102-Year-Old Ex-Slave Once Shook Abraham Lincoln’s Hand

I ran across this interesting obituary in an old newspaper today. It ended with this line: “She once shook hands with Abraham Lincoln.” In 1912, or even today, it would be impressive to know someone who shook hands with a President—especially one of the stature of Abraham Lincoln. There were, no doubt, many highlights... (Read More)

Family Search Uncovers Circus Elephant Story

Introduction: Scott Phillips is a genealogical historian and owner of Onward To Our Past® genealogy services. In this guest blog post, Scott speaks of his love of genealogy, and shares some of the family history discoveries he’s made—including the tale of an ancestor, a zookeeper, who was nearly trampled to death by Minnie, the... (Read More)

How to Find Your Ancestors’ Church Records

Church records can be a terrific resource for your genealogy research. But if you’re not sure what church your ancestors attended, how do you know what church records to look for? The denominations that families attended may have changed over the years. In some faith traditions, like Catholics and Mormons, it is important that... (Read More)

Southern California Genealogical Society’s Successful 2012 Jamboree

The Southern California Genealogical Society (SCGS) just completed another very successful Jamboree in Burbank, California, this month. Over 1,700 genealogists jammed the genealogy classes, presentations and the exhibit hall for the past four days. Our own in-house genealogist, Tom Kemp, spoke at three sessions during the SCGS Jamboree. His Friday Genealogy Jamboree talk (“Newspapers:... (Read More)