Do you have English ancestry? We review the most requested English records and tips for using these records to build an accurate family tree. When seeking to extend your English ancestry, it is essential to first understand the records that are available. Following are examples of the most requested English records that are vital to researchers when building your family tree, and tips for using these records to help build an accurate family tree. General Registry Office for Births, … [Read more...]
The Journey of DNA’s Inheritance Paths: mtDNA and Y-DNA
DNA has taken a far-ranging journey from our ancestors of long ago. The stories in this article demonstrate how mtDNA and Y-DNA can be used to solve research problems based on DNA inheritance patterns. *This article originally appeared in NGS Magazine, and is reprinted with permission. Each human has DNA, a biological code that affects many physical, emotional, and behavioral characteristics. Humans inherit copies of DNA from their parents, who in turn inherited portions of DNA from their … [Read more...]
Legacy Tree Onsite: The Historical National Archive in Cape Verde
Legacy Tree Genealogists works with researchers from across the globe to access records for our clients. We asked one of our onsite researchers located in Cape Verde to share an overview of the record collections available at the Historical National Archive in Cape Verde. Historically, Cape Verde’s archipelago was a meeting point for citizens from Europe, America and Africa, mostly due to the slave trade, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Due to this unique past, the documents contained in … [Read more...]
Finding Your Soldier of the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45 (Eastern Front of WWII): Part II
Did your ancestor serve during the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45? Learn more about their Soviet military service using this free resource! Last week in Part I of our two part series, we introduced Pamyat Naroda (Память народа), a website hosted by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (Министерство обороны Российской Федерации) to honor the participants of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45, commonly referred to as the Eastern Front of World War II in English-speaking countries. … [Read more...]
Finding Your Soldier of the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45 (Eastern Front of WWII): Part I
Did your ancestor serve during the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45? Learn more about their Soviet military service using this free resource! Many descendants of Eastern European immigrants who landed on North American shores in the first wave of immigration soon found that their relatives who stayed behind were no longer citizens of the historical empires who had ruled over them. With the changing borders through the Interwar period to the beginning of World War II, the citizens of the new … [Read more...]
Pathways to Membership in The Jamestowne Society
Many are under the impression that to become a member of the Jamestowne Society, one must have an ancestor who was a first settler of the Jamestowne colony. Although that is one route to join, the Jamestowne Society provides six pathways to membership! Learn more about them. The Jamestowne Society, founded in 1936 and incorporated in 1958, is a lineage society based in Richmond, Virginia with the mission to discover and record the names of early Virginia settlers and their descendants. They … [Read more...]
Passenger Lists: A Gateway to Foreign Lands and a Former Life
How do you trace your immigrant ancestors from one country to another? Their travels were likely documented on passenger lists. Learn more! In the United States, I’ve heard it said that “unless your family is Native American your ancestors immigrated from somewhere.” How do you trace them if your family immigrated from one country to another, particularly crossing an ocean or two in the process? Their travels were likely documented, specifically on a passenger manifest for the ship they sailed … [Read more...]
Legacy Tree Onsite in Istria, Croatia: One Peninsula, Three Identities
Legacy Tree Genealogists works with researchers from across the globe to access records for our clients. We asked one of our onsite researchers located in Istria, Croatia, to share some of the nuances of genealogical research in Istria. Istria is a peninsula in the Adriatic Sea belonging to Croatia, Slovenia and Italy. Its name derives from the name of the tribe Histri. When the Roman army invaded their capital in 177 BC, the Histrian king Epulon, his guard and their families committed mass … [Read more...]