The Legacy Tree Genealogists Blog

Hand-picked, tested and trained, our professional genealogist team knows how to find your story. We search the world for answers. Find the un-findable. And we’re experts at everything from tracking down rare international records to analyzing DNA test results. Based near the world’s largest family history library in downtown Salt Lake City, we also work with researchers and archives around the globe. Contact us today if you would like help discovering your ancestors!

Meet Tani, Project Manager for Legacy Tree Genealogists

March 15, 2021 by Legacy Tree Genealogists Leave a Comment

Meet Tani, one of Legacy Tree Genealogists talented project managers!Tani began her love affair with genealogy as a young girl at sleep-overs with her maternal grandmother when together they would compile family history books. Later visiting the Family History Library with her mother and grandmother simply fanned the genealogy flame in her young heart. Both of these amazing women spent many of their final days and hours fully engaged in compiling records with sources and stories to pass on to their family. It wasn’t until they were gone that Tani really began to treasure the books they had worked on together. She had heard the stories, and learned of the brick walls, but now wanted to learn more! What happened to her great grandfather that served in the war and was injured and sent home to recover? Did he return to battle? Did he go AWOL? What started as a curiosity for her, with no genealogy experience, bloomed into a passion and a drive to learn how to discover more and to pass …

Meet Jill, Project Manager for Legacy Tree Genealogists

March 11, 2021 by Legacy Tree Genealogists Leave a Comment

Meet Jill, one of Legacy Tree Genealogists talented project managers! Jill Balmuth got the genealogy bug in 2005 when a stranger showed up to her grandmother's funeral. That stranger turned out to be her grandmother's first cousin, who shared family stories and information about relatives close and distant. She wanted to know more, and a love for genealogy was born.Prior to joining Legacy Tree Genealogists, Jill had a genealogy consulting business, Jewel Genealogy, named to honor her immigrant great-grandparents who owned The Jewel Candy Company, a South Philadelphia wholesale candy business that was lost during the great depression.Jill is active in volunteer work for various non-profits including the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston (JGSGB) where she serves as publicity chair. She is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS), and the Massachusetts Genealogical Council.Jill …

A Guide to Pre-1850 US Federal Censuses

March 8, 2021 by Legacy Tree Genealogists Leave a Comment

This guide will discuss what kinds of information you can expect to find in pre-1850 US Federal Censuses and how to use those documents in your own research. US Federal Censuses are critical to genealogical research in the United States. The later censuses—those after 1850 and especially those after 1880—offered more genealogical information than earlier ones and are frequently used by hobbyists and professional genealogists alike. Censuses before 1850 are more difficult to use because they contained fewer obvious genealogically useful details; however, those censuses from 1790 to 1840 can be vital to solving genealogical problems. Families can be tracked from one residence to the next through the early censuses which can lead to looking for other records in the correct jurisdictions (or in previously unknown residences). Details in the early censuses can reveal whether the correct family has been located and when probable children were no longer in the home. These censuses can also …

Ancestors and Their Pets: All Creatures Great and Small

March 1, 2021 by Legacy Tree Genealogists 1 Comment

The Legacy Tree team loves animals, and recently some of them shared stories of ancestors who had pets, or worked with animals, and even had close encounters with dangerous beasts!A cousin’s pet calfMany of our ancestors lived on farms, or in rural areas, and grew up around livestock. This photograph from Washington state in the 1930s clearly demonstrates a family member’s attachment to one of the calves. Unfortunately, this friendship had to end when times became tough (or perhaps simply when it was “time”). This ancestor sadly wrote, “They ended up butchering her and eating her.” Deer friendsOne researcher shared this tender photograph of her relatives and their pet deer in the late 1940s. “This was in Oklahoma. I believe [the deer] did have a name although nobody remembers it now. They kept it on their property, but after a few years they moved. They were allowed to keep it in a nearby state park after that.”Loyal animals, dangerous jobsIn the Ozarks …