any family photos and you do, bring them along. Share them with ...
Oct 2
What a perfect opportunity to start, refresh, expand, publish, share or investigate your family tree during the month of October, which is recognized as Family History Month. If you have been coming up with excuses for not starting or further pursuing the family search, now is a great opportunity to rekindle the 'fire'. One way is to buddy up wi...
Sep 29
I'm remembering and marking the 100th anniversary of when by paternal great grandparents came to the shores of America. In spite of being married they actually came at two different dates. My gr grandfather, George William Kershaw, arrived to the Port of Boston on August 14, 1912. He had lived his whole life, born in Hulme, Chorlton, Manchester, L...
Sep 24
America's railroad systems have crisscrossed the country for decades. Yet the most important element have been the people who built the railroads, maintained them, the engineers, the conductors and many more who saw the everyday operations kept on schedule. In your family research you just might come across an ancestor who work with the railroad sy...
Sep 11
With such a national tragedy as occurred on Sept. 11, 2001 in New York City, Washington, D. C. and the fields of southwestern Pennsylvania, everyone's lives were deeply affected. Now that it is the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, some people may be ready to talk more about their feelings and reactions that day and the weeks that followed. ...
Sep 9
The first Sunday after Labor Day has been traditionally recognized as National 'Grandparent's Day'. Whether a grandparent was nicknamed 'Nana', 'Granny', 'Gran', 'Nanny', 'Gaba', 'Pa-Pa', 'Pops', 'Gramps' or 'Granddad', they have always been an important part of most children and young adults' lives. There is a long history of one or both grandpar...
Aug 13
This might just be one of the hardest family traits to confirm on your family tree, an ancestor who was left-handed. One of the major reasons was for years, a child who started using only his left hand to pick up items, to eat or even eventually learn to write with his left hand was highly discouraged. Instead they were forced to use only their r...
Aug 1
So many things of an individual’s life can change not only over their own lifetime, but also over a couple generations. Nothing is truer than the change of terms for certain occupations. You can easily come across an occupation on a census document, social security application, pension record or journal and have no idea what that type of job enta...