If you've hit a brick wall in extending your Southern family history, try searching these three types of Southern genealogy records. Doing research in the United States pre-1850 can be challenging anywhere, since the colonial and early federal period across the nation generally affords genealogists fewer record types with much less biographical information and variety than later eras, but the South is notoriously even harder to research than other parts of the country. Common Obstacles with … [Read more...]
Poisoned Pies and the Civil War
A recent case we were asked to work on revealed some extraordinary family history. With the help of a large Civil War pension file, we were able to discover that an ancestor died of what was unofficially called "Black Tongue" but more specifically resulted from eating a poisoned pie. How did that happen? We'll explain. The Poisoned Pies This ancestor served in the Civil War near Louisville, Kentucky - an area where for a time, a great number of soldiers suddenly took sick and died; some quite … [Read more...]
Do Family Legends Have a Place in Genealogical Research?
Does your family history include a family legend (or two?) Here's some of the family legends we've encountered while conducting genealogical research. Every family has a storyteller or two – an uncle who brings out the same old stories at every family dinner or a great-grandma who shares cherished memories of her childhood with her grandchildren. The best stories, of course, are the ones that are passed down from generation to generation: reverent retellings of an ancestor’s importance in his … [Read more...]
When Pension Files are Genealogy Treasure Troves
Pension files can provide a wealth of information for genealogy research. We'll show you details pension files can contain to extend your family history. As a genealogist, I enjoy working with military records and documents and really like it when a client is interested in their ancestor’s military history, too. Tracing an individual from his enlistment, through his actual service and on to his discharge can provide a thrilling – and occasionally sobering – glimpse into the life of an … [Read more...]
Denied Access to a Vital Record? Try the Newspaper!
When privacy laws prevent researchers from finding genealogy records, newspaper records may provide the information you're searching for! Strict privacy laws, designed to protect both the living and the dead from having their identities stolen, can create some serious problems for a genealogist. Some states permit the acquisition of birth, marriage, or death records when the individuals named in those records have been dead for 50 years, or 100 years after the event was recorded. Other … [Read more...]
5 Tips for Finding Female Ancestors
Are you struggling to find female ancestors in your family history? We share 5 tips for locating those elusive ancestresses! “The husband and wife are one, and that one is the husband.” – William Blackstone, English jurist and judge Such a quote sounds grating and out-of-place in our twenty-first century society, but it was the legal and cultural reality under which American women lived during most of history, due to our heritage of English common law. Blackstone’s quote above is in … [Read more...]
Give the Gift of a Family History Christmas
Family history research makes the perfect Christmas gift! Here are 4 ideas to create a memorable and enjoyable holiday season with your family. With Christmas coming up, you may feel the desire to give the gift of family history research. But how can you compete with the shiny toys and brand new things that Santa will undoubtedly bring to your family? Here are a few fun ways that you can share your genealogy with those you love around the holidays. Give The Gift of Research If one of your … [Read more...]
What’s in a Name? 4 Tips for Finding An Elusive Ancestor
Are you continuing to hit a genealogical brick wall searching for an elusive ancestor? Here are 4 unique tips that may help! One of the things I love about genealogy is the fascinating variety of names and the many forms that one particular name can take. One memorable name that I encountered recently was Cadwallader Slaughter, often shortened to Cad Slaughter. What a name! It’s a delicate science using names to determine the identity of one person, or distinguishing between many … [Read more...]