Thank you to Bob Vornlocker 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 the GGG and Dick Eastman, …
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 I obtained my great, great …
Finding Your Female Ancestors Through Pension Files Read More »
Images of our ancestors bring so much life to a person previously only known through census records and cemeteries. But for many we simply don’t have the coveted photograph. Our imagination does the heavy lifting. I don’t know about you, but I tend to conjure up all farmers about the same! Sad really. You’d think …
Hi chaps, After my last blog, Linda gave me some food for thought. So we’re getting away from actual documents this time, and looking at patronymics. Not to be confused with patronising, which is something the British are REALLY good at. (British forces arrive in somebody else’s country: “Oh, you don’t have a flag? Oh …
Thoughts of a Family Bible usually portray an image of a large heavy leather-covered book. They were sold in stores, available from mail order catalogs and offered by door-to-door salesmen. Even non-religious families may have owned a family Bible. The major selling factor was the “Records” or “Register” section, usually located in the center or …
The Importance of Family Bibles in Genealogy Research Read More »
David McCulloch, who won Pulitzer Prizes for his books on Harry Truman and John Adams, knows how to write a good life story. Says McCulloch, “I believe very strongly that the essence of writing is to know your subject…to get beneath the surface.” As you create your personal or family history book that’s advice you …
Getting Beneath the Surface of Your Family History Read More »
Hello chaps, When I was a teenager, my Aunty A (whose real name was Annie Jane, but she’d never admit to it – and whose husband, I understand, didn’t tell her for months that he’d registered their baby daughter’s name as something other than they had agreed – fancy calling your child, in all innocence, …
Image caption: House documents dated from 1910-1924 It was about noon on a typical Houston summer day (Hot!) The kids and I were home, deciding it was just too hot to go to the grocery store – popcorn for lunch would be just fine! We were all startled when the doorbell rang, not because no …
When History Comes Knocking at Your Door, Literally! Read More »
My last post described how a family’s name changed upon their arrival in the US. It elicited a comment (for which thanks) that the name HOUSE pronounced by a Dorset person could easily sound like HOWES to American ears. I promised to respond in my next post. So here goes! One family’s experience The word …
He was the last person I would ever have expected to be interested in genealogy—and what I found out about his roots was the last thing I would have guessed. It was late 2011 and I needed a new genealogy project. My husband had mentioned my hobby at the manufacturing plant where he works, and …