Why You Should Dig Deep into the Obituary Archives

George Foster Sawyer served in the U.S. Navy and died in La Spezia, Italy, in 1852. He was a native of Burlington, Vermont. Hmm…so where do you look for his obituary? Since Sawyer was a native of Vermont, you’d expect to find his obituary in a Vermont or other newspaper from New England. I... (Read More)

Thomas Hill—American Revolutionary War Minuteman Hero Gone

“Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year.” —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow In searching through early 19th Century newspapers, time and again we find historical obituaries about the passing of “Revolutionary Heroes,” as America’s newspapers recorded the honored service of those who fought to secure this country’s freedom from England.... (Read More)

Genealogy Podcast 2: Genealogy Research with Obituaries

Discover how to search obituaries to find genealogical clues that will help you trace your family tree in this genealogy podcast by GenealogyBank. Listen as our expert genealogist Tom Kemp explains what types of information to search for in obituary and death notices to uncover your ancestral roots and explore your family history.  .. (Read More)

Newspapers are crucial to documenting your family history

Genealogists rely on multiple sources to document a family tree. One source does not give all of the facts – so researchers must look at multiple family history records to gather the details for each family. For example – James Edwin Ayres (1817-1893) and his wife Ann (Ford) Ayres (1817-1901) are listed in the... (Read More)

Genealogy Boot Camp – Quick Tips

Genealogy Boot Camp Here are a few tips that every genealogist should know.Using an online index Researchers using an online index sometimes try to tell the computer everything they know about their deceased ancestor.Assuming that the computer will sort through all of the facts and narrow down the hits to just their ancestor –... (Read More)

GenealogyBank – Where Everybody Knows Your Name

I had a basic question yesterday that reminded me of one of the core values of GenealogyBank – it’s flexible search engine. A woman wrote asking for the obituary notice of her father – who had died in December 2008 – but she had not included her father’s name. So I wrote back asking... (Read More)

Fred Q. Bowman (1916-2009) Genealogist, Author

Fred Q. Bowman (1916-2009) Frederick Quimby Bowman, 93, passed away in Albany, NY earlier this week. Well known genealogist and author – Fred was a relied upon source of early New York vital records. He was a genealogist who made a lasting difference. Obituary: Times Union (Albany, NY) – November 9, 2009 He is... (Read More)

I am not finding my great-grandfather, what do I do now?

The steady flow of newspapers, records and documents going online on GenealogyBank gives family historians a lot to search and comb through. These newspapers and documents were published over the past 3 centuries – so sometimes it takes a little detective work to find our ancestors. Here are a few tips:1. First search for... (Read More)

I can’t find my ancestor – what am I doing wrong?

For most searches on GenealogyBank it is easy to find your ancestor. You type in their name and in an instant you spot them in the search results list. So – what do you do when your ancestor’s name doesn’t come right up in the search hits?Just like any other genealogical resource you need... (Read More)