Category: Research

Remembering Our Military Ancestors

On Veterans Day we remember those who have served in the United States armed forces, and many of us have ancestors who served in some capacity in the military. The Family History Guide has a wealth of resources to help you trace your ancestry in the military, including links to records, articles, videos, and databases. Here’s a quick summary of...

Discovering Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness

Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness sounds like a good idea—and it is. It’s actually a free website at RAOGK.org. As the name implies, it’s all about offering services to those doing genealogy research. Let’s take a look at what this amazing website has to offer, using the tabs at the top of the home page: Volunteer Directory: You can enter...

What’s In a Name?

How much do you know about your name, first or last? The Family History Guide has a wealth of information that can help you understand the origins and meanings of names, whether for you or for your ancestors. Here’s a quick list of resources and links found in The Family History Guide that can help you get started with understanding...

Free Genealogy Websites – and The Family History Guide

We like to spread the word that The Family History Guide is an industry-leading website for research—and it’s free. But it’s even better when others help us get our message out, and that’s certainly the case with this recent FamilySearch blog article by genealogy experts Kathryn Grant and Sally Odekirk: Free Genealogy Websites to Elevate Your Research. The article begins...

Becoming a Patient Genealogist

As the well-known saying goes, “Patience is a virtue”—and that is certainly true in genealogy research. But is patience in genealogy only about enduring pain? If so, that would explain why a lot of people decide not to test the family history waters. Indeed, the Merriam-Webster dictionary definitions of “patient” seem to prominently highlight the “pain” concept: bearing pains or...

Take a Look at FamilySearch Labs

Note: This article appeared previously in the Genealogy’s Star blog site.   https://www.familysearch.org/en/labs/The current experiments in FamilySearch Labs include: Merge Analysis View: Understand the nuances of a merge from a tree person’s change log. Expand your search with Full Text: Unlock hidden discoveries in historical records that have never been searchable until now. Family Group Trees: Gather your family into...

Tracing Your Ancestors in Colonial America

Note: This article was published previously on The Family History Guide blog site in July 2023. As we just celebrated Independence Day in the United States, let’s remember our ancestors who lived in British Colonial America (what the United States used to be). There are some helpful resources in The Family History Guide to get you started or help you...

10 Genealogy YouTube Channels You Shouldn’t Miss

One of the most enjoyable ways to learn about family history might be YouTube videos. However, some videos on YouTube are not always easy to follow, or they may contain misleading content. Quality matters, and there are quite a number of videos produced by expert individuals and organizations that can lead you through a successful learning experience. Below are 10...

Juneteenth Is Coming

“Juneteenth” will be celebrated on June 19 this year. Here’s a helpful introduction to this American national holiday, from Wikipedia: “Juneteenth, officially Juneteenth National Independence Day, is a federal holiday in the United States. It is celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the ending of slavery in the United States. The holiday’s name is a portmanteau of the words “June” and “nineteenth”, as it was on June 19,...

The Accuracy of Inherited Genealogy

Note: This article appeared previously on the Genealogy’s Star blog site.   Many genealogists “inherited” their interest in genealogy from a relative: parent, a grandparent, or some other relation. I became interested in genealogy in a different way, but I still inherited a lot of documents and information from two great-grandmothers. One of my great-grandmother published an almost 700 page...