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  1. Why Narrative Family History Is Best

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    New York Times columnist Bruce Feiler asked himself, “What is the secret sauce that holds a family together? What are the ingredients that make some families effective, resilient, happy?” The answers he discovered appeared in a piece in the Sunday Times titled The Stories That Bind Us. It should be...
  2. Four Reasons Not to Write Down Your Life Story

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    Most of my father’s life story is lost forever.  I always meant to write it down, and he always said he would do it—but when we finally made time to do it together, he died not long after we started.  I would give a king’s ransom to know more details...
  3. Family History Centers: Billions of Genealogical Records Are Closer Than You Think

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    Many of us have dreamed of making our way to the amazing Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. With genealogical records on more than 3 billion individuals this family history center hosts the largest collection of its kind found anywhere in the world. But what many of us don’t...
  4. Ancestry for Free: Genealogy Research Sites That Don’t Cost a Dime

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    Can you really research your ancestry for free? Yes you can! Most seasoned genealogists know that there are an ever growing number of free family history resources online–but it is easy for beginners to get overwhelmed trying to find quality resources and end up turning to just one or two...
  5. Chasing Rabbit Trails

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    Spring is in the air and lazy days of summer are in the immediate future.  My thoughts wander as I view fresh flowers sprouting and buds appearing on the trees.  In genealogy lessons, instructions are to create a research plan, stay focused and be diligent.  While I agree, when spring...
  6. A Little More Accuracy? Estimating the Year of Birth

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    Ever wondered why so many of those calculated years of birth from censuses are so consistently wrong by a year or so?  For example, you know your great-grandfather, George, was born in May 1895 but Ancestry, FamilySearch and the others say it was 1896 because he was age 44 in...
  7. Researching Female Ancestors: Challenges and Resources

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    The dictionary tells us that being invisible is being inconspicuous, unobtrusive, and unnoticeable. From a researcher’s point of view, tracing the life movements of invisible women creates many challenges. In the Preface to Notable American Women, editors Janet and Edward James said, “Biographies of women, especially little-known ones, pose special...
  8. How Wildcard Searches Can Uncover Ancestors

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    Thank you to Bob Vornocker for this guest post. A recent German Genealogy Group experience with creating an on-line index for the records of Most Holy Trinity Church in New York, in its early days a German parish, has prompted me to write this update to an article originally published by...
  9. Finding Your Female Ancestors Through Pension Files

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    March is Women’s History Month. Last month, I talked about finding ancestors and family stories in military pension files. What I didn’t mention is that pension files are a great place to find our female ancestors. I did tell that I didn’t know who my great, great grandmother was until...

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