Introduction: Mary Harrell-Sesniak is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background. In this guest blog post, Mary shows some of the search techniques she uses when researching GenealogyBank’s newspapers collection—to help our readers do more efficient searches and save them time with their family history research. Every American family has a... (Read More)
Earlier this week the Wall Street Journal ran an interesting feature article about “Unclaimed Persons.” In 2008 Megan Smolenyak started “Unclaimed Persons” to help coroners track down the family details of persons who died without leaving information about their next of kin. She started this project assisting the coroner of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, and... (Read More)
Introduction: Gena Philibert-Ortega is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.” In this guest blog post Gena provides some search tips, and shows some resources available on the GenealogyBank website, to help her readers better understand how to use GenealogyBank with their family history research. What are you doing this... (Read More)
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)
Introduction: Mary Harrell-Sesniak is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background. In this guest blog post, Mary searches old newspapers for articles and ads about trains and locomotives, and discusses how important railroads were in the lives of our ancestors. Trains & Railroads Shaped Early America The importance of train travel... (Read More)
Genealogists are relying on newspaper archives more and more to document the stories of their ancestors and trace their family trees. In last night’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? American actress Christina Applegate used an old article found in GenealogyBank’s Trenton Sunday Times Advertiser (Trenton, New Jersey), 26 August 1934, to... (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)
Continuing my search in GenealogyBank’s Historical Newspaper Archives for the history of the Crofoot family (see: “Case Study: Using Old Newspaper Articles to Learn about Your Ancestors” & “Case Study Part 2: How to Find Old Newspaper Articles about Family”) I found information about the death of Ephraim Crofoot. When we found the obituary... (Read More)
Get Helpful, Usable Tips for Your Genealogy Research.
Get Helpful, Usable Tips for Your Genealogy Research.