Where to find free genealogy books online looks at where you can find free genealogy books and gives some examples of what you can find.
It's easy to overlook these 5 features on Ancestry. However, using them can make your genealogy research more productive.
If you have European ancestry, one of the greatest challenges can be locating quality genealogy databases that are affordable. Here are 30 free options.
With these ancestry research links, I have been able to score some of my favorite archival facts without spending a penny.
When most of us think of Ancestry.com, we think of paid resources. And, of course, the vast majority of Ancestry's billions of records are behind a pay wall. However, you might be surprised to hear that
Mark Orwig is the writer of the Genealogy Explained website, and he has created a neat graphic to explain the answer to the question posed in "Do Siblings Have the Same DNA?" I encourage all of my readers to read the entire article because the science is interesting and the "deck of cards" example is familiar to most of us. The graphic is: Pictures are always better than many words, and this graphic shows why siblings (assuming they aren't identical twins) may not have the same ethnicity estimate even though they have the same parents. In the graphic, there are four grandparents who have perceived ethnicities of: * Paternal grandfather: 50% Scottish, 50% Irish * Paternal grandmother: 100% Italian * Maternal grandfather: 100% German * Maternal grandmother: 50% Italian, 50% Irish Based on the percentages, one would expect the ethnicities of the parents to be: * Father: 50% Italian, 25% Scottish, 25% Irish * Mother: 50% German, 25% Italian, 25% Irish Based on those percentages, one would expect the ethnicity of a child to be: * 37.5% Italian, 25% German, 25% Irish, 12.5% Scottish. However, the graphic shows that the two children have significantly different ethnicity estimates (based on a DNA test) than the expected ethnicity based on the expected ethnicity of the parents. This occurs because of the random nature of admixture - how the DNA segments are passed down to the next generation. For me, I have noted that the six different ethnicity estimates I have received are completely different, and do not match my perceived ethnicity based on classical genealogy research. See Comparison of My Autosomal DNA Ethnicity Estimates. I understand better now that I need to test my two brothers and both of my daughters to get a better handle on the ethnicity estimates for my family members. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to test my parents (who died in 1983 and 2002) and grandparents (who died in 1942, 1962, 1976, 1977). Like I said - Read the entire post! Thank you to Mark for permitting me to use the graphic in this blog post. ============================================== The URL for this post is: http://www.geneamusings.com/2018/07/genealogy-explained-do-siblings-have.html Copyright (c) 2018, Randall J. Seaver Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at [email protected].
Researching your family tree is fun! Here are several free ancestry and genealogy sites you can use without spending a dollar.
It won't be easy to locate old photos of your ancestors, but the hard work is worth it. Here's where to get started in your search.
Dig deeper in your research to find hidden gems at these four free and underused genealogy websites.
Amy Johnson Crow is an expert genealogy educator who can help you learn how to discover your family history. Host of the Generations Cafe podcast.
Make Instant Discoveries About Your Ancestors Here 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 … The Free Genetic Ancestry Report You Don’t Want to Miss Read More »
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.
It is wonderful to uncover the facts of an ancestor's life, but putting a face to a name is the most amazing discovery of all. Find out where to look for ancestor photos.
Researching ancestors from England, Scotland, Wales or Ireland? Here's a list of free genealogy sites for the UK and Ireland where you can find everything from census returns and military service records to birth, marriage and death indexes.
Make Instant Discoveries About Your Ancestors Here Well, rules might be a bit strict, but we do have some pretty tight guidelines that we like to follow when we’re doing genealogy research. We promise we use them most of the time. You likely have your own set of rules and we’d love to hear them. What would you add … Do You Follow These “Rules” of Genealogy Research? Read More »
Genealogy resources and tips to find where your ancestors are buried, grow your family tree and keep you genealogy research moving forward.
Maps can show more than just roads. Learn about 5 different types of maps that can help you with your genealogy research.
10 genealogy research tips I wish I'd known at the start looks at mistakes made and how to avoid them when starting your family tree.
Even if you didn't inherit a photo of your Civil War ancestor, there are several sources you can use to find his physical description.
There are many free genealogy sites available on the web. Here is a handy reference of 10 of the largest and most useful free family history resources.
It is wonderful to uncover the facts of an ancestor's life, but putting a face to a name is the most amazing discovery of all. Find out where to look for ancestor photos.
These 30 free genealogy sites can help you search if you have European roots. Do you know where your ancestry is from? I know that my parents are from Puerto Rico, but I also know that the buck doesn't stop there. We have all probably seen and heard about shows or videos where random people are tested to see where their ancestors are from. They are always surprised at what they find. Wouldn't it be cool to be surprised just the same?
Family history books are as unique as your ancestors. Explore my favourite graphic design apps to layout and typeset your ancestor stories.
How to do family history takes you through the stages for successful genealogy research using links to the best articles on the web.
Have you ever considered using Pinterest for your Genealogy and family history research? I started using Pinterest for my family's genealogy and I love it! It's a great way to organize the family photographs and documents found around the internet. Plus, as an added bonus, the link to the document and family photo is provided and you can easily share with family! There's no need to save old family photos to your computer (and forgetting the source). And there is no more taking other people's photographs and posting them as your own. Now, with the assistance of Pinterest, you can simply share them through a "pin." Come join the Genealogy Photo A Day on Instagram! Want to learn more about using Pinterest for your family genealogy and how it can help you with your family tree? I like to think of Pinterest as an online image search engine. It's a lot like Google, Bing, and Yahoo but with a twist. Once you type in your search words your results are displayed as images and pictures. This can be very helpful for those who do family genealogy. Imagine the surprise when your ancestor's picture shows up and it's a photo you've never seen before! Plus, there is a link attached and you can click to see both the photo and the website where that picture is stored. Pinterest provides many benefits for family genealogy. 1. Pinterest gives you a place to organize your information. This information is placed onto what Pinterest calls boards. Boards can be as broad (or as specific) as you prefer. You create them and decide how to organize them. 2. Pinterest allows you to connect with family members you may have never known. Other people can find your boards and pins (images) through the Pinterest search button. 3. Pinterest also allows you to organize and save the pictures and documents you find online. You simply pin them to your boards and the link is saved along with them image. Now available on Amazon! 10 Tips for Using Pinterest for Genealogy by Genealogy Girl Talks Check out our related posts about using Pinterest for Genealogy here! Check out our new 30 Day Genealogy Pinterest Challenge! It starts in November 2014! Be sure to join us for all the fun!
Have you ever considered using Pinterest for your Genealogy and family history research? I started using Pinterest for my family's genealogy and I love it! It's a great way to organize the family photographs and documents found around the internet. Plus, as an added bonus, the link to the document and family photo is provided and you can easily share with family! There's no need to save old family photos to your computer (and forgetting the source). And there is no more taking other people's photographs and posting them as your own. Now, with the assistance of Pinterest, you can simply share them through a "pin." Want to learn more about using Pinterest for your family genealogy and how it can help you with your family tree? I like to think of Pinterest as an online image search engine. It's a lot like Google, Bing, and Yahoo but with a twist. Once you type in your search words your results are displayed as images and pictures. This can be very helpful for those who do family genealogy. Imagine the surprise when your ancestor's picture shows up and it's a photo you've never seen before! Plus, there is a link attached and you can click to see both the photo and the website where that picture is stored. Pinterest provides many benefits for family genealogy. 1. Pinterest gives you a place to organize your information. This information is placed onto what Pinterest calls boards. Boards can be as broad (or as specific) as you prefer. You create them and decide how to organize them. 2. Pinterest allows you to connect with family members you may have never known. Other people can find your boards and pins (images) through the Pinterest search button. 3. Pinterest also allows you to organize and save the pictures and documents you find online. You simply pin them to your boards and the link is saved along with them image. Check out our related posts about using Pinterest for Genealogy here!
Yes, free genealogy sites do exist. Here's how to avoid spending money on ancestry research without limiting your tree.
Make Instant Discoveries About Your Ancestors Here Are you interested in finally searching out the truth behind that old family story about a Native American ancestor? Or perhaps you already know that the story is true, but you’re not quite sure where to go next. Luckily, there are many online guides, records collections and specialized resources that can … Do You Have Hidden Native American Ancestry? Here’s How to Find Out Read More »
Make Instant Discoveries About Your Ancestors Here 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 … The 11 Million Free Immigration Records You May Have Completely Overlooked Read More »
It won't be easy to locate old photos of your ancestors, but the hard work is worth it. Here's where to get started in your search.
On these genealogy and family history websites, you can search databases of ancestor names and digitized records—and it’s all free.
How to do family history takes you through the stages for successful genealogy research using links to the best articles on the web.
An article about researching the professions of the passengers who arrived onboard the Mayflower in 1620, using historical newspapers.
For a long time, German census records were thought not to exist. But they do! A leading German genealogy expert tells us how they’ve been discovered and catalogued—and where you can learn about…
State archives and historical societies can provide useful and free information for researching your genealogy. Here's a list of state archives websites.
Think your ancestors are a lost cause? Not with our search tips for finding your family history online on Google, Ancestry and other websites.
An article (with a complete title list) about the 27 Colonial newspapers available in GenealogyBank’s Historical Newspaper Archives.
Recently some WW2 records I wanted to look at came online, they had been digitised by the National Archives. This individual is called Wil...
Many years ago when I was first starting to research my family, I visited the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. I had some specific questions about some of my ancestors and was working from a handout called a Genealogical Checklist. It looked something like this: This particular version of the checklist came from the Capital Area Genealogical Society in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. There are dozens of variations of this form. I have a different paper copy of the form sitting on my desk Of course, I had no idea what some of the listed records were and I had even less of an idea where to find them. One of the first records that came to my attention was the U.S. Census records. At that time, the only copy of the Census was on microfilm (ancient pre-computer days). I got some help finding a copy of the microfilm for the place where my ancestors lived and got on one of the old microfilm viewers and started looking. I was entirely dismayed. The images were terrible and virtually unreadable. After a short time of searching, I gave up and, to my knowledge, never looked at another U.S. Census record until they were digitized and put online. Meanwhile, I researched all sorts of records, mainly books, and slowly started learning about the other sources on the list. Now we fast forward to today. All of the U.S. Census records are online in multiple copies and freely accessible. In addition, many of the types of records listed in my original source checklist are also readily available online. Because of my early negative experience with the Census, I was, in a sense, forced to look at a broader selection of records. What do I find today with new researchers? I find a fixation with the U.S. Census and little more. But the tragedy of the easy availability of a core of records centered around the U.S. Census is that today's researchers are blinded by the bright sun of the U.S. Census and cannot see any of the other useful records. They are spoon fed the U.S. Census and cannot get past that record. One of the most common symptoms of this lack of vision is the common complaint that they cannot find a relative in a certain U.S. Census year. The dialogue goes something like this: Q. (Researcher or someone helping the researcher) Can I ask a question? A. (Me) Sure, go ahead. Q. We (I) have been looking for this particular ancestor and we find (him or her) in the 1910 and 1930 U.S. Census but cannot find the family in the 1920 U.S. Census. What should we do? We are completely stumped. Now there are multiple layers of problems with this particular question. The simple answer is that the family is there in the Census but the index is faulty and they need to go look at the Census location page by page. But the issue is much deeper than that rather simple answer. The real question is what do they think they are going to find in the 1920 Census that they cannot find from other readily available sources of the same time period? At this juncture, I should point out that the Genealogical Source Checklist above, while helpful, is far from exhaustive. The underlying problem faced by this researcher is the inability to view the family in the historical context of the time and visualize the cloud of possible records that might accompany the family. The technique here is to examine the two extant census records and begin the process of discovering other records that might exist depending on exactly where the family lived. At this point, my answer is usually a series of questions: Where did the family live? What was the occupation? Were they renting or owners of their property? Did they speak and write English? Have you tried searching for each family member separately? The questions can go on almost indefinitely. At some point, the idea that there might be other important records to examine finally occurs to the researcher and off they go to look for a record they had not thought of previously, mainly because they were fixated on the U.S. Census. Back to the checklist example, I have included above. Here is a sample list a link to a different online form following the same pattern: http://www.pusogensoc.org/psgs/about/genealogy-center/research-forms/ Guess what? We have online sources that give us exactly the same type of information. That is, they guide us to various sources. The most valuable of these, of course, is the FamilySearch.org Research Wiki. Basically, this whole website is nothing more or less than an enormous expansion of the checklist I used to use in the Family History Library. I used the example of the U.S. Census in this post to illustrate the point that there are so many types of records available that no one can really claim to have searched everywhere for one particular family. On the other hand, it is also a good idea to milk the records you do find for all that they are worth, especially as suggestions as to where to find additional records.
An article featuring an infographic with a timeline of key historical events in Colonial America.
If you have German ancestors, chances are you've encountered some challenges trying to track them down. Changes in jurisdiction and borders, lack of central record keeping, foreign language websites and Old German script are just a few areas that trip up many family historians. This guide will help you overcome these hurdles and discover free resources.
I stumbled upon this graphic of GotGenealogy.com‘s “Golden Rules of Genealogy.” Great compilation of common-sense genealogy truths.
