Am I Researching My Family or Just Collecting Records?
I caught myself doing something recently that I have probably done many times without thinking. I found a record I had been searching for, d...
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Ancestral Findings (Genealogy Gold)
Genealogy is the most wonderful of pastimes. I love it, and you should, too. There are endless reasons why. Genealogy is one of the fastest growing hobbies in the western world, as more and...
Episodes
20 of 1,347 episodes
The People I Almost Walked Past in the Family Tree
When I am working on the Moneymaker side of my family in Virginia, there is always a pull to keep going backward. Find the parents, then the...
I Know Their Names, But Do I Really Know Them?
Every once in a while, I look at someone in a family tree and realize I have done a pretty good job documenting them. I have birth, marriage...
How Road Petitions Can Reveal Your Ancestor's Neighborhood
Most family research begins with records created around major events such as births, marriages, deaths, land purchases, and military service...
Labor Day: A Legacy of Work, Rest, and Family
Labor Day arrives each September, signaling the close of summer and the approach of autumn. Many people see it as a three-day weekend for re...
Using Bastardy Bonds in Family Research
A missing father can stop a family line very quickly. You may know the mother, where she lived, and what happened to the child later in life...
10 Perfect Genealogy Projects for September
The air is crisp, the leaves are beginning to turn, and children have returned to their classrooms. It's September, and what better time to...
What School Records Can Tell You About Your Ancestors
Family research often follows the adults. We search census records, marriage licenses, deeds, probate files, military records, obituaries, a...
Your Ancestor's Neighbors May Hold the Clues You Need
Genealogy research often begins with one person. You find an ancestor's name. You locate a census record, discover a marriage record, or unc...
The People Who Disappeared From History: Finding Ancestors Who Left Few Records
Every genealogist eventually finds one. You follow a family line through the years, finding names, dates, places, and relationships. One rec...
Finding Your Ancestors in Fraternal and Lodge Records
For much of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, belonging to a lodge or fraternal organization was a normal part of American commu...
What Coroner's Inquest Records Can Tell You About Your Ancestors
A death certificate can tell you when and where your ancestor died. An obituary might name surviving relatives and tell you where the funera...
Did Your Ancestor End Up in the Poorhouse? The Records You May Be Missing
You find your ancestor living with the family in one census. Ten years later, that person is gone. There's no obvious death record. You can'...
American Folklore in Oklahoma
Oklahoma became the forty-sixth state on November 16, 1907, but its story began long before there was an Oklahoma Territory, an Indian Terri...
American Folklore in Oregon
Oregon became the thirty-third state on February 14, 1859, but its history reaches far beyond statehood. Indigenous peoples had lived throug...
American Folklore in South Dakota
South Dakota joined the Union on November 2, 1889, the same day as North Dakota. South Dakota is traditionally listed as the fortieth state,...
What Funeral Home Records Can Tell You About Your Ancestors
When an ancestor dies, most genealogists know the usual records to search. There's the death certificate, obituary, cemetery record, gravest...
American Folklore in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania's history reaches far beyond the founding of the United States. Long before Europeans arrived, the region was home to the Lenap...
American Folklore in South Carolina
South Carolina is one of the original thirteen states, but its history began long before the first European settlers arrived. Native peoples...
10 "Must-Do" Genealogy Projects for August
August can be a funny month. Summer is still here, but it is beginning to wind down. The children and grandchildren are getting ready to ret...