Do you have Australian ancestry? Our researchers have compiled an overview of helpful resources to assist with Australian genealogy research. Australia is one of the world’s largest immigrant-based countries, meaning that the majority of the people living there have family trees that originate from somewhere else. Thus, unless someone is a descendant solely of Australian aboriginal peoples, most research will ultimately end up working back to European origins. Because of this, Australian … [Read more...]
German Immigrants in American Church Records
If your family tree has German immigrants, include American church records in your genealogy research efforts. Do you have German ancestors who lived in the Midwest? Were they Protestants? If you answered yes to those questions, then you need to know about the German Immigrants in American Church Records (GIACR) series. Compiled by Dr. Roger P. Minert of Brigham Young University, the first volume of the series was published in 2005 and has since expanded to include 18 volumes, the most … [Read more...]
How Genealogical Records Get Online
We've all perused historical records online, but have you ever considered what is involved in digitizing historical documents?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...]
How a 200-Year-Old Family Feud Solved a Brick Wall Problem
In a recent case we worked on, a dispute over land led to identifying the parents of an individual and solving a family brick wall problem. We share this story with permission to illustrate the importance of thorough searches - not just in vital records, newspapers, and censuses - but in land, probate, and court records. Our client asked us to trace the ancestry of his Boykin family, and research had stalled with a direct-line ancestor named William T. Boykin of Southampton County, Virginia, … [Read more...]
Legacy Tree Onsite: The National Archives of the United States
Legacy Tree Genealogists works with researchers all over the world to access records for our clients. We asked one of our genealogists based in Washington, D.C. to tell us about her experience with the U.S. National Archives there. The largest repository of original and historic records in the United States is the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), located at 700 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W., Washington DC. A few examples of the many original records available at the National … [Read more...]
Finding the Gold in Original Family History Records
When conducting genealogical research, it is vital – and also extremely fun – to collect as many records as possible regarding the research subject in order to gain a fuller picture of the life of that individual. This applies to all types of records, such as birth and death certificates, censuses, obituaries, church records, and ship manifests, to name a few. First, Locating Digital Records In today’s digital world, information is often accessed through search engines that scan indexes. These … [Read more...]
U.S. Passport Applications: A Genealogy Gold Mine
When researching your ancestors, U.S. passport applications can be a goldmine for genealogical information! We have a wide variety of documents to search for information about our ancestors: birth, marriage, and death certificates come to mind, as well as baptismal records, census forms, obituaries, and naturalization documents. But another source is one that we don’t often consider: passport applications. If you have any ancestors or relatives who may have left the country at any point – even … [Read more...]
Using History to Tell Your Family Story
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...]