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!

Some sites we like

June 3, 2014 by Legacy Tree Genealogists Leave a Comment

There are a lot of genealogy sites and blogs out there - a lot of good ones. We asked Allison McCord, one of our Project Managers, about her favorites and here are her picks. Enjoy!From Allison: I heard Judy G. Russell speak at RootsTech 2014 and she has a truly engaging speaking and writing style. You can watch her excellent presentation here: https://rootstech.org/about/videos/?id=3168208970001. Built by David H. Pratt, PhD, this website is one of the best places to learn how to conduct English genealogy research. The site explains clearly “some efficient ways to trace English persons in the past.” Easily navigated, this website provides information about civil registration, bishop’s transcripts, marriage records, poor law, maps, and more. As a kid, Wes Clark loved to take pictures with his Kodak Instamatic. As a result, he has an enormous collection of snapshots of his growing up years in 1970s in Burbank, California. Wes' description of each photo is hilarious and …

Only the Messenger!

June 2, 2014 by Legacy Tree Genealogists Leave a Comment

We love this comic, not only because the idea of Smurf ancestry is awesome but also because it brings up, in a light-hearted way, the complexity of dealing with some sticky situations when hired by clients to unravel tough ancestral issues. In those situations our good relationships with our clients are paramount! It's important to always remember that we've been hired by a client to provide access to the truth. Sometimes that truth will involve illegitimacy or slavery or something that disproves the family story. We're committed to backing up our conclusions with sound analysis and evidence, and we do our best to provide our clients with as much positive information as we can, but overall to provide them with truth. We owe that to them! …

Happy Memorial Day

May 26, 2014 by Legacy Tree Genealogists Leave a Comment

We hope it’s been a wonderful Memorial Day weekend filled with family, friends, and warm memories. Memorial Day has been celebrated in the U.S. for almost 150 years now – it was first made official in 1868, when Decoration Day was designated by Civil War Commander in Chief, John A. Logan, as a day for “strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion.” For the first 50 years this holiday was honored by the Union States, with the South honoring their fallen soldiers on a different date. After World War I, the holiday’s focus shifted to a day for honoring those fallen during any war and has been celebrated by the entire nation ever since.If your ancestor served in the Civil War, you can learn more about him through a great website hosted by the National Park Service, at http://www.nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.htm. If your ancestor lived during World War I, you may find his draft …

Meet Elly, Project Manager for Legacy Tree Genealogists

May 23, 2014 by Legacy Tree Genealogists Leave a Comment

Elly Catmull originally joined Legacy Tree as an assistant editor several years ago. We were immediately impressed by her intense attention to details, her care for the quality our clients received, and her careful thoughts on how to improve processes and performance. We quickly snatched her up as one of our Project Managers before she knew what happened!Like all of our Project Managers, Elly fills her role beautifully. We continually receive rave reviews about Elly from her clients, and love how personal her connection is with each of them and how "on time" she keeps their projects.Here's more info about Elly and her background in genealogy:Elly Catmull loves stories. This is what originally drew her to family history - to uncover and share the stories of her ancestors. She feels it is important to remember that they experienced all the ups and downs of life that anyone does, that they were real people, too. And learning about our ancestors helps us come to know ourselves …