Amazing True Story of Shipwreck Survival

Last week I spotted the unusual story of a man saved from dying in a shipwreck in the middle of the night when he spotted a floating box—it turned out to be his wife’s coffin that he was bringing home for burial! The newspaper article containing this incredible survival story was printed by the... (Read More)

Discovering Thanksgiving Family History in Newspaper Articles

From the earliest days of the nation our presidents and governors have proclaimed annual days of “publick Thanksgiving and Prayer” in gratitude for their families, lives and success in the New World.Then as now we pause as families gather to give thanks.Lucky for us many of these holiday family gatherings were recorded in newspapers,... (Read More)

A Good Woman Can Be Hard to Find…

When researching your family history, it can be very difficult to find information about women in the early 19th Century—finding genealogical resources that actually give women’s names and family details is challenging. It was common in the 19th Century for newspapers and government records to be brief and give only the basic information about... (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)

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)

RFK Dies 41 years ago today

Robert F. Kennedy died 41 years ago today. With GenealogyBank.com you can read the newspapers just as your ancestors did. It has the stories of your ancestor’s lives – the famous or the obscure – whether it is 40 years ago or over 300 years ago GenealogyBank has the coverage genealogists rely on to... (Read More)

Possible Avery Family Artifact dating from 1689-1702 Found

313-year-old English silver sixpence, likely once owned by Rev. John Avery (1685/6-1754) found in Truro, Massachusetts. The coin dates from 1689-1702 The Boston Globe is reporting this unusual find of an early British coin found by Truro resident Peter Burgess while working in his garden. “At first, I wasn’t sure what it was,” said... (Read More)