For avid family historians the search for the perfect tree program can be a challenging one. We need a very specific set of tools, intelligent ways to enter and view data, robust reporting options and ongoing stability – but we also hope for an intuitive and attractive design, access from any device and the ability to easily share our work with family members and collaborators. It’s a tall order to fill.
If you’re one of the 175 million people around the world who use Pinterest every month, you probably already know that there’s a lot to love. Maybe you think of Pinterest as a great place to collect clever home decor ideas or as the best spot to peruse beautiful images of tasty food (who doesn’t?) – but did you know that Pinterest is so much more than that? It may be the free genealogy tool you’ve been missing.
One of the most exciting things about doing family history research is moving beyond names and dates to begin exploring the stories of our ancestors’ lives. There are many ways to do this. Records like pension applications, wills and obituaries can provide details that allow us a special glimpse into the important events and personal relationships of our forebearers.
But there is one type of genealogy resource that often stands above the rest when it comes to providing unique insights. And this same resource also happens to be a wonderful place to locate names and dates, land ownership information, occupations and much more.
Looking for information about a family member who passed away while serving in a conflict can certainly present unique challenges for the family history researcher. In addition to the sense of loss that comes with knowing your family member’s life ended too soon, the act of finding the true story of their service can be daunting task, especially if the loved one’s remains were never returned to the United States.
So, how do you take those first steps when trying to unearth information about one of your ancestors who lived and died during wartime? While government information from organizations like the Veterans Administration are often the first places we think to look, there are other resources that may be just as useful in your search.
What if you could transform Cyndi’s List into an even more valuable online research tool than it already is? I’ll share a quick experiment that helped me do just that.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was an online research site that allowed you to easily search for records about your ancestors from repositories across the USA? One that linked to actual records that you could view online? Wouldn’t it be even more wonderful if that site was completely free for anyone to use? If …
How To Quickly Find Free Genealogy Records Through the Digital Public Library of America Read More »
This is the story of how Reclaim The Records fought and won the right to digitize and make available online the New York State Death Index. Thanks to their efforts these important records from 1880-1956 can now be found completely free on the Internet Archive. As Reclaim The Records points out, this story is “kind of long, but …
The Surprising Battle to Bring the New York Death Index Online and How to Find it Free Read More »
Interested in discovering more information about the work your ancestors did? Our Family Tree, which offers a unique online database containing information on the occupations of over 96,000 historical persons, may be able to help. Records on nearly 60 professions are included on the site – most of them religious or government positions such as ministers, lighthouse …
This Unique Site Lists Nearly 100,000 Occupational Records for Free Read More »
Family History is about more than just finding the names and important dates of those that came before us, it is a quest to discover the narratives of our ancestors lives. But finding that information can be difficult and sometimes requires creative solutions, such as reviewing old newspapers or examining historical events that affected large populations. That’s why a unique website like GenDisasters.com is such an invaluable free resource.
By Tony Bandy When it comes to history and genealogy, the two topics can never be separate. Our ancestors’ daily lives, family connections, and records were influenced by events in history that they could not control – and the aftermath of these historic events often brought about quite a change for those affected. Let’s take …
4 Events That Changed Our Ancestors’ Lives Forever, and the Records They Left Behind Read More »