A growing number of states in the U.S. are putting their vital records online, making it easier for genealogists to obtain these records. The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is a prime example of how these state projects are revolutionizing family history research in the 21st Century. West Virginia has put up... (Read More)
Introduction: Mary Harrell-Sesniak is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background. In this guest blog post, Mary discusses 9 common mistakes made when doing family history research, and suggests ways to avoid them. Family history researchers are often frustrated by the mistakes of others—particularly when there is an obvious error in... (Read More)
Genealogists are always digging. So are backhoe operators. It was a good thing that the Fosterburg Water District was digging for a waterline in Prairietown, Illinois, because while digging they found a long-abandoned historic cemetery. Amazing. No one had remembered that there was an old cemetery there. The tombstones had fallen and over the... (Read More)
Introduction: Mary Harrell-Sesniak is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background. In this guest blog post, Mary looks through newspaper articles to find stories about the oldest people to have ever lived—and issues a challenge to readers to find even greater claims of longevity in the newspapers. With the Baby Boomers... (Read More)
In this article, Scott Phillips explains how “Blue Laws” turned Sundays into very special family days during his childhood... (Read More)
It is easy to find copies of your Georgia ancestors’ marriage certificates and records using two basic online genealogy tools: GenealogyBank.com and FamilySearch.org. If your ancestors lived in Georgia, let’s see how we can find information about them. FamilySearch.org has put Georgia marriage records from 1785 to 1950 online. You may search for these... (Read More)
Finding the town or county where your family came from in the “Old Country” can be difficult. That’s where Irish American newspapers can really help you locate your ancestor’s place of birth when researching your ancestry from Ireland. For example, look at this 1859 obituary from an old Irish American newspaper: This typical historical... (Read More)
Introduction: Mary Harrell-Sesniak is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background. In this guest blog post, Mary explains some of the unusual or archaic terms often found in historical newspapers, and provides examples from period newspapers. When I first started searching historical newspapers to help with my family history research, certain... (Read More)
Introduction: Gena Philibert-Ortega is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.” In this guest blog post, Gena describes how scrapbooks can be a surprising and valuable resource for your family history research. Did you ever keep a scrapbook? I’m not referring to the modern-day scrapbooks that are essentially decorated photograph... (Read More)
Get Helpful, Usable Tips for Your Genealogy Research.
Get Helpful, Usable Tips for Your Genealogy Research.