The Legacy Tree Genealogists Blog

Hand-picked, tested and trained, our professional genealogist team knows how to find your story. We search the world for answers. Find the un-findable. And we’re experts at everything from tracking down rare international records to analyzing DNA test results. Based near the world’s largest family history library in downtown Salt Lake City, we also work with researchers and archives around the globe. Contact us today if you would like help discovering your ancestors!

Searching for Sarah: Strategies for Researching Female Ancestors

September 23, 2021 by Geneil - Editor at Legacy Tree Genealogists Leave a Comment

Legacy Tree Genealogists' Geneil Breeze specializes in finding unknown ancestors. In this article, we discover some tips for identifying women in historical records by learning how cultural differences worldwide affect names and naming practices. There she was, listed as head of household on the 1850 Census for Greene County, Missouri: Sarah Singletary, age 49, my third-great-grandmother. She lived at a time when women typically were not heads of households. As a presumed single woman in the 1850s, Sarah’s presence raised multiple questions. What was her maiden name? Who were her parents? Who was her husband and what had happened to him? Was she a widow? Divorced? Or did they just happen to be living separately at the time the census was taken? And most important, how could I find the answers?The challenges of researching women in genealogy are well documented. Throughout history, women were subject to their husbands and the laws of the land, which with few exceptions rendered them …

How to Get More from Today’s Genealogy Events & Meetings

September 10, 2021 by Jim - Legacy Tree Genealogists Editor 1 Comment

Legacy Tree Genealogists' James (Jim) Beidler discusses the changing landscape of genealogy events and meetings and offers tips on how to get the most out of these modern, largely online, learning opportunities. Genealogy events have certainly changed over the years. In the past, local meetings often had speakers who were knowledgeable but sometimes had less than scintillating presentations. Full-day seminars, often with a single speaker, dotted seasonal calendars. Large events often had one-hour lectures, a vendor hall, and social gatherings. But in recent years the story has changed and despite the waxing and waning of the coronavirus, many organizations are contemplating what to do next.All Online, All the TimeAfter initial restrictions and some bans on large gatherings, many groups pivoted quickly to using Zoom or other online platforms to hold their events. Within a couple of months, there was more online content streaming at family historians than previously had been …

Tracing Cherokee Ancestors with DNA, Tribal Citizenship, and Cherokee Rolls

September 8, 2021 by Michelle - Researcher with Legacy Tree Genealogists Leave a Comment

As genealogists, we’re often asked to research the likelihood and details of a client’s Native American heritage. Legacy Tree Genealogists' researcher Michelle Carroll digs deeper into her journey and successful strategies when tracing her Cherokee ancestors.If you believe that you may have Cherokee ancestors and have always wanted to know more, let me encourage you to leap into discovering your Native American heritage. Learning about my own Cherokee family has been one of the most rewarding parts of my genealogical journey. Although there are unique challenges associated with Cherokee research, finding a family connection is an achievable goal when armed with a good research plan and an understanding of available records. To begin, I suggest reading our previous post on the basics of researching Cherokee Ancestry. Then read on to learn more about how to approach your research project, the limitations of DNA in Native American research, tribal citizenship, and the use of Cherokee …

Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War, 1861–1865

August 27, 2021 by Adrienne - Legacy Tree Genealogists Researcher 5 Comments

Legacy Tree Genealogists' Adrienne Abiodun provides information about the Daughters of the Union Veterans of the Civil War, 1861-1865, and offers some tips on how to become a member. She uses her own personal experience to explain how joining a lineage society can be a rewarding way to honor one's ancestors.Between 1861–1865, the War Between the States, more commonly known as the Civil War, was the longest, bloodiest, and costliest conflict that divided the United States of America. An estimated two million-plus men served in the Union, and another one million-plus men fought on behalf of the Confederate States.[1] The number of casualties experienced by both sides was devastating to those who fought so passionately for their cause on the battlefield and their loved ones awaiting their return home. Since then, families of the men who lost their lives in battle or to disease were prisoners of war or were never heard from again have passed down stories of these individuals for future …