How do you embody your genealogy research? Have you adopted the cultural traditions of your ancestors? Do you cook the same foods, wear the same clothes, or celebrate the same holidays? In this article, professional genealogist Jessica Howe shares her family's recipe for peach dumplings and the importance of bringing genealogy to life! How Food Can Bring Genealogy Research To Life If you want to familiarize yourself with someone’s cultural heritage, one of the fastest ways to do so is to … [Read more...]
Tips to Identify Women in Historical Records
Legacy Tree Genealogists' Jessica Howe 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. Suppose you have searched for female relatives in online databases. In that case, there is a good chance you've come across an alternate spelling of their name or found that they went by a completely different name throughout different records. Here … [Read more...]
Secrets of Murder: Uncovering a Family History Mystery
People often ask professional genealogists why they chose genealogy as a profession. What was the catalyst that started their journey into family history? Mine was simple: my grandparents grew up during the Great Depression in rural Alabama, and they chose not to relive those experiences and never passed on their family history to their children or grandchildren. I had been interested in my family history from a young age, but efforts to glean any information about my grandmother Marie’s … [Read more...]
“Where Are My Ancestors From?” 5 Tips for Using Migration Patterns in Family History Research
If you're having difficulty pinpointing your family's origins, these tips are for you! We share how to use migration patterns to extend your family history. You want to extend your family tree as far back as records will allow, but what do you do if you’re having a difficult time pinpointing your family’s origins? Migration patterns and genetic communities offered by DNA testing companies are two of the most overlooked pieces of research we have at our disposal. The following 5 tips will help … [Read more...]
“Children of the Dust”: How Genetic Genealogy Helped an Amerasian Woman Locate Her G.I. Father
With client permission, we share one woman's experience of growing up "Amerasian" and the important role genetic genealogy played in helping her locate her G.I. father. Growing Up Amerasian When Anni was little, she would often ask about her father, but her mother always gave her the same vague reply, “I met him Taichung, then I had you.” Anni was born in the 1960s - the daughter of a Taiwanese mother and an unknown U.S. serviceman fighting in Vietnam. Anni said she always felt different, … [Read more...]