The Hints feature has long been a cornerstone of Ancestry’s website and subscription service. If you’ve used their family tree for any length of time you are probably quite familiar with them. But, as powerful as this feature can be, it can also mislead the unwary researcher – causing confusion, incorrect assumptions and inaccurate trees.
Wouldn’t it be nice to see what’s really on all those old family photo negatives or slides you’ve been carefully collecting and storing? If so, you might be ready to try out a negative scanner app (also known as a film scanner app). These free apps are designed to quickly scan old black and white and color film negatives and positive slides and turn them into digital photos.
Collaborating with others is one of the most cherished aspects of genealogy. While it’s entirely possible to make great progress conducting your family history research completely on your own, working and sharing with like-minded folks can be both helpful and a whole lot of fun.
Surnames are a critical piece of our genealogical research, and learning where a surname originated — geographically and etymologically — can not only enhance our research but add another chapter to our family history stories.
Everything you need to build the ultimate genealogy research travel kit for $25 or less. Whether you plan on traveling to an archive or a cemetery you’ll want to bring along these items every time.
Considering a vacation? Worried that you might miss a genealogy research opportunity if you leave your computer? Well, why not incorporate genealogy into your trip? Before the days of online genealogy research, family historians traveled everywhere in search of their ancestors, and you can too!
Hoping to figure out who is in an old family photo, what year it was taken or what the reason for the shot was? There is no doubt that discovering the who, when, where and why of family pictures is one of the most rewarding forms of genealogical sleuthing there is, but the job can seem nearly impossible. The good news is, there are some strategies that can help. If you’ve been lucky enough to get your hands on some old images, following the steps below can help you finally decipher them.
Many of us keep our trees on Ancestry, even if we don’t always subscribe to their somewhat pricey record subscription service. Because Ancestry’s online family tree is easy and free, it’s a great alternative to paid programs. But backing up that tree, along with its attached records and other media, can be a major challenge – despite how important it is to do so.
Marriage Records are an essential part of family history research and are one of the best ways to find the ever-elusive maiden name of a woman – as well as parents’ names, ages and occupations, residence and religious beliefs. If you have not found such a record for every married couple in your tree, you are missing out.
MyTreeTags™ is just that, a set of tags, or labels, which you can assign to the profile of any or every individual in your Ancestry tree. These tags will be super helpful not only to you as the tree owner, but also to anyone viewing your tree online.