Back when I started my genealogy research in the late 1980s, there was no social media to speak of. Heck, there was barely internet access! So during the formative phase of my research, when I
Make Instant Discoveries About Your Ancestors Here By Jodi Bash Have you ever taken a really long road trip? The kind that takes days to get where you’re going? It’s not as common anymore with cheap, safe air travel. I love the road trip personally – no time constraints, no restrictions on shampoo bottle size, … Google Maps Will Help You Learn More About Your Ancestors Read More »
Investigating stories of family ghosts not only helps reveal the mysteries of our past, but can serve as a connection to our ancestors.
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. 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.
I came across this neat graphic on the Got Genealogy? FB page. A simple summary of some “Golden Rules of Genealogy.” I love #1 – Speling Dusn’t Cownt. How many times have I talked with people who really get hung up on spelling. Typically, that changes once I show them how many ways I found their ancestors name or place of residence listed! Which is your favorite rule? What rule(s) would you add? Editor’s Note: the graphic contains a statement “You have our permission to use/publish these Golden Rules as much as you like. Just give us credit for them, okay?” GotGenealogy.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ copyright © National Genealogical Society, 3108 Columbia Pike, Suite 300, Arlington, Virginia 22204-4370. http://www.ngsgenealogy.org. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Want to learn more about interacting with the blog, please read Hyperlinks, Subscribing and Comments -- How to Interact with Upfront with NGS Blog posts! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Republication of UpFront articles is permitted and encouraged for non-commercial purposes without express permission from NGS. Please drop us a note telling us where and when you are using the article. Express written permission is required if you wish to republish UpFront articles for commercial purposes. You may send a request for express written permission to [email protected]. All republished articles may not be edited or reworded and must contain the copyright statement found at the bottom of each UpFront article. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Follow NGS via Facebook, YouTube, Google+, Twitter ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to [email protected]
Genealogy research logs are essential to keeping your genealogy organized. They help make sure you maximize your research time and don’t duplicate the work you’ve already done.
Google is an integral part of modem genealogical research, from Search to Keep to PhotoScan. But there's one research tool, Explore, that gets missed all too often because it is hidden inside of Google's well-known word processing tool.
Despite how valuable census records have become to family history researchers, they were not created for this purpose. For this reason we need to understand everything we can about this go-to resource if we are to walk away with the most accurate data available. Here are 9 census facts that may surprise you.
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.
Plan your genealogy research with ease with locality guides. Get to know the record collections in an area and the factors that shaped your ancestors’ lives.
Are you struggling to make sense of confusing DNA results? Or perhaps trying to figure out which test is the most accurate? Here's what you need to know.
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.
Finding out about your family’s history can be an exciting endeavor. Keeping track of all the information and placing it all into some kind of organized fashion however, can be quite a task. There are so many Genealogy websites, software programs and ways to store your findings that it can become overwhelming. It is sometimes hard to determine what should be included in your Family Tree and what isn’t necessary...
WorldCat can be a valuable tool in your genealogy research. Discover how to use WorldCat to find family histories and other genealogy resources.
Beating your head against a wall trying to find missing information about your mysterious ancestor? It's time to get a fresh perspective and try some new tactics. Have you done everything on this list?
It’s every family historian’s dream to devote all of our waking hours to genealogy. Unfortunately, many of us don’t have the luxury of unlimited time - work, family, school, and other obligations often leave little room for hobbies.
Are you struggling to make sense of confusing DNA results? Or perhaps trying to figure out which test is the most accurate? Here's what you need to know.
Vital Records from Pommern, Petersen Researching Preußen, Pommern, Ancestors - Germany The hardest part of researching Pomeranian anc...
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.” 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.”
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.
Three years ago today, I was diagnosed with cancer. And I only found out at that point because of genealogy. (Details about how that happened are here.) But in retrospect, I could have identified that something was up in my family by looking at death and other records I'd been amassing for years. (And it looks like the family knew something was up years ago, even before genetics' tie to cancer was discovered; a 1955 relative's obituary requested that donations be made to the family's cancer fund.) When you collect those names and dates to populate your family tree, you're also collecting your family's medical history. Look at causes of deaths on death certificates and mentions of places for donations to be given in obituaries. Is there a pattern down one line of your family? Medical Genealogy (no, this isn't my family) It's not just cancer. Heart disease can run in families. So can strokes and aneurysms. Look at your family history. Talk to your doctor. Visit a genetic counselor. You could save your life and give important information to other family members. But with respect to cancer, 1/40 Ashkenazic Jews and a similar number of Sephardic Jews have a BRCA mutation, as do 1/400 of the general population; these mutations can come through either your maternal or paternal side. There are other familial cancer syndromes as well. (A recent study shows the importance of testing for at least the 3 Ashkenazic BRCA founder mutations regardless of family history; details here.) There are people who say that they don't want to know. Your genes are part of you (in fact, they make you you)--whether you know it or not. So why not have that knowledge to be able to act on it to be able to either prevent diseases or catch them earlier than you would have otherwise? Or on the positive side, you could discover that your family's predisposition to a particular disease wasn't passed down to you. I think my story shows that knowledge truly is power. So if you want to give me a cancerversary present (and you know you do), look at your family medical history and act on it. Note: I'm on Twitter. Follow me (@larasgenealogy). Want to get future blog posts emailed to you automatically? Enter your email address:
Your genealogy research is not complete without looking at non-population schedules of the U.S. census which adds context to their lives beyond names and dates.
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 »
Ancestry.com is famous for its hints - those little green leaves in your family tree. But they're not the only site that offers them.
Start with you to build a strong family history foundation, whether you are just starting out or embarking on a genealogy do-over.
This guide provides insight into the 23andMe Ancestry Composition Tools, and how to use your ethnicity estimate results to aid in genealogical research.
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. 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.
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 ...
Visit the post for more.
It is the best way, hands down, to immediately increase the number of relevant records you discover about your ancestors.
Timelines can be among the most eye-opening tools we have at our disposal as family historians and, yet, they are often forgotten.
Yes, free genealogy sites do exist. Here's how to avoid spending money on ancestry research without limiting your tree.
Thanks to UK’s Family Tree magazine and Scottish genealogist, Chris Paton, we have a short five question genealogy survey for you. So now is your chance to voice how you feel about the family history scene as it is now. And answer questions like: How healthy is the family history world, what activities, products, events, […]
Are you struggling to make sense of confusing DNA results? Or perhaps trying to figure out which test is the most accurate? Here's what you need to know.
Genealogy organization. How important is it? If you're trying to build an accurate family tree, the simple answer is very. No matter what stage of the journey you find yourself in, chances are you need a reliable and accessible way to organize your research.
We share six things you need to know about the recent AncestryDNA update to get the most out of the new tools for learning more about your ancestors.
If you have been working on your family history for years and have never gone back over all of the documents you have accumulated, you are probably stalling your research progress. But, it’s never too late to blow off all the dust, open that squeaky file cabinet drawer and make sure you are getting all you can out of your records.
Have you ever heard of foot shape genealogy? It is a concept out of the 19th century that still has some adherents today. It is based on the belief that the shape of your foot can tell you one of five ancient ethnic groups to which your ancestors belonged. Here is what you need to know about it.
UPDATE: I no longer recommend testing at AncestryDNA. Currently, there are severe limitations to the tools they offer and your options ...
Have you been wondering what you should buy for the family historian on your list this year? We’ve gathered some of the most secretly wished-for genealogy gifts - plus some surprises your roots researcher may not even know she or he wants.
Image from Microsoft Clip Art Recently, Ancestry released a database titled "Michigan Divorce Records, 1897-1952" .(Images are only av...
