A screenshot of a YouTube video from the Disney movie "Coco"

Disney Movie ‘Coco’ Has Genealogy Tie-in

By Thomas Jay Kemp on January 3, 2018

A recent article in the Deseret News explores the connection between genealogy and Disney’s hit movie Coco... (Read More)

Photo: Meetinghouse, New Gloucester, Maine. Credit: Gerda Peterich; Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

Her Story Really Touched Me: Shaker Marie Frances Burgess

By Thomas Jay Kemp on December 28, 2017

An article by Thomas Jay Kemp about Marie Frances Burgess (1920-2001), one of the world’s last remaining Shakers, from a Shaker village in Maine... (Read More)

Photo: a California wildfire, 5 September 2008. Credit: Bureau of Land Management; Wikimedia Commons.

What Would You Take? Evacuating Your Genealogy in an Emergency

By Gena Philibert-Ortega on December 13, 2017

Having to evacuate her home due to the California wildfires, Gena Philibert-Ortega writes about saving genealogy records and heirlooms in an emergency... (Read More)

Detail from an illustration: “Drawing of a Forsyth rifleman at French Creek with Bartlett’s Point in background and British war ship.” Source: Thousand Island Life.

My Ancestor Died in the War of 1812

By Thomas Jay Kemp on December 8, 2017

I recently discovered that my ancestor Tristram C. Goodwin died in the War of 1812 by searching for him using GenealogyBank and free sources online... (Read More)

Photo: title page of "Genealogical Records of Descendants of John and Anthony Emery, of Newbury, Mass." Credit: Internet Archive.

Discovering 300 Years of Emery Family History

By Thomas Jay Kemp on November 10, 2017

In this article, Thomas Jay Kemp searches old newspapers to learn more about his Emery ancestors, and discovers a published family history... (Read More)

Photo: Meredith Village, New Hampshire, from a 1905 postcard. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

My 90-Year-Old Uncle Survived the ‘Great Catastrophe’ of Meredith, New Hampshire

By Thomas Jay Kemp on November 6, 2017

An article by Thomas Jay Kemp about his 4th Great-Uncle Moses Plummer, who was involved in “The Great Catastrophe of 1855” in Meredith, New Hampshire... (Read More)

Photo: Whitcher's Falls, Dover, New Hampshire; from a c. 1910 postcard. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Family Tree Mystery: Jedediah Hanson Drowned While Bathing?

By Thomas Jay Kemp on October 27, 2017

An article about Thomas Jay Kemp’s family tree puzzle: a cousin, Jedediah Hanson, whose 1822 obituary said he “drowned while bathing.”.. (Read More)

Photo: detail of a picture of the King’s Mark on a white pine in New England. Credit: King’s Mark Resource Conservation & Development Project, Inc.

My Colonial Ancestor Worked in the Masting Industry for the King of England

By Thomas Jay Kemp on October 25, 2017

An article about Thomas Jay Kemp’s ancestor Silas Hanson, an American colonist who supplied timber to be used for masts for Great Britain’s navy... (Read More)

Photo: detail of the Apple Press Monument (a relic of the 1894 Mid-Winter Fair), Music Concourse, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California. Credit: Joe Mabel; Wikimedia Commons.

My Great-Uncle Albert: No Wonder I Like Apples

By Thomas Jay Kemp on October 23, 2017

An article about Thomas Jay Kemp’s great-uncle Albert Sawyer – who, it turns out, was busy making cider in the late 19th century... (Read More)