Everybody loves a good story. Here is one experience where genealogy was brought to life by developing and understanding local history and culture of the time. Everybody in my family - at least on my dad’s side - is a storyteller. Every event in their lives was and is a story. You never simply got up and went to school. Every day was a potential epic adventure. To hear my dad tell it, his life as a boy on the farm was one narrow escape after another, followed by record-breaking … [Read more...]
Who Was Your Journey Taker?
Family historian Leslie Albrecht Huber wrote a book called The Journey Takers, a story about her search for information about her German, Swedish and English ancestors who left their homes behind and sailed for a new life in a new land. After reading her work, I developed a great need to know who the journey takers were in my family tree. The actions of one such individual can affect hundreds or even thousands of his or her progeny, as a journey taker determines where future generations will … [Read more...]
Jewish Research Part 2: Tips and Resources
Learning about your immigrant Jewish ancestry can be rewarding. Here are a few tips and tricks that can help you overcome common obstacles in Jewish genealogy research. In a previous post, we covered an introduction to Jewish immigrant research, focusing on historical context, migration patterns, and determining the European hometown. Once you've made the connection across the pond, however, there is still work to be done. Maps and Gazetteers Once you have found a record that names your … [Read more...]
Know Your Special Census Schedules
Are you familiar with the U.S. Special Census schedules? We'll show you how to read between the lines to glean as much information as possible about your ancestors. The census is the backbone of American research. It is one of the first sources that new genealogists learn to use, and one of the most useful overall. Perhaps because of this ease of use and accessibility, sometimes researchers can have a tendency to overlook less obvious notations, or to speed through the record a little too … [Read more...]
Jewish Genealogy and Family Tree Research
Understanding the basics of Jewish genealogy is essential for writing your family history and bringing your ancestors to life. Here are some of our tips on finding your ancestor's hometown and helping to navigate your research. In the last several hundred years, there were three major influxes of Jews into the United States (and countries like England and Canada).[1] The Sephardic Jews from Spain and Portugal were the first to arrive, coming during the Colonial years of American history. The … [Read more...]
Faith of our Fathers: Using Religious Records in Genealogical Research
Learn how to use religious records in genealogy research! Historically, religion often played an influential part in our ancestors’ lives. Knowing which religion or denomination your ancestor belonged to is more than just an interesting piece of trivia, though – it can often be a crucial clue leading to more records. As a previous blog post discussed, church records are often not readily available online. Many can be found on microfilm, but most are still held privately by the church which … [Read more...]
The Basics of Tracing Your English Ancestry
Learn the basics of tracing your English ancestry with our tips and tricks. If you have ancestors from England, count your blessings. Thanks to that country's long history of early and consistent religious and government record-keeping, there are three major record groups for original research that are rich with genealogical information: church records, civil registration, and the census. While these documents were not originally designed with future genealogists in mind, they are … [Read more...]
3 Gadgets and Programs for Digitizing Family History Photos
Digiting family history photos is a breeze with these gadgets and programs! If you’re faced with a box or trunk of old black and white photos from decades gone by, feel lucky. Many people would love to have such a treasure trove, even if it means taking the time and spending some money in order to preserve these photo treasures forever. Even if family photos have been lovingly placed in albums or scrapbooks, it is important to digitize them (and it’s also important to make sure that albums … [Read more...]