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!

hiring a professional genealogist to assist with a lineage society application

5 Reasons to Hire a Professional Genealogist When Submitting a Lineage Society Application

August 21, 2017 by Lorraine Bourne 2 Comments

Do you have an ancestor that lived in Colonial America when the Revolutionary War was fought, or perhaps earlier in Jamestown, Virginia? Does your ancestry extend back to New England when the Mayflower arrived? If so, you may have heard that there are various lineage societies you could consider joining. The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), The National Society of the Children of the American Revolution (CAR), the General Society of Mayflower Descendants (GSMD), and the Jamestowne Society are some of the major lineage societies people join. However, there are others, such as state pioneer societies, ethnic societies, Civil War societies, and many more. For a list of some of the more common hereditary societies and brief overview of their requirements, see our previous blog post, Hereditary Societies & You. However, before submitting a lineage society application, consider hiring a …

Finding Your Heritage in Unexpected Places

August 11, 2017 by Carolyn - Legacy Tree Genealogists Project Manager 4 Comments

**Note: The details from this French-Canadian genealogy research project are shared with permission from our client. Project results are always kept private unless permission is granted to share. Recently we were contacted by a client who requested we begin researching her direct paternal ancestor. This ancestor was named John Lucy, of Ontario, Canada, and was allegedly of Irish heritage. Our client explained that her father had recently died and that he would have loved to know the history of his name. She had been trying to trace the Lucy line herself and was not having success. Though she wished she had begun the research before he passed, she felt this was a way for her to honor her father’s life. She was also planning a trip to Ireland soon and hoped to visit her ancestral towns. She said “I would be so happy to just make the first connection back to the UK. That is what my father always wanted to know.” A survey of Canadian censuses between 1871 and 1901 established that …

What’s in a Name? 3 Tips to Kick Off Your Chinese Genealogy Research

August 4, 2017 by Legacy Tree Genealogists Leave a Comment

Legacy Tree Genealogists works with researchers all across the world to access records for our clients. We asked Clotilde, a partnering professional researcher in Beijing to give us insight into completing Chinese genealogy research. Check it out! As genealogists, we often receive requests from the descendants of Chinese immigrants who no longer speak Chinese, and only remember vague details about their ancestor: that his surname was Fung, that he arrived on a boat from South China, and that he came to work on the Transcontinental Railroads of North America, in the tin mines of Malaysia, the guano caves of Peru, or the sugar plantations of Cuba. Here are a few tips on how to start your Chinese genealogy research and go beyond vague ancestral stories: Tip 1: Find your ancestor’s surname in Chinese characters All Chinese genealogy research starts with finding out your immigrant ancestor’s name. This is very often easier said than done, as it brings up the first big …

The Humble Citation: Vital and Invaluable

July 31, 2017 by Allison - Legacy Tree Genealogists Project Manager Leave a Comment

When a sculptor is commissioned to create a piece of art, the artist’s efforts are conveyed via the finished statue. When a painter is commissioned to create a work of art, the artist’s efforts are conveyed via a painting. When a genealogist is commissioned to conduct research, the culmination of the researcher’s efforts is conveyed via a research report. One of the most essential elements of the research report, as important as the clay to a sculptor and a brush to a painter, are the inclusion of citations. Notice how citations, presented in a smaller font, are tucked away at the bottom of this typical research report: While the citation can be the bane of any researcher’s existence because of the tedious labor involved in creating them, citations play a vital and invaluable role in genealogical research. Citations are so important that a leading researcher in the industry, Elizabeth Shown Mills, wrote an entire book about citations entitled Evidence Explained. Responsible …