In honor of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Legacy Tree Genealogists’ Kate Eakman discusses her interest in this area of research and some of the challenges in tracing Indigenous and native cultures in the United States and around the world.Q: Would you tell us about yourself and your view of genealogy?A: I'm Kate Eakman, Legacy Tree Genealogists' British research team manager and a former history professor.I look at genealogy as a branch of history. It's a very personal history, but it's … [Read more...]
Genealogy Tips & Best Practices
As the world's highest rated genealogy research firm, the experts at Legacy Tree Genealogists have compiled a collection of genealogy tips and best practices to help you find YOUR ancestors! From methodology and education, to writing a family biography, we explain the who, what, where and why of family history research!
Legacy Tree Onsite: Belarus Archives and Records Collections
Legacy Tree Genealogists’ Dennis Baranov has conducted research in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine for more than 15 years. His wife Mariya is his research helper and translator. In this article, they provide detailed information about Belarus archives and records to research family histories, especially in an area where many documents have been destroyed. Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, surrounded by Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia. Minsk is the capital and … [Read more...]
Searching for Sarah: Strategies for Researching Female Ancestors
Legacy Tree Genealogists' Geneil Breeze 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. There she was, listed as head of household on the 1850 Census for Greene County, Missouri: Sarah Singletary, age 49, my third-great-grandmother. She lived at a time when women typically were not heads of households. As a presumed single woman in the … [Read more...]
How to Get More from Today’s Genealogy Events & Meetings
Legacy Tree Genealogists' James (Jim) Beidler discusses the changing landscape of genealogy events and meetings and offers tips on how to get the most out of these modern, largely online, learning opportunities. Genealogy events have certainly changed over the years. In the past, local meetings often had speakers who were knowledgeable but sometimes had less than scintillating presentations. Full-day seminars, often with a single speaker, dotted seasonal calendars. Large events often had … [Read more...]
Tracing Cherokee Ancestors with DNA, Tribal Citizenship, and Cherokee Rolls
As genealogists, we’re often asked to research the likelihood and details of a client’s Native American heritage. Legacy Tree Genealogists' researcher Michelle Carroll digs deeper into her journey and successful strategies when tracing her Cherokee ancestors.If you believe that you may have Cherokee ancestors and have always wanted to know more, let me encourage you to leap into discovering your Native American heritage. Learning about my own Cherokee family has been one of the most … [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...]
5 Roles We Can Play to Help Preserve Our Family History
Genealogy is not only about researching family history, it's about pulling the family closer together with a common interest. Legacy Tree Genealogists' Ryan Rockwood explains how family tree research is often a family affair in which family members assume their unique and valuable roles.A few weeks ago, my wife tragically lost her grandpa Tom after sustaining brain injuries due to a fall. It was shocking and heartbreaking, especially since he was in relatively normal health … [Read more...]
Connecting Generations Through Family History
Legacy Tree Genealogists' Sheri Bennett provides some personal insight into how the love for genealogy can spread from one generation to the next. What starts as an interest shared by family can become an incurable obsession that spreads from one generation to the next.Genealogy begins as an interest, becomes a hobby, sometimes continues as a vocation, takes over as an obsession, and finally becomes an incurable disease. I have seen this in my own life and now in the lives of my children and … [Read more...]
Solved! When Your Relative Does Not Appear as a DNA Match
Genealogy can be fun and rewarding, but it can also be frustrating when you encounter problems that don't seem to make sense. What do you do if your family member's DNA doesn't seem to match your own? Legacy Tree Genealogists' Adrienne Abiodun explains how you can solve this all-too-common problem.The ProblemMost of us who have taken a DNA test have experienced the startling discovery of NOT having a biological relative, close or distant, known to be related to show up as a genetic … [Read more...]
Foundations for Genetic Genealogy Success: Profiles and Family Trees
Our own Paul Woodbury follows up on his article about the journey of a DNA sample with a discussion of how profiles and family trees are the foundations for genetic genealogy success. This article is a reprint from a recent issue of the National Genealogical Society Magazine and is published here with permission. In my previous article, "From Spit to Screen: The Journey of a DNA Sample" I described the journey of a DNA sample from the moment a sample is taken to the moment a test taker … [Read more...]