Jamestown Exposition, 1607 to 1907, Exposition Design No. 3, photograph (Norfolk, Virginia: 1907), retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2005677921/, accessed August 2017. In this article we'll help you decide whether or not you need to hire a genealogist to assist you with your lineage society application. Do you have an ancestor that lived in Colonial America when the Revolutionary War was fought, or perhaps earlier in Jamestown, Virginia? … [Read more...]
What’s in a Name? 3 Tips to Kick Off Your Chinese Genealogy Research
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 … [Read more...]
The Humble Citation: Vital and Invaluable
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 … [Read more...]
Third Cousins Twice Removed and Consanguinity: Figuring Out How You’re Related to Your Relatives
The Ancestry.com app We’re Related has proven to be a fun novelty sort of parlor game. The app utilizes the information found in your Ancestry online family tree to look for similarly-named individuals in the family trees of various famous people: politicians, actors, musicians, and your Facebook friends. Of course, most of the relations are very distant: 3rd cousins 8 times removed; 9th cousins 2 times removed, etc. Explaining how those relationships are determined is relatively simple. A … [Read more...]
Google Books: An Untapped Genealogy Resource
If you've done any work on your family history, chances are at some point you've tried using a Google search to see if it would come up with information you didn't already have. However, there is a lot more to researching your ancestors on Google than just typing in their name. One very useful resource is Google Books, and if you haven't tried using it, you should! Google Books is essentially a public library right at your fingertips. It's a collection of digitized books and magazines from … [Read more...]
Legacy Tree Onsite: Spotlight on the Hawai’i State Library
Legacy Tree Genealogists works with researchers all across the globe to access records for our clients. We asked Ami, onsite in Hawai'i, to share her experiences with the Hawaii State Library. Check it out! Genealogy research in Hawai'i is often complicated and complex, which is a reflection of the history of this place. Hawaii spent time as a kingdom, a republic, a territory, and a state, and being aware of this history allows us to understand how records were organized, who organized them, … [Read more...]
Common Obstacles Found in Genealogy Records and How to Overcome Them
For most genealogists, discovering a reference to the ancestor you are searching for and then learning that there are digital copies of the genealogy records is like Christmas and your birthday all wrapped in one. Unfortunately, just like that six-pack of tube socks from Grandma was a major disappointment, the actual documents we were so eagerly anticipating can also sometimes be a big disappointment when we see them. Some documents are difficult to read because of the handwriting, or the use … [Read more...]
Intermediate Guide to English Genealogy Research
In our Beginner's Guide to British Ancestry, we discussed the difference between “Great Britain,” United Kingdom,” and “England.” We also talked about census records and civil birth, marriage, and death records available through the General Register Office, or GRO. The census and civil records are extremely useful and important for genealogical research in England, but the earliest useful census is from 1841, while the civil records only extend back to 1837. So what do researchers do to trace … [Read more...]