Image source: Library of Congress How can family stories lead you to accurate genealogy research? Think about the story that repeatedly comes up at family gatherings. Yes, that story! Did you realize this anecdote, passed from generation to generation, can be used to enrich your family tree? In just a few steps, you can pull research clues from these long-told stories to further guide your ancestral discoveries. Here’s how: Documenting and Preserving Family Stories Our families share many … [Read more...]
Searching, Sorting, and Filtering DNA Match Lists
This article was written by Paul Woodbury, a member of our Legacy Tree Genealogist Research staff. It was originally published in NGS Magazine, a National Genealogical Society publication. Source: NGS MAGAZINE ∙ APRIL - JUNE 2024 ∙ VOLUME 50, NUMBER 2 Lists of DNA matches and genetic cousins can be overwhelming. How can genealogists begin to make sense of hundreds, thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of DNA matches and how they might be related? How can they hope to narrow their focus in … [Read more...]
How To Create Locality Guides for Genealogy Research
Learn how locality guides can significantly improve your genealogy research success. As we journey to discover our ancestors, we often find ourselves researching in unfamiliar places. It's tempting to jump right in and gather whatever information we can. However, this is not necessarily the most efficient way to start research in a new area, especially if it's an area where we will be conducting a lot of research. Creating a locality guide can keep us organized, save time, and uncover … [Read more...]
10 Best Genealogy Research Articles of 2024
We’ve compiled a list of our best genealogy research articles for the entire year of 2024 based on your interests and needs. Every week, one of our professional genealogists writes an article to help you navigate your family history research and get through any brick walls. From DNA to AI to regional archives, our genealogy articles cover every nook and cranny! Here are the most popular articles of 2024! 10. When Your Relative Does Not Appear as a DNA Match Genealogy can be fun and … [Read more...]
How To Use Catholic Christening and Baptism Records Around the World
Catholic christening and baptism records are an important resource for genealogical research in timeframes before the advent of government-sponsored civil registration. However, practices surrounding baptism, christening, and the creation of records documenting those events vary between religious traditions. In this blog series, we explore some of the varied practices and content of christening and baptism records in different Christian traditions. This article explores baptism and christening … [Read more...]
How to Write Compelling Family Biographies from Genealogy Research
How do you make your genealogy research come alive and transform it all into compelling family biographies that will inspire generations to come? In this article, one of our expert researchers will give you some tips and tricks to make the writing process more straight forward. Biography is a genre of history that overlaps with genealogy. It’s not reserved for only those who were famous or significantly impacted history. The art of biography is trying to find meaning in a single … [Read more...]
Holiday Genealogy Gift Guide 2024
Many of our most cherished memories are made during the holiday season as we gather with family to participate in traditions both generational and new. Gift-giving is central to many family holiday traditions, and it can be difficult to find the perfect gift for those you love year after year. We hope this year’s gift guide helps you delight the family historian in your life as well as all of your family members who will be surprised at how much they love experiencing family history stories in … [Read more...]
Expand Your Ancestry Research: the hidden power of family memorabilia
How can family memorabilia further your ancestry research? Read the first-hand account of one of our researchers about how a family photograph helped her extend her family tree.. Most of us know what it’s like to misplace our keys just as we leave home. We hunt high and low, then look down: they were “hiding” right in front of us, sitting on the windowsill or hanging from one of our fingers, obscured by other belongings. What a relief! We laugh at our distractedness and move on. Family … [Read more...]