We've all perused historical records online, but have you ever considered what is involved in digitizing historical documents? We'll show you the process! Historical records are the lifeblood of genealogy research. Created for a myriad of purposes, records come in a variety of forms such as birth certificates, marriage licenses, obituaries, christening records, censuses, newspaper articles, wills, deeds, draft registrations, passenger lists, and muster rolls – to name only a few! The list goes … [Read more...]
Hidden in Plain Sight: A Guide to Image-Only Record Collections
For the countless hours spent looking for records to prove or provide a family relationship, Image-Only Records collections that have not yet been indexed may hold the hidden answer to century-old questions. Here is how to use these records, and tips on maximizing your time. If you’ve plugged your family names into the search databases of the major genealogical websites and didn’t find the answer you needed, consider that your search is not done! Did you know that there are millions of pages … [Read more...]
MyHeritage.com and Legacy Tree Genealogists – Working Together
Legacy Tree Genealogists have the privilege of being the recommended research partner of MyHeritage! Learn what makes Legacy Tree the leader in professional genealogy work. Legacy Tree Genealogists has been a research firm for over a decade now, celebrating our 11th year as a business in 2015. Our experience and positive client ratings naturally make us a trusted source for genealogical research, and we are excited to announce that industry giant MyHeritage.com agrees, naming us their … [Read more...]
How to Find Family Photos Online
Finding photos of ancestors is one of the best ways to bring their heritage to life. Here's how to find family photos online. As professional genealogists, our job is to seek out the details of ancestors' lives so that our clients are able to understand the people with whom they share a connection. These bits of information can include occupation, military service, education, immigration, religion, and more. A question we get pretty often is "Can you find photos of my ancestors?" One of … [Read more...]
Google Searching Tips for Genealogists
In the digital age, searching for your ancestor's records is easier than ever. Read our 5 tips on using Google to navigate your genealogy search. You may be surprised what amazing genealogy finds you can discover using just Google alone! Thousands of photos, scanned books, and online genealogical collections are available that aren't at the usual big websites like Ancestry or FamilySearch. A reasonably exhaustive search should include a plunge into Google. Most know that you search for an … [Read more...]
Elephind.com – Indexing the World’s Newspapers
Newspapers are often an under-utilized resource in genealogy, a treasure trove of unique information. The obituaries, social columns, news bulletins, various notices, and even advertisements are invaluable for their ability to tell us things we would have a difficult time finding elsewhere, as well as giving an authentic look into the culture of the time and place. In my own research, I have personally encountered more than one research mystery that only became clear when I searched for the … [Read more...]
Ancestry’s Cyber Attack and a Look at Perseverance
Ancestry's Cyber Attack, putting an outage to online records for a few days, really put things into perspective for how far genealogy records have come over the years. Last week, a new genealogy research project came across my desk and it was thrilling to delve into a 19th Century Mid-Atlantic States project and have instant access to a vast amount of records online through various online genealogy record websites. Within a few short hours of working on a census survey, I felt a great … [Read more...]