Anyone who has researched their African American ancestors knows what a challenge it can be, but as interest in family history research continues to grow more and more free resources are available to help you on your quest. If you are new to African American genealogy research, or have a hit a roadblock, we suggest …
10 Free Resources for Researching Your African American Ancestors Read More »
We all know that we need to be careful when reading, using and recording information we find in the census. Whether it’s the US federal census, a state or local census, or a population register for another country — these records are notoriously inaccurate. Ages, name spellings, locations of birth, occupations — everything needs to …
This Information Will Make You Question Every Census Record You’ve Ever Collected Read More »
Newspapers from the past can provide critical clues about our ancestors’ lives. As a family historian, you’ve likely spent some time searching old newspapers for birth and marriage announcements, as well as obituaries. The information from such sections often include details that can be hard (or impossible) to find anywhere else. But historical newspapers are so much …
This Revealing Newspaper Section May Hold Fascinating Details About Your Ancestors Read More »
Occupations are one of the most coveted gems of genealogy research — they give us a glimpse in to the daily lives of our ancestors in a way that few other raw details can. But if you’ve spent some time digging through old records you’ve probably come across jobs that you have never heard of, most likely because …
10 Common 19th Century Occupations That You’re Not Likely to See Today Read More »
Online research is getting better and better every day. With new free websites, databases and research groups popping up everywhere, family historians have a seemingly endless supply of records and resources to help them uncover family details. But with all of the amazing information now available at our fingertips it can be difficult to keep track …
This Smart New Tool from Google is the Perfect Genealogy Research Assistant! Read More »
If you’re one of the many thousands of genealogists that have tested your DNA in the hopes of better understanding your genetic heritage, you’ll be excited to hear that there is a new way to analyze your results — and it’s free. In October 2015 a new project from Columbia University researchers and the NY Genome …
The Free Genetic Ancestry Report You Don’t Want to Miss Read More »
There’s no doubt that the landing of the Mayflower in the ‘New World’ in 1620 is one of the most important events in American history. Whether you know all of the facts about this historic voyage or not, discovering a connection to this iconic American event would be truly exciting for any family historian. Yet, most of us …
Are You One of 35 Million Mayflower Descendants? Here’s How to Find Out Read More »
Editor’s Note: The Castle Garden website is no longer in operation. Records are now hosted at FamilySearch, where they are available at no cost – New York Passenger Lists (Castle Garden) 1820–1891. An article from FamilySearch on these records can be found here. See the following databases for later records or read our article about discovering …
The 11 Million Free Immigration Records You May Have Completely Overlooked Read More »
One of the most important things a family historian can do is get organized. It makes research easier in the short term, and you’ll thank yourself repeatedly for it in the future. Many genealogists, including myself, use Evernote — which has both an excellent online and downloadable system for capturing data and organizing information. There is also …
Finally! A Super Easy, Visual Way to Organize Your Genealogy Data Read More »
By Susan Wallin Mosey Is it weird that I have a graveyard kit? How else can you go grave hunting in an organized and well-equipped manner? Mine is stored in a pink bucket with a decal on it. (I’m a very girly grave hunter.) The bucket contains all the stuff I need for proper gravestone …
Do You Have a Graveyard Kit? Here are the 13 Things I Keep in Mine Read More »