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)
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)
American volunteers are out in cemeteries across the country, working to document the lives of bygone generations whose graves were not permanently marked with a tombstone. When these dedicated good Samaritans identify a veteran, the volunteers often request a headstone from the National Cemetery Administration which is part of the Department of Veterans Affairs.... (Read More)
Bertha Welch (1883-1903) died 12 February 1903 from the complications of childbirth. A wooden tombstone for her was created and placed in historic Valley Brook Cemetery in Breckenridge, Colorado. This was the last legible wooden tombstone still standing in the historic Colorado cemetery, where it had been placed over 110 years ago. Then suddenly... (Read More)
The other day I asked myself: what can I realistically find about my relatives in GenealogyBank? How many details about my family can I discover? So I decided to find out by searching GenealogyBank’s historical newspaper archives for a family member we know little about: Madge E. Richmond (1866-1942). Her Career as a Teacher... (Read More)
Hat’s off to Mary Belcher. A group she organized has been diligently restoring and documenting upwards of 10,000 persons who were buried in the Adams Morgan section of Walter Pierce Park in the District of Columbia. Over time the old grave markers have deteriorated and been lost. Mary’s group is using the older records... (Read More)
Scott Phillips explains how he adds the “5 Ws” (Who, What, When, Where & Why) of newspaper journalism to enliven his family history research... (Read More)
Chillicothe, Ohio, was the state’s first capital—from 1803-1810—and then it became Ohio’s third capital from1812-1816. GenealogyBank has that early period of “The Buckeye State’s” history covered with four Chillicothe newspapers from 1801 to 1839. Wait— Chillicothe was Ohio’s first and third capital? Why did the capital of Ohio change so much? In the 1800s... (Read More)
Introduction: In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega writes about how difficult it can be finding information about an ancestor who was committed to an asylum (i.e., state hospital)—and how using old newspapers can help. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.” When I look at the latter years of... (Read More)
Get Helpful, Usable Tips for Your Genealogy Research.
Get Helpful, Usable Tips for Your Genealogy Research.