Washington, DC Captured – President Flees on Horseback

Washington, DC was captured and burned August 24-25th, 1814. Illustration: National Archives Identifier 531090 With British troops overwhelming the city “…a retreat was ordered, when the President, who had been on horseback, with the army the whole day, reared from the mortifying scene, and left the city on horseback accompanied by Gen. Mason and... (Read More)

Deaths at the US Soldiers’ Home – Washington, DC 1898-1899

Get the most out of GenealogyBank! (Illustration – US Soldiers’ Home – Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division – Digital ID: npcc 18971) GenealogyBank has more than 250,000 historical documents and reports – like the Annual Reports of the War Department. The War Department, like all US Government Agencies issues an annual report... (Read More)

Two timer names

Tip: “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” – but newspapers very often have the same or similar names. Be sure to carefully document your sources so that your descendants and other genealogists will know which “Daily Globe” newspaper that article came from. There were two “Daily Globe” newspapers published in... (Read More)

32 Million immigrants will see their record status changed to permanent in Wednesday Signing Ceremony

Signing Ceremony Permits 32 Million Alien Files to Become Permanent Records at the National Archives – A Genealogy Goldmine. Adrienne Thomas, Acting Archivist of the United States and Gregory Smith, Associate Director, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will hold a joint signing ceremony between the National Archives and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services... (Read More)

Passenger Lists to America

Newspapers routinely published the list of passengers on board ships bound to and from America. Here are just a few examples of the thousands of passenger lists published in newspapers that can be found in GenealogyBank. Newspapers published not just lists of immigrants coming to America but also regularly published passenger lists of American’s... (Read More)

Congratulations to my cousin Sarah Heath Palin!

Genealogists will love the fact that the new Republican choice for Vice President – Sarah Heath Palin is a descendant of multiple Mayflower passengers: John Tilley, John Howland, Stephen Hopkins, Elder William Brewster, Richard Warren and other well known New England families. I am also descended from those Mayflower passengers …. so we’re cousins.... (Read More)

James L. Sorenson – DNA Pioneer Dies at 86

James L. Sorenson, a pioneer in DNA research has died. A self-made billionaire, he used his wealth in many causes. Genealogists in particular are aware of his efforts with DNA and genealogy. In 1999 he started the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation. The group has collected more than 70,000 DNA samples, together with four-generation pedigree... (Read More)