Woman struck blind on seeing her son …

Obituaries can give us the details of our ancestor’s lives that we just don’t find anywhere else. Today I found this obituary in GenealogyBank for Judith Tormey (1800-1898) who died in Newark, NJ. Baltimore Sun 4 July 1898 This obituary article gives us lots of details and clues to fill in the family tree.... (Read More)

A Good Woman Can be Hard to Find…

It can be very difficult to find women in the early 19th Century – finding sources that actually give their names and genealogical details. It was common in the 19th century for genealogical sources to be brief and give only the basic information about a household in the census – or an entry in... (Read More)

Patsy Leaves Family History TV Show over Gangland Grandpa

Uncovering our family history can reveal saints and sinners as we dig through old newspapers. Genealogists using GenealogyBank become used to finding a scoundrel here and there on the branches of the family tree. But British actress – Patsy Kensit was not prepared for what she discovered while filming a TV show for the... (Read More)

Thank you GenealogyBank!

We get letters all the time from ecstatic genealogists who broke through their brick walls in GenealogyBank. Grateful letters that say – “Wow – I finally found him” in GenealogyBank … thank you, thank you. Tonight I received a “Wow – I finally found him” note from Jane Giavelli Lauhon. She wrote: Thank you... (Read More)

Wild Bill Obama

May 27th was Wild Bill Hickok’s day – I wrote about how easy it is to find newspaper articles about him in GenealogyBank. Wild Bill Hickok is in the news again – when Barack Obama mentioned his family tradition that he was a distant cousin to Wild Bill – James Butler Hickok (1837-1876).  ... (Read More)

Swan’s Island Library burns to the ground

Today’s Bangor (Maine) Daily News has the stunning news that the Swan’s Island Library in Maine has burned to the ground. (Photo: Donna Wiegle – Bangor Daily News 25 July 2008) The library was hit by lighting, caught fire and burned. Click here to read the complete story. The library held over 10,000 books... (Read More)

This just in – Viewer Mail

Hi Tom, I really do need to share with you GenealogyBank‘s latest contribution to my family history research! I really do love GenealogyBank. Without it, I would not know about the accident that caused the death of my grandmother’s youngest brother. Nor would I have known when it occurred. Nor would I have found... (Read More)