Before Google … City Directories

Remember the Yellow Pages—those hefty dictionaries of domiciles and dwellers, delivered to your front porch? With the rise of Google and other Internet sites, printed phone directories have become a memory for most of us, as it’s faster and easier to find addresses and phone numbers on your phone, tablet, or laptop. So let’s turn the clock back a bit....

Inside the Guide: Free Charts

Free is good, when it comes to charts that can help you display your family history research. The Family History Guide has no shortage of links to some great forms you can use. Let’s take a look at what’s available for free pedigrees, fan charts, and more. TreeSeek.com In Project 1 of The Family History Guide, Goal 12 has a...

Remembering Memories

Editor’s Note: Thanks to Peter Thorne, a missionary at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and long-time journalist, for sharing this article with us. Stories are a window into our lives. They are your personal soap opera. They tell us about the why of our lives, our feelings and emotions. Stories provide an opportunity to put some humanity...

What Matters Most

  Mitchell’s Journey is a tender, heartbreaking, inspiring story about an incredible young boy who was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy at an early age, and eventually died from the disease. His father, Christopher M. Jones established a Facebook page to chronicle his son’s journey and continues to post photos, essays, and videos about Mitchell’s story. His personal reflections on...

Inside the Guide: Using Newspapers for Family History Research

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! If you looked through old newspapers, you would find startling headlines, amusing anecdotes, and a glimpse of everyday life for the people who lived in the particular place and time period. Old newspapers are not just full of stories about abstract people and events; they are also a valuable genealogical tool that you can use...

What’s New in The Family History Guide – July 2018

On July 6, we presented a BYU Webinar: “What’s New in The Family History Guide – July 2018”. We present these “What’s New” webinars every three to four months, to keep everyone up-to-date with the latest developments in The Family History Guide. The webinar goes through a list of 20 additions and updates made to the website over the last...

Introducing the Show-Me Videos

We’ve been planning it for a while, and now we’re proud to announce the first in a series of new videos for The Family History Guide: the Show-Me videos. Their purpose is to give you a test drive of some of the cool features you’ll find on the website. About Before we introduce the first video, here are a few...

Inside the Guide: Tips for Basic Danish Research

My paternal grandfather crossed the ocean from Copenhagen, Denmark to North America with his family when he was only two years old. Family tradition states that he got so sick on the voyage, that the crew thought they should just throw him overboard to the fishes. While I am eternally grateful that didn’t happen, I’ve considered doing the same thing...

Late Bloomers

A while back, I delivered a keynote address on The Family History Guide at the Pikes Peak Family History Fair in Colorado. It was well-received, and there were numerous FamilySearch volunteers there to help everything run smoothly. Two experiences I had there are still fresh in my mind, having made a lasting impression on me – both having to do...

The Human Knot

You may be familiar with the lively, entertaining, interactive activity The Human Knot. The instructions are simple: Gather as a family or group and stand in a cluster. Grab each other’s hands then try to untangle yourselves into a continuous circle without letting go of each other’s hands! What implications for family history can be found in this activity, and how...