Upon first glance, the U.S. Census appears to be a powerful source for genealogists. With its wide array of information, from ages and family relationships to countries of origin, it seems to be overflowing with facts that can help us follow the lives of our ancestors across time. But, I say, “Researchers, beware!”
MyHeritage has announced a new genealogy tool that will allow its DNA users to more easily discover how they may be related to their genetic matches. This technology, called the Theory of Family Relativity™, uses family tree information and historical records from a variety of sources to attempt to find and display a common ancestor for matching individuals in the MyHeritage DNA database.
Women were just as important to a household and community hundreds of years ago as they are today but, thanks to laws and social ideas that limited women’s roles and rights, their contributions and names are often lost to history. To uncover your female ancestors’ lives, you’re going to have to work harder, dig deeper and be more creative.
Some folks yearn for the “good old days,” when times were simpler. But just because your ancestors lacked the hectic, technology-driven lifestyles we lead today doesn’t mean they had it easy. Luckily, some of the more complicated, strenuous, and dangerous tasks they endured are now obsolete.
Hoping to get your research organized and achieve more in 2019, but are unsure just what to focus on? We’ve got some suggestions that just might help you take your family history to the next level. Consider picking one or more of these important tasks and adding them to your to-do list this year.
Having a difficult time uncovering an ancestor’s occupation? You’re not alone. This detail is a welcome addition to a family tree but if it doesn’t show up in an obvious place – like a census record – it can easily go undiscovered since many of us are unsure where else to look for this information.
Of the many techniques we have at our disposal for researching our ancestors, timelines can be among the most eye-opening and, yet, they are often forgotten – buried in an endless genealogy to-do list or put off for some future rainy day when we have more time.
DNA testing for ancestry is more popular than ever. More than 12 million Americans alone have now been tested. And with this many DNA results online in the various databases, chances are very, very good that you’re going to find hundreds of distant cousins when your results are processed.
For the family history researcher, finding a stash of old family photographs can be a true genealogy jackpot! And while our first inclination might be to hang them right up on the wall for everyone to see – this may not be the best idea. Here’s how you should handle them.
Hindsight is always 20/20, don’t you think? It’s pretty easy to take a long look back and see the error of our ways. If we had that extraordinary vision, we might save ourselves countless hours of aimless research. Having worked on my own family tree or maybe “tangle of roots,” for over thirty years now, I have come to realize that my missteps may indeed be beneficial to others. In other words, “do as I say, not as I do.”