If you would like to print or publish items from Tip of the Day, such as in a newsletter, email, bulletin, or on social media, please follow these guidelines:
2022-12-20 Exploring UK Birth, Marriage, and Death Records: For those doing research in the United Kingdom, there is an abundance of free birth, marriage, and death (BMD) records available online. The UK BMD site has links to BMD records by county and parish, as well as census records and other tools for finding British ancestors. To learn more about vital records in the UK, see Goal 2 in the England page, or corresponding Goals in the Scotland and Wales pages.
2024-12-19 Exploring the Danish Family Search Site: Danish Family Search is not part of FamilySearch.org, but it has some great resources for church and census records. On the home page you'll see a map of counties and a table that helps you drill down to parishes, churchbooks and pages, and censuses for 1787 and 1930. There are also links for finding streets and places, school records, and military rolls. To learn more about research in Denmark, see Goal 1 in the Denmark country page.
2024-12-18 Handling Inherited Genealogy: So what's in that box of genealogy items you just got from Aunt Clara—and how much of it should you keep? Genealogist and blogger Aimee Cross shares a helpful YouTube video that helps you evaluate photographs, charts, original records, and family letters for vital information. The video also share tips for organizing papers and deciding what to keep, share, or toss. Learn more about inherited genealogies in Goal 3 of Project 4: Discover.
2024-12-17 Exploring Church Records in Germany: One of the best resources for tracing ancestors in Germany is church records. This MyHeritage Wiki article describes the various types of records, including baptismal, marriage, death, and registries, and the kinds of information they contain. It also provides some history and background on church records in Germany and how to find and access the records. To learn more, check out Goal 3 in the Germany page.
2024-12-16 Tips for Searching the SSDI: The United States SSDI (Social Security Death Index) is a great resource for finding information on ancestors who died after 1962. In her article Searching the Social Security Death Index, author Kimberly Powell discusses the search fields you can use, how to improve searches in the SSDI, and more. For additional information on using the SSDI in your research, see Goal B5 in the United States page.
2024-12-13 Deciphering Old Genealogical Documents: Working with old documents can be fascinating and frustrating at the same time. How do you make sense of handwriting from another age? This Family History Daily article provides some welcome aid, as it discusses abbreviations in old documents, handwriting styles, and where to find additional tips. Check out Goal 5 in Project 5: Indexing for more strategies and techniques for working with old or difficult handwriting.
2024-12-12 Inferential Genealogy: As this FamilySearch Wiki article states, inferential genealogy is "The process of piecing together documents to make conclusions about relationships and identities that no record tells you all by itself." The article covers five key steps in the inferential genealogy process, with a link to a class outline for more information on solving your genealogical puzzles. See also Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-12-10 20 Essential Record Types: When you're searching for facts about your ancestors, what types of records should you rely on? The Genealogy Record Types article gives clear definitions for 20 important types of records, from birth records to maps and more, along with explanations of how each record can aid in your research. For additional info on record types and how to use them, check out Goal A1 in the United States page.
2024-12-09 Finding Land Records on the BLM Site: Land and property records can tell you quite a bit about your ancestors, and they were often available even before vital records were recorded. A great place to explore U.S. land records is on the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) site. There you can search for land records by state, county, name of owner, township, and more. You can also explore land surveys and tract books for genealogy info, or search by location. See also Goal F2 in the United States page.
2024-12-06 Finding the Pastors and Ministers in Your Tree: Church activity was an essential part of life in early America, across many denominations and neighborhoods, and pastors and ministers kept things rolling along. Our Family Tree is a website with over 400,000 pastor and minister records, including links to churches where the leaders served and their biographical info on the Internet Archive. To learn more about church records for research, see Goal F1 in the United States page.
2024-12-05 Tips for More Effective Searches: Whether you're searching large or small genealogy sites for ancestors, sometimes it's tough to find the information you need that's "hiding" out there. This Family History Daily article provides six practical tips for doing genealogical searches, such as focusing on single pieces of information, and using Boolean operators in search fields. For more ideas on doing effective online searches, check out Goal 4 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-12-04 Finding Canadian Military Resources: If you have an ancestor who may have served in Canada's military, the CanGenealogy site is definitely worth checking out. The military page has links to over 30 interesting dabases and sites, covering general military topics, World Wars I and II, and other conflicts involving Canada. To learn more about Canadian military resources and records, see Goal 7 in the Canada page.
2024-12-03 Using the "No Name" Search: So you have a record for an ancestor, and you'd like to find additional records for that person, but online searches are not yielding results. It may be time to explore the "no name" search, where you focus on other information besides the ancestor name, to widen the search net. This Family History Daily article explains the steps to follow to get the results you need. For more tips on effective search techniques, see Goal 6 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-12-02 County Research at Your Fingertips: Looking for U.S. county records and resources? The state pages in The Family History Guide make it easy, with links at the bottom of the page for great resources from FamilySearch, Ancestry, Linkpendium, Genealogy Inc., US Genweb, and Genealogy Trails (here's the Florida counties section). Each of these sites brings its unique research focus into play. The Linkpendium site also has a "Jump To" feature on the right side of each of its state pages, where you can type the name of a county and immediately get to its resource list.
2024-11-29 How Immigration Affected Surnames: One of the challenging aspects of tracing immigrant ancestors is dealing with name changes in the United States. According to this Family Education article, name changes occurred for a variety of reasons, including a wish to sound "American," using occupational names, dropping certain letters from the original language, etc. Learn more about names and U.S. immigration in Goal D1 of the United States page.
2024-11-28 Happy Thanksgiving!: The Management Team of The Family History Guide Association extends its warmest wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving Day. We are grateful for all you do to support the great work of family histgory in connecting our generations. May your efforts continue to be blessed!
2024-11-27 Duplicates and Merges in FamilySearch: One of the challenges of FamilySearch's shared tree is that duplicate people are sometimes added. This video by Kathryn Grant walks you through causes of duplicates, how to do proper merges of person records, how to analyze the Change Log for evidence, and more. For details on duplicate records and the merge process, see Goal 11 in FamilySearch Project 1. Choice A has background info on duplicates, and Choice B goes into depth with merges, including the new Merge Analysis tool from FamilySearch.
2024-11-26 A Guide to Probate Records: Probate records are created after an individual's death and may contain information you wouldn't find anywhere else. This Research Guide by Ancestry mentions 11 types of probate records and describes the information you're likely to see. For example, inventories give you a detailed look into an ancestor's life, and guardianships can unlock clues for widows, orphans, and children's ages. See Goal F2 in the United States page for more about probate records.
2024-11-25 Exploring Irish Passenger Lists: It's well-known that tracing Irish ancestry can be a challenge at times. Finding your ancestor in a passenger list can certainly help, and this John Grenham database is a great place to start. You can search by ship name, place of origin, destination, year of voyage, or name, and you'll find the name, age, county or town of origin in Ireland, and occupation for passengers. Voyages range from 1767 to 1930. Learn more about Irish emigration resources in Goal 6 of the Ireland country page.
2024-11-22 English Nonconformist Records: "In English history, nonconformist were Protestants who did not conform to the governance and usages of the established Church of England." (Wikipedia). Denominations include Baptist, Congregational, Methodist, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Society of Friends (Quakers), Unitarian, and others. The Family History Guide has links to help you with nonconformist research in England, as well as in most of the individual counties (see Goal 4 in each corresponding county page).
2024-11-21 Just the Facts ...: Sometimes sources are hard to come by for an ancestor, but another challenge could be sifting through a seeming mountain of source information. In that case, focusing on the facts you need to find can unlock progress and save research time, according to this Genealogy.com article. This includes knowing what types of records may include the information you're after, and understanding when a certain record type might not be available for the person you're researching. For more about working with record types, see Goal A1 of the United States page.
2024-11-20 Finding Ancestor Addresses: Finding the specific location where an ancestor lived can make the difference between identifying the right family and going off on a wild goose chase, per James Tanner's Finding an Ancestor's Address. For the past 100 years or so, you can simply look up the ancestor in a directory. Other record types with ancestor addresses: Employment, Military, Land and Title, Tax, Court, Legal Notices, Immigration, Institutional, Cemetery, Mortuary, Probate, Census, Vital, School, and Church. See also Goal A2 of the United States page.
2024-11-19 Following the Herd: When genealogy information is published in a book or in an online tree, we often assume it must be correct, and we spread the information. Stop Following the Herd! provides an excellent case study of how the author found a case of mistaken identity on one of his FamilySearch lines and how he verified the correct ancestor with help from census, marriage, and naturalization records. To learn more about verifying information in sources, see Goal 8 in Project 1: Family Tree.
2024-11-18 Organizing Your Digital Files: Over time you may have collected hundreds or thousands of digital files for your genealogy. How easily can you find and identify them? The 6 Tips for Organizing Your Digital Genealogy Files article from Family Tree Magazine offers strategies for naming your files, organizing them in folders, adding visual tags and metadata to files, and more, to help you save time and effort in managing your files. For additional tips on organizing your genealogy, check out Goal 1 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-11-15 Analyzing Old Obituaries: As a researcher, finding an obituary that mentions your ancestor is a great thing. The next step is to analyze it, checking for facts and looking for historical clues. As explained in this blog post by Heritage Discovered obituaries can provide a wide range of ancestor information. The article walks you through how to pick apart each data point in the obituary and look for additional sources to verify what you've found. Learn more about researching obituaries in Goal B5 of the United States page.
2024-11-14 Records at the County Level: Besides your basic vital records, what other types of records are available to access in U.S. counties? This FamilyEducation article describes an interesting variety of county records, with tips on how to use them effectively. They include records for guardianships, apprentices, taxes, voting, and more. See also the County and Town Resources section in Goal A2 of the United States page.
2024-11-12 What About the Orphans? If you have one or more orphans in your family tree, you may be looking at a potential brick wall in your research. Fortunately there is help available, such as this three-part video series from RootsTech. It covers a wide variety of topics for locating orphans and orphanages, including the records and strategies you need for success in your searches. To learn more about researching orphans, see Goal F7 in the United States page.
2024-11-11 Looking Up Military Ancestors: Military records can be a great source for research, providing residence locations, birth information for soldiers, family relationships, and more. This Family History Daily article explains key record resources such as bounty land warrants, pensions, compiled service records, etc., and offers tips and timelines for finding records based on the wars that were fought. To learn more about military records for research, see Goal E1 in the United States page.
2024-11-08 What's in a Death Certificate?: There may be more genealogical information in a death certificate than you realize, and the types of information may vary according to the decade or U.S. location. Check out 27 Key Facts to Extract from a Death Certificate for an in-depth look at what you'll find, along with comparisons between certificates from New York and Ohio. For more information on using death certificates in your research, see Goal B5 in the United States page.
2024-11-07 Evaluating Your Sources:
Are you stuck at an ancestor brick wall in your research? It may be time to evaluate the sources you have for that line. As explained in this Heritage Discovered article, it helps to know the three types of sources and the three types of genealogy information that are commonly used in research. Then you can evaluate your ancestor sources for strengths and weaknesses. For more tips on working with sources, see Goal 8 in Project 1: Family Tree.
2024-11-06 Exploring Other U.S. Records:
Beyond the staples, such as census, vital, military, and cemetery records, what other United States records are waiting to be discovered in your research? This Quick Research Basics video by James Tanner explores records for orphanages, schools, and businesses, and how they can provide additional clues for your ancestors' lives. Learn more about these interesting and useful records in Goal F7 of the United States page.
2024-11-05 From To-Do Lists to Time Blocks: At one time or another, most of us have probably made a genealogy to-do list. But how do we channel the list into time spent productively? This article from Heritage Discovered has some great ideas for doing just that, including organization tips, sample mini-projects, and tools for tracking genealogy tasks. For additional resources on using to-do lists and checklists in genealogy, see Goal 1 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-11-04 A Treasure Trove of Maps for Research: We recently added links to maps from the 1900 Collection. The collection features over 3,500 maps around the world that were created in the early 1900's, a vital time in the creation and revision of many countries, especially in Europe. The site also includes maps from former republics, such as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the German Empire, etc. See also the Maps and Gazetteers Goals in many of the country pages in The Family History Guide.
2024-11-01 Discovering the Digital Public Library of America: Looking for a free online site that joins resources from libraries and archives across the United States? The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) may be just what you need, according to this article from Family History Daily. You'll get an overview of what's available on the site, as well as examples of a variety of family history records found in the DPLA. To learn more about research with archives and libraries, see Goal F5 in the United States page.
2024-10-31 The Value of Cemetery Records: As pointed out in this Ancestry article, cemetery records can provide clues about ancestors that would be difficult to find anywhere else, such as children who died young, names of women not specified in census records, etc. The article also describes a wide variety of records, including church burial registers, sexton's records, plat records, and more. To learn more, see Goal B6 in the United States page or the Church and Cemeteries Goal in a country of interest.
2024-10-30 Exploring the Historic Map Works Site: Historical maps can help you pin down locations for your U.S. ancestors, and a great place to find free ones is HistoricMapWorks.com. There are maps and atlases for each of the 50 states, including county boundaries, townships with property owners, geographical features and more, with many search criteria available. For additional U.S. map resources, see Goal F2 in the United States page.
2024-10-29 Dealing with "Facts" in the U.S. Census: A temptation for many researchers is to take information in U.S. census records at face value, partly because that information is so plentiful and easy to find. This article by Family History Daily offers a detailed look at potential problems with information in census records, from the viewpoints of the informant and the enumerator. It also offers practical suggestions on how to verify census information about ancestors that may be in question. For more tips on using U.S. census records, check out Goal C1 in the United States page.
2024-10-28 Resolving Conflicts in Your Research: It's great to resolve conflicts within a family, and it's also great to resolve them in your family history research. Genealogist Alice Childs has a six-part series on Evidence Analysis, and the Part 5 article focuses on how to handle conflicting information in records in a case study. She discusses essential questions about the records and how to correlate the evidence. Learn more about handling conflicting information in Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-10-25 Hearth and Window Taxes in England: Tax records in England have gone through interesting phases, including hearth (fireplace) taxes from 1662 to 1689 that were collected twice a year, and window taxes from 1696 to 1851. You can find over 200,000 records online in the Hearth Tax Digital database, covering England and Wales, and you can search, sort and download information for people found in the database. For more about England tax records and how to use them in research, see Goal 5 in the England country page.
2024-10-17 On Vacation: The Tip of the Day is on vacation for a week. Look for more tips starting Friday, October 25. See you then!
2024-10-16 Are Most Genealogical Records Offline? Surprisingly the answer is yes, with some estimates up to 90%. So where are the records we can't see online, and why aren't they available? This article by Family History Daily sheds light on the topic, with tips on using the Archive Grid, planning visits to libraries and offices, and ordering forms and documents from agencies. To learn more about doing research in libraries and archives, check out Goal F5 in the United State page.
2024-10-15 Finding an Ancestor Whose Surname Changed: It's fairly common for an ancestor to switch a first and middle name, or decide to go by a nickname. But what about a wholesale change of surname? This blog article by Olive Tree Genealogy shows an example of how the author solved a brick wall problem of surname changes with multiple family members, in the time of the American Revolution. For more tips on searching for ancestor names, see Goal 6 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-10-14 Celebrating Our Indigenous People: Indigenous Peoples' Day is now being celebrated on the same day as Columbus Day in the United States, honoring the cultures and histories of Native Americans. The Family History Guide has an extensive section on Native American family history research, including tips on solidifying proof of Native American ancestry, finding information in the Dawes and Baker Rolls online, etc. Learn more in the Native American pages in the Ethnic research area.
2024-10-11 Locating Missing Marriage Info: When it's difficult or even impossible to find a marriage certificate for a certain ancestor, you still have options. According to Family History Daily there are five practical resources for locating missing marriage information: 1) recent census records; 2) probate records; 3) old newspapers; 4) city directories; and 5) service pension records. Learn more about using marriage records in Goal B4 of the United States page.
2024-10-10 Finding Ancestors with Few Records: What can you do when you have an ancestor who seems to have little or nothing recorded about his or her life? This article by Ancestral Findings provides some practical strategies, such as using family naming patterns, researching neighbors, and finding research clues in local newspapers. For more information on working with records, see the Record Information heading in Goal A1 of the United States page.
2024-10-09 Exploring the Timeline Grid: Using a timeline grid can be a great way to see how the pieces of your research fit together, as well as helping you with same-name and other family history challenges. The Timeline Grid: An Easy Way to Track, Organize, and Use Your Research by Kathryn Grant gets you started with the concepts you need to know. For more information on timelines, see Goal A4 in the United States page.
2024-10-08 Taking Notes - Do's and Don'ts: Taking research notes may seem to be a wide open and free-form activity, but there are actually guidelines about how to take effective notes. You'll find practical advice in this Ancestral Findings article, which explains why good notes are essential and how to avoid common mistakes that put your notes at risk for being misinterpreted. For more tips on creating effective notes for your research, check out Goal 1 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-10-07 Death Certificate Codes: Did you know that there are "secret codes" on many death certificates recorded in the United States? These codes link to a database for documented causes of death. This article by Family History Daily explains where to find them and how to look them up online. To learn more about using death certificates and other death records in your research, see Goal B5 in the United States page.
2024-10-04 Scottish Genealogy Sites: In The 10 Best (Mostly Free) Scottish Genealogy Sites for Finding Your Ancestors from FamilyHistoryDaily.com, you'll discover ten of the best Scottish genealogy websites, most of which are free. Making the list are gems such as the National Records of Scotland, ScotlandsPeople, National Archives of Scotland, GenUKI (Genealogy for the U.K. and Ireland) and more. Also explore the Goals in the Scotland country page of The Family History Guide for more tips on Scottish research and resources.
2024-10-03 Finding Your Roots in Sweden: Unlike some countries, Sweden has a vast amount of genealogical records available. Finding Your Swedish Ancestral Roots provides a good background on Swedish names and research strategies, while Finding Your Swedish Roots covers the go-to online record resources for Swedish research. Both these articles are from Price Genealogy, an expert research company. For more tips on Swedish genealogy research, see Goal 1 in the Sweden page.
2024-10-02 Location, Location, Location: Working with U.S. census records from 1900-1930 on Ancestry can yield some good results, but it's helpful to know the role that locations play in your search results. This two-minute Ancestry Academy video walks you through using census records and how to effectively use locations in your ancestor searches, especially with the census. For more tips on using the U.S. census in your research, check out Goal C1 in the United States page.
2024-10-01 Finding Clues in Ship Manifests: As you search for information about your immigrant ancestors, ship manifests and passenger lists can be a great resource. This article from Fortify Your Family Tree outlines six key genealogical facts that were included in the manifests of most immigrant ships. To learn more about passenger lists and how they can help you in your research, see Goal D2 in the United States page.
2024-09-30 Research in the Upper South: If you have ancestors from the "Upper South" (Virginia and the Carolinas, plus Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia), research help is on the way. This article from Price Genealogy has some excellent tips to get you started, from history to record sources and what to do about missing records from burned courthouses. To learn more about research in the Upper South (Mid-Atlantic states), see Goal A3 in the United States page.
2024-09-27 Organizing and Preserving Your Photos: As we do family history, many of us end up with small or large collections of photo prints. Knowing how to organize, use, and protect these photos can ensure they become viable family history assets, instead of being neglected, damaged, or discarded. In this article photo expert Maureen Taylor shares eight handy tips for getting the most from your photo collection, including clues for opening up research on what they contain. See also Goal 1 in Project 2: Memories.
2024-09-26 A Case for Curiousity: As one saying goes, "Necessity is the mother of invention." A companion saying would be, "Curiosity is the father of discovery." As expert researcher Gena Ortega points out in this article, curiosity can prompt the questions that help you open doors in your research. The article also shares five activities to help you develop curiosity in your own genealogy. Learn more about asking research questions in Goal 2 of Project 4: Discover.
2024-09-25 That Can't Be True ... Can it? As I browsed a record in the 1850 U.S. census for an ancestor who had immigrated from Norway, I was shocked to see that the census taker had listed his current residence as ... Norway! That had to be a mistake, right? As I glanced down the page, it became clear that the record was correct, although it was certainly misleading: the ancestor's current residence was a town called Norway, in Racine County, Wisconsin. Sometimes genealogy truth is strange! See more census tips in Goal C1 of the United States page.
2024-09-24 It's a Plan! Researching your ancestors can sometimes be like opening a firehose of information. How do you create a project plan to keep your research on track? "4 Simple Family History Project Steps" is a great place to learn about getting started with project planning and checklists. For example, Step 1 in the article includes a useful example of a timeline checklist that can serve as a flexible project plan. Learn more about lists and project planning in Goal 1 of Project 4: Discover.
2024-09-18 On Vacation: The Tip of the Day is on vacation until September 25. See you then for more genealogy tips!
2024-09-17 Seeing Patterns in Your Past: Genealogy is really all about patterns. Researching the historical, cultural, social, religious, and occupational background of your families helps you recognize these patterns. Looking at a family as merely a biological unit is like looking at the world in black and white rather than color. Instead of only looking for "standard" genealogical records, also learn about the history, geography, and culture of the places where your ancestors lived to begin seeing the patterns of how and where your ancestors lived. See also Pattern Recognition as a Goal in Genealogy by James Tanner.
2024-09-16 Online Tracker Sheets: Now you can track your learning progress in The Family History Guide by using Online Tracker Sheets, a Google Sheets alternative to the Online Tracker database. There are Sheets for tracking progress in FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, and Findmypast, as well as sheets that have tabs for many of the countries pages, with links for Practice Exercises, Class Outlines, and more. Learn how to download and customize these sheets in the Sheets page in the Tools menu.
2024-09-13 City Directory Abbreviations: Using city directories online can be a great way to track your ancestors' whereabouts. However, sometimes you may run into some puzzling abbreviations on the pages. Fortunately, this article from GenealogyInTime has a solid list of descriptions to help out, along with links to abbreviations for first names and occupations. See Goal A2 in the United States page for more information on using city directories.
2024-09-12 AI Strengths and Weaknesses: Artificial intelligence has tremendous potential as a genealogy tool, but it still has a fair number of limitations, as this Family History Daily article points out. For example, AI can find and analyze family history data that may be buried inside PDFs, text files. amd images, but it sometimes offers anwers to questions without providing sources. For more on using AI in family history, see Goal 8 in Project 7: Technology.
2024-09-11 Getting Started with Irish Research: As you begin research for your Irish ancestors, you'll need to know about the history, geography, religions, and languages of the country— and where to find the records. This MyHeritage Wiki article provides a good overview of these topics and points to key records and resources for your research. To go further into researching Irish ancestors, check out the Ireland country page in The Family History Guide.
2024-09-10 TreeFind and The Family History Guide: TreeFind is a handy tool from the BYU Family History Technology Labs that helps you explore FamilySearch Family Tree. You can run customized searches for ancestors, such as those with data problems, duplicates, end-of-line ancestors, or even ancestors who lived during the Revolutionary War, and much more. The Family History Guide has a page for Tree Find: you can see its link in the FamilySearch menu, under Project 4: Discover. Check it out!
2024-09-09 Telling Your Ancestors' Stories: If research is the first part of genealogy, the second part is sharing the stories of your ancestors' lives, with details that will engage your readers. If you could use some help with that effort, here are two articles to get you started: 3 Tips to Make You a Great Storyteller and 7 Fantastic Storytelling Tools and Apps. To learn more about building and telling stories for your ancestors, check out Goal 8 in Project 2: Memories.
2024-09-06 Getting the Help You Need: In 1966 Neil Diamond had a hit song "Solitary Man." Although genealogy may seem like a solitary pursuit, there is actually plenty of help available for research. Genealogical societies, Facebook groups, family history centers, and online communities have volunteers who are ready and able to collaborate with you on your research goals. To get started with getting help, see FamilySearch Project 6, or Project 5 for Ancestry, or similar projects for MyHeritage and Findmypast.
2024-09-05 Arkivalieronline—One-Stop Danish Research: If you have Danish ancestors, you really shouldn't miss the Arkivalieronine site. Get started with this FamilySearch Wiki article and then check out records for church, census, military, probate, and more on the Arkivalieronine site. Tip: You can use Google Translate to convert the site pages to English. See the Denmark country page for more resources to use in your Danish research.
2024-09-04 Cracking the Codes in the U.S. Census: Did you know that U.S. census records from 1930, 1940, and 1950 have two-character codes that were added long after the actual enumeration? Stephen Morse's One-Step page for census codes helps you decipher these codes for interpreting occupations, housing, languages, and more. For more tips on using United States census records in your research, check out Goal C1 in the United States page.
2024-09-03 Getting to Know GenGuide: Once in a while you'll find an amazing site (we think The Family History Guide is one :-) that's free, easy to use, and has extensive resources and links. For UK, Canadian, and Irish research, check out the GenGuide website. For example, you might think Baptist Registers and Records would be a fairly narrow topic for research—until you see the wealth of resources on the GenGuide page.
2024-09-02 On Vacation: The Tip of the Day is on vacation today (Labor Day in the U.S.). See you tomorrow with more tips!
2024-08-30 German Archives and Libraries: If you are researching ancestors in Germany, you'll find a lot of useful information in online archives and libraries. In his video Intro to German Archives, Miles Meyer reviews top archive resources for German research and how to find and use them, with practical examples from his own findings included. In The Family History Guide, check out Goal 2 in the Germany country page for more tips on libraries and archives.
2024-08-29 Old News is Good News: If you have access to a MyHeritage account, there is a treat in store. You also get free access to OldNews.com, a newspaper archive that covers many countries around the world, such as the U.S., Canada, Austria, Spain, Czechia, Scandinavia, Germany, New Zealand, and more. For additional tips on newspaper research, check out Goal F4 in the United States page, or the Goal for newspaper research in a country page of interest.
2024-08-28 What's Next? Ten Ideas to Keep You Going: Has your family history momentum stalled? Or do you sometimes feel like you need a need a change of pace with your routine? Here is a great list of ten things you can do to jump-start your efforts, courtesy of GenealogyAtHeart. The ideas include planning for the future in your research, identifying areas of growth and learning, reaching out to others to discover missing pieces of information, and more. For more ideas on tasks and to-do lists, see Goal 1 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-08-27 Family History and the War of 1812: Even if you don't have a direct ancestor who served in the War of 1812, the chances are good that some family members may have been affected by the war. David Rencher, Chief Genealogy Officer for FamilySearch, explains why in this Ancestry Academy video. It's part of a collection of 12 brief videos that explore history, pension records, state militia records, and more. Learn more about research for the War of 1812 in Goal E2 in the United States page.
2024-08-26 The Stories Behind the Photographs: If a picture is worth a thousand words, there are lots of stories waiting to be told. This RootsTech article by Maureen Taylor shares tips and ideas for turning ancestor photos into engaging stories. You'll learn how to recognize stories behind photos, research clues, and timeframes, as well as find helpful writing tips to get you started with your storytelling. For more ideas on telling ancestor stories, check out Goal 8 in Project 2: Memories.
2024-08-23 Exploring the Vault: Looking for a deeper dive into your favorite genealogy topic? In the Vault section, you can find links to extra articles and videos - over 2,300 in all - that aren't included in the main part of The Family History Guide. For convenience, the "Main" links in the Vault take you to the main part of the website for related articles. There is also a 5-Minute Features video at the top of the page that gives a good overview of using the Vault.
2024-08-22 Finding Your Ancestors' Cemeteries: With thousands of ancestors in your family tree, that adds up to a lot of final resting places in cemeteries. The FamilySearch Cemetery Sites feature brings it all together for you, with maps, search bars, and cemetery information for your ancestors. This blog article gets you started and provides helpful tips on cemetery research. For more tools and suggestions, check out Goal B6 in the United States page.
2024-08-21 Finding Business Records: Business records are not usually thought of as genealogy records, but they can be quite useful. Here are three basic ways to track business records for your ancestors: 1) Newspaper articles about business activities; 2) City and phone directories that list your ancestor's business; and 3) Professional or trade organizations that publish journals or newsletters. Learn more in the U.S. Research Knowledgebase and in Goal F7 of the United States page.
2024-08-20 Easier Google Searches:
You may be doing Google searches for ancestor information, using extra search parameters to narrow down the results. But remembering all those parameters and how to use them can be a bit of a pain. That's where the AncestorSearch tool from Randy Majors comes in handy. It lets you enter your search terms in a convenient on-screen form, rather than strung out on a command line, and there is an option to look only for recently updated pages. To learn more, check out AncestorSearch on the RandyMajors.com site.
2024-08-19 Genealogy on Facebook: For years, Katherine Willson offered a "Genealogy of Facebook" list of hundreds of Facebook sites dedicated to helping researchers. That information is now available on the Cyndi's List site, with categories that include geographical areas, groups for beginners, education, oral history, photographs & memories, and more. You can find additional Facebook resources for genealogy in Goal F6 of the United States page.
2024-08-16 What's Your Plan? You wouldn't think of building your dream home with a random pile of bricks, windows, and 2x4 pieces. But as this article from Legacy Tree points out, that's similar to building a family tree without a solid plan. The article shares five important steps for developing your own genealogy plan, to help you get effective outcomes instead of random results. Learn more about research plans for genealogy in Goal 3 of Project 4: Discover.
2024-08-15 To Go Back, Sometimes You Go Forward: When you hit a brick wall in your research, pounding away in the same direction might not be helpful. Instead, you may need to reverse course and look at more recent records, as explained in this Legacy Tree case study. In the example, the author was able to find clues in a son's birth record that led to finding the missing parents for the end-of-line ancestor. To learn more about solving brick walls in research, see Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-08-14 It's in Your Court: Sometimes we think of court records as lawsuits and criminal cases—and that's pretty much it. But as this MyHeritage blog article points out, there are many types of court records, including adoptions, divorce, name changes, guardianships, and more. In court records you can explore indexes, case files, witness lists, etc. to find research clues. Check out Goal F3 in the United States page to learn more about court records for research.
2024-08-13 Finding Offline Vital Records: Vital records are the backbone of your family tree, but it may surprise you to learn that the majority of vital records are still not online. In this Family History Daily article you'll discover where these offline records can be found and how to order them—in many cases for free—whether from private or government sources. Learn more about using vital record in your research in Goal B1 of the United States page.
2024-08-12 Three Things to Avoid in Your Research: Sometimes it's the subtle things that trip us up. In this well-crafted article, expert genealogist Amy Johnson Crow points out three common mistakes we make in research. What's especially interesting is that we are tempted to fall into these bad habits over and over again, as we extend our research and examine more records for ancestors. To learn more about common problems in research habits and how to avoid them, check out Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-08-09 Documents from the Living: At times we may be so focused on searching for online records that we overlook documents that our living relatives have and could share with us. Not sure which family history documents to ask for? Check out this extensive list from FamilySearch that covers everything from family bibles to fishing licenses, and wedding announcements to wills.
2024-08-08 Is That What It Means?: Some of the basic terms we use today for family relationships didn't always mean the same thing in years gone by. According to this brief article from Genealogy.com, older records may hold different meanings for "niece and nephew," "brother and sister," "junior and senior," and "in-laws." You can find out more about older medical terms, Latin terms, and name and word spellings in Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-07-30 Vacation Time: It's a vacation week ... see you with more family history tips starting August 8.
2024-07-29 Exploring Church Records in Italy: A great resource for tracing your Italian ancestors is church records. Finding Your Family in Italian Parish Records gets you started with understanding church records, and this RootsTech video provides a deeper look into research, including parish archives, record types, and a practical case study. To learn more about church research in Italy, check out Goal 4 in the Italy country page.
2024-07-26 Free U.S. Census Worksheets: To help you organize and your census research, you can download free worksheets (fillable PDFs) for each U.S. Census decade (1940 through 1790) as well as get helpful research tips for census records. For example, here is the 1940 U.S. Census worksheet from Archives.gov. In the United States country page, see the Census by Decades section and then look for the "Worksheets and Plans" item in each Choice.
2024-07-25 Exploring StreetViews: Looking for a fun and creative family history activity? On the Instant StreetViews site you can look up an address and see it in 3-D perspective, while the StreetViews.org site is a collection of many Google Street Views maps from around the world, many of which are not easily accessible by vehicle. Learn more about using Google Maps and tools for family history in Goal A2 of the United States page.
2024-07-24 Focusing Your Research:
How do you deal with genealogy information overload? Here are five tips to keep your research focused: 1) Focus on a short list of research objectives. 2) Spend time processing and evaluating the information you gather. 3) Don't get caught up in the details. 4) Don't limit your inquires unnecessarily. 5) Keep careful notes but attach the notes to specific individuals. Learn more in this article by James Tanner.
2024-07-23 Case Study: Brick Walls and DNA: It can be frustrating to encounter a dead end or "brick wall" in your family tree. This case study from the Genealogy Research Journal details an interesting story of how the author solved a 30-year brick wall of an ancestor in San Francisco in the early 1900's. Using Ancestry DNA test results, she contacted matches and combed through city directories to find a surprising conclusion. For more on solving brick wall puzzles, see Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-07-22 6 Questions to Ask about Records: The next time you are examining an ancestor's record, ask yourself these questions to help you come up with more research clues: 1) When and where was the record created? 2) Who created the record? 3) Why was the record created? 4) Who provided the information for the record? 5) How was the information recorded? 6) How was the record preserved? For additional practical tips on using records, see Goal A1 in the United States page.
2024-07-19 The Art of Taking Notes: What makes for a good genealogy note-taking system? That's a question that expert genealogist Amy Johnson Crow addresses in this blog article. She suggests a combined approach that handles notes and a research log, and she describes ways to stay organized with research notes that will help you save time and get better results. For more information on using notes and logs in your genealogy research, see Goal 1 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-07-18 Interviewing Seniors—Some Practical Tips: Doing interviews is great way to capture family history information, but interviewing those of advanced age, especially who have memory issues, can be a challenge. This 2019 RootsTech article shares 20 practical tips for how to begin, engage, and complete successful interviews with seniors who have a lot to share but may need help in retrieving and communicating what they know. You can find additional interviewing tips in Goal 7 of Project 2: Memories.
2024-07-17 That Can't Be True ... Can It? A while back I was browsing a record in the 1850 U.S. census for one of my wife's ancestors who had emigrated from Norway. I was shocked to see that the census taker had listed the ancestor's current residence as ... Norway! That had to be a mistake, right? As I glanced down the page, it became clear that there was no mistake in the record, but it was certainly misleading: the current residence was a town called Norway, in Racine County, Wisconsin. See more census tips in Goal C1 of the United States page.
2024-07-16 Finding Reliable Sources: It's easy to think that the more sources we have for an ancestor's information, the better. However, some sources may be more reliable than others. This blog article lays out a strategy for finding and using more reliable sources in your research, and reducing the number of unnecessary citations you may have in your tree. For more tips and guidelines on effective source citations, check out Goal B6 in the United States page.
2024-07-15 Reading Gravestone Markings: When you find an ancestor's gravestone in a cemetery, you might still have a challenge to be able to read what's inscribed on it. This RootsTech video helps you understand gravestones and what's typically on them, and this GenealogyInTime article offers a remarkably simple tip that helps you read old or faded inscriptions on tombstones. To learn more about using gravestones in your research, see Goal B6 in the United States page.
2024-07-09 On Vacation: The Tip of the Day is on vacation and will resume on July 15. See you then!
2024-07-08 How to Verify an Online Source: If the information we want is online, the temptation is to take what we find at face value. But what if that information was copied from an unreliable source? This article by Kimberly Powell walks you through five steps for verifying online sources in your research, from searching for an original source to dealing with contradictions in records. Learn more about the importance of genealogical sources in Goal 8 of Project 1: Family Tree.
2024-07-05 Tips for Family History Reunions: Family history reunions can be fun and meaningful events that bring relatives together and provide an opportunity to share family history information with each other. This article by Janet Hovorka features five practical tips for planning and holding a successful event, including recipe sharing, family skills and talents, storytelling, and more. To learn more about family history reunions, check out Goal 3 in Project 6: Help.
2024-07-04 Finding Your Revolutionary War Ancestors: Happy July 4! As we celebrate Independence Day in the United States, why not learn about ways to trace your ancestors who may have served in the conflict or lived in the areas where the war was being fought. You can get started with this article by Ancestral Findings, which gives a short intro to researching Revolutionary War ancestors. See also Goal E2 in the United States page, including the Events and People section.
2024-07-03 Finding Apprentice Ancestors in England: One often overlooked avenue for research is apprenticeship records. Many young men in Britain served as apprentices under master craftsmen, and their agreements were documented. This blog article from Findmypast dives into apprenticeship records and their genealogical clues, such as years of indenture, family connections, connections to tax records, and more. See also Goal 4 in the England country page to learn about trade and occupational records.
2024-07-02 Back to the Basics - Research Essentials: Sometimes we get caught up in the "what if's" of doing research, at the expense of remembering the core principles to follow. In Some Family History Research Essentials Genealogist Bill Buchanan shares a few guiding principles on names, dates, location, and relationships, which are four of the key elements of family history research. To go deeper with research basics, explore Goal 2 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-07-01 Obituaries for U.S. Ancestors: Obituaries can offer a wealth of information about ancestors, but sometimes they can be a bit difficult to track down. This MyHeritage Wiki article by Jeniann Nielsen takes you through the top resources for finding obituaries in the United States. It also describes the history of obituaries, the types of info you can find, and practical search tips you can use. To learn more about researching U.S. obituaries, check out Goal B5 in the United States page.
2024-06-28 Track Your Family with a Timeline: From Diana Elder of Family Locket: "Feeling a little bogged down with your genealogy research? Need a fun project for the summer that just might have the added bonus of helping break down a brick wall? Try creating a timeline for your family." Read her complete article here, with creative timeline tips and strategies. For more about creating and using timelines, see Goal A4 in the United States page.
2024-06-27 Four Things I Wish I Knew ...: If you could turn back the clock to the time when you started your genealogy journey, what would you do differently? In Four Things I Wish I Knew When I Started My Family Research genealogist Jenny Hansen shares her wish list. Two of those items are using effective research logs and becoming adept at including source citations. For more ideas on effective research, see Goal B1 of Project 4: Discover.
2024-06-26 Finding Offline Vital Records: Vital records are the backbone of your family tree, but it may surprise you to learn that the majority of vital records in the United States are still not online. In this Family History Daily article you'll discover where these offline records can be found and how to order them—in many cases for free—whether from private or government sources. Learn more about using vital record in your research in Goal B1 of the United States page.
2024-06-25 Tracing U.S. Midwest Immigrants: Many of us have immigrant ancestors who lived in the Midwest part of the United States. You can find handy tips for finding their locations in this article from Price Genealogy. Using Minnesota as an example, the article explores sources where immigrant information can be found, such as the census, death certificates, church records, and more. To learn more about doing research in the Midwest United States, see Goal A3 in the United States page.
2024-06-24 What's Your Question?: Successful research often begins with asking the right questions about one of your ancestors. This video from Family History Fanatics explains how to get started asking productive genealogy questions. It covers "bad questions," event-based questions, biographical questions and more. For additional tips on question-based research strategies, check out Goal 2 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-06-21 Finding Ancestors in British and Irish Newspapers: Newspaper research can uncover some interesting information about your ancestors and their families and associates. Findmypast has a great collection of online newspaper articles for Britain and Ireland, and this article shares 15 tips for searching newspapers, such as cross-referencing, coverage times, regional and national sources, etc. Learn more in Goal 11: Newspapers in the England country page.
2024-06-20 Descendancy Research with Puzzilla: Descendancy research focuses on studying the collateral lines of your family tree, from top to bottom. One of the best tools for doing descendancy research is Puzzilla, which opens a circular view for descendants in your tree. It has free and premium features to help with almost any task you could imagine. Check out the intro video for Puzzilla and learn more about this amazing tool in Project 3: Descendants.
2024-06-19 Juneteenth and Black Family History: Today we celebrate Juneteenth, when the last enslaved people in the U.S. were set free in 1865 in Texas. This FamilySearch blog article has a nice historical overview of Juneteenth, its holiday status, and links to more African American resources for research. See also the African American link in the Ethnic menu of The Family History Guide.
2024-06-18 Is That What It Means?: Some of the basic terms we use today for family relationships didn't always mean the same thing in years gone by. According to this brief article from Genealogy.com, older records may hold different meanings for "niece and nephew," "brother and sister," "junior and senior," and "in-laws." You can find out more about older medical terms, Latin terms, and name and word spellings in Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-06-17 Tips for Interviewing Relatives: So you've been thinking about interviewing a few of your relatives, to capture important family memories for generations to come. How do you get started? The Legacy Tree article titled 9 Tips for Interviewing Relatives has some great ideas for preparing and carrying out your interviews, including open-ended questions, balance of conversation, and more. To go further with family history interviews, see Goal 3 in Project 2: Memories.
2024-06-14 Exploring Early U.S. Tax Records: Tax records in the United States can tell us where a person was living and the personal net worth, but there's a lot more that can be learned from them, according to this RootsTech video from Lisa Ratzlaff. The video covers state and county tax records and how to decode them, from 1776 to 1850, which is a period where other research records in the U.S. may be scarce. For more about using tax records in your research, see Goal F2 in the United States page.
2024-06-13 The United Kingdom Page: The United Kingdom page in The Family History Guide is a collection of videos, articles, and QUIKLinks to record collections that apply to the entire United Kingdom. It's a great place to discover resources in your UK research that you might have missed. Categories on the page include vital records, directories and trades, church and cemetery, emigration, military (an extensive list) and more.
2024-06-12 20 Essential Record Types: When you're searching for facts about your ancestors, what types of records should you rely on? The Genealogy Record Types article gives clear definitions for 20 important types of records, from birth records to maps and more, along with explanations of how each record can aid in your research. For additional info on record types and how to use them, check out Goal A1 in the United States page.
2024-06-11 Using England Census Records: If you are looking for an English ancestor after 1840, the England censuses can be very useful. In this RootsTech video you'll get a brief overview of the history of the census, see how the census questions changed over the years, and follow a case study for using census records in your research. Learn more about the England census in Goal 4 of the England country page, including a QRB (Quick Research Basics) video.
2021-06-10 Is Your Research Accurate?: The Ancestral Findings site has a great article that explains five ways to tell if your research is accurate. Although these are not guarantees, they are definitely helpful: 1) Find the same information in multiple sets of records; 2) Find research from others that matches yours; 3) Gather sources that provide evidence; 4) Look for secondary evidence to back up your assumptions; and 5) Get evidence from DNA test results. Learn more in Goal 7 of Project 4: Discover.
2024-06-07 Tips for Reading Old Documents: In addition to deciphering the handwriting, you may encounter a number of other challenges with reading old documents, such as picture quality, missing information, etc. In this article and video from Ancestral Findings you can explore a host of common issues with "ancient" documents and learn how to maximize your success in capturing the information you need. For help with old handwriting, see Goal 6 in Project 5: Indexing.
2024-06-06 Remembering D-Day with Military Records: Today, June 6, 2024 is the 80th anniversary of the momentous invasion of Normandy in World War II. This article in Utah's Deseret News gives an interesting look back at the day, and it includes a link to actual radio broadcasts of the event as it happened. You can learn more about your World War II veteran ancestors, including great tips for research, in Goal E2 of the United States page.
2024-06-05 Getting the Most Out of a Census Record: When you find a census record, what should you do with it? Sounds like an easy question, but there's a multitude of things that can come next, according to this MyHeritage Knowledge Base article. It offers search tips, steps for archiving, ways to extract information, methods to extract clues in census data, and more. To further expand your skills with using census records, see Goal C1 in the United States page.
2024-06-04 Ten Things to Improve On: Are you overlooking something simple that could help you in your genealogy research? Even experienced genealogists may be missing some of these tips, as explained in this 2021 RootsTech video. An example is using the help information provided in search screens, such as from the National Archives or the Trove site, or even FamilySearch's "How to Use This Collection" links. For more tips and strategies in doing online searches, see Goal 6 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-06-03 Discovering Cemetery Information: Cemeteries might be one of the most overlooked resources for genealogy research. If you're looking to go beyond the typical headstone information in your ancestor searches, check out this Legacy Tree article. It explains how to find cemetery records, the role of cemetery registers, establishing ancestor relationships, and more. You'll find additional tips and guidelines for cemetery research in Goal B6 of the United States page.
2024-05-31 Finding Your Female Ancestors: It can be a challenge tracing female ancestors in your tree, because of name changes at marriage and other reasons. Ancestry Academy has a free series of videos that are focused on helping you with researching your female ancestors. Topics include general strategies and finding records for the women, their husbands, their children and siblings, plus a helpful case study. For additional tips on finding female ancestors, see Goal B4 in the United States page.
2024-05-30 Brick Wall Case Studies: One way to learn about solving brick walls in research is to read examples of how it's done. There is a group of about 20 helpful brick wall solutions on LDSGenealogy.com, mostly for United States research, that show strategies for finding locations, records, and people. Most of these are also linked from The Family History Guide in the U.S. state pages. For more information on solving brick walls in your research, see Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-05-29 From Research to Compelling Story: It's one thing to gather the basic facts about your ancestors' lives, and it's another to turn them into an interesting story that will keep people glued to the pages. In this MyHeritage article, author Joan Ramirez shares practical tips for finding the interesting story lines in your ancestors' lives, including a series of 18 questions you can ask yourself about an ancestor's character and preferences. Learn more about storytelling with your family tree in Goal 8 of Project 2: Memories.
2024-05-28 Exploring ScotlandsPeople: If you have ancestors in Scotland, or think you might, the Scotland'sPeople website is a great resource for finding birth, marriage, and death records. This RootsTech video, Getting the Most out of Scottish Vital Records on ScotlandsPeople, helps you get started with navigating the website and finding the records you need. To learn more about Scottish research, including ScotlandsPeople, check out the Scotland country page in The Family History Guide.
2022-05-27 The Family History Guide on PBS: The Family History Guide will be featured later this year on "Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid," a popular documentary series that runs on various PBS channels. Three new video segments will be created: a Public Television Segment (3-5 minutes) that airs in all 50 states, for 60 million households and businesses; a Corporate Identity Demo (5-7 minutes)that will be emailed to up to 1 million niche/targeted viewers ; and an educational spot for major networks that airs 400 times in the top 100 markets by population (New York, Atlanta, Miami, Chicago, Houston, L.A., Seattle, etc.) with about 84 million households and businesses. We'll keep you posted on progress for this amazing project as we go!
2022-05-24 Dealing with Record Limitations: Two reasons you might not be finding the information you need: a) the record you are looking for was never created; or b) the information was not recorded where you are looking, but it can be found in another record (which may require patience and persistence). In this article James Tanner explores a number of reasons for missing information and what can be done to track it down. Learn more about record information in Goal A1 of the United States page.
2024-05-23 Exploring School Records: One of the commonly overlooked sources for research is education records. These Findmypast articles - How School Records Can Help You With Your Genealogy Research and How to Find Incredible Old School Photos in Our Family History Records - are full of examples of available school records and tips and guidelines for using them in research. For additional links to help with school record research, check out Goal F7 in the United States page.
2024-05-22 Tips for German Church Records: One of the best resources for your German research is using church records. To get you started, check out this two-part RootsTech video series, Seven Things You Need to Know about German Church Records by Katherine Schober. It covers handwriting, chronology, record formats, translation resources, and more. For additional tips and strategies you can use, check out Goal 3 of the Germany country page.
2024-05-21 Finding the Town of Origin - 16 Ways: For ancestors born abroad, census records are often not available for tracing the town of origin. What other avenues are open to find the information you need? This interview from Lisa Louise Cooke illustrates 16 types of records that you can use to find clues that will lead you to towns of origin, such as ship manifests, alien registrations, county histories, military records and more. Learn more about researching U.S. immigration records in Goal D1 of the United States page.
2024-05-20 Online Historical Photo Databases: If you are wondering where you can find photos online that capture the times and places of your ancestors, you are in luck. This Family Tree Magazine article by Maureen Taylor (the Photo Detective), connects you with 22 online databases of historical photos, from Brigham Young University and the British Library to the University of Washington and the National Library of Australia. To learn more about using photos in your research, check out Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-05-17 8 Common Genealogy Mistakes: One of the differences between beginning and experienced researchers is avoiding common mistakes. In this article by AncestralFindings.com, you'll learn about eight mistakes that are easy to make but can hold back your research progress, from not recording sources to forgetting to interview older relatives, and more. See Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover for additional tips on avoiding mistakes and bad habits in your research.
2024-05-16 Social History Makes Ancestors' Stories Come Alive: Do we see the lives of our ancestors as a collection of names, dates, and places, or do we see the rich tapestry of people and events that shaped their lives? In this three-part video series, Miles Meyer explores the importance of adding social history to family history, including sources for finding social history and case studies that show how that integration can be done. For more about history in your ancestors' lives, see Goal A4 in the United States page.
2024-05-14 Using AI with Your Own Genealogy: Is artificial intelligence just a cool buzzword today, or does it really have some practical applications for genealogists? In this BYU Family History Library video, James Tanner explores some of the ways that he uses AI in his own extensive genealogy research, including record searching, handwriting recognition, chatbots, and more. For additional tips on using AI in your genealogy, see Goal 8 in Project 7: Technology.
2024-05-14 Getting Started with GEDmatch: GEDmatch is a free online site where you can upload results from your DNA testing (Ancestry, MyHeritage, 23andMe, etc.) so it becomes part of a larger shared database. You can then run a variety of reports and use handy tools to analyze your test data and see how it fits in with other users who have joined GEDmatch. For tips on getting started with GEDmatch, including instructions for uploading your test data, see this tutorial. For more info on GEDmatch, see Goal 4 in Project 8: DNA.
2024-05-13 Think Like a Detective: One of the essential building blocks for your genealogy is a good research plan. To build an effective plan, you often need to "think like a detective." In this article by Kimberly Powell, you'll learn the steps to approach research problems like a detective would, and a case study is included to illustrate the approach. For more tips on developing and using research plans, see Goal 3 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-05-10 Death Notices - An Unusual Irish Custom: Knowing the customs of the country where you are doing research can be a big help. For example, one Irish custom is the widespread publication of death notices, followed by celebrations of the deceased's life. Genealogist John Grenham describes the process in detail in this article, as well as providing sources for locating these death notices. For more information on Irish vital records, see Goal 3 in the Ireland country page.
2024-05-09 Using Smart Genealogy Goals: The SMART method for setting goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound) is a proven recipe for success in many aspects of life. This article by the Creative Family Historian shares 6 easy steps for using the SMART approach to create effective goals for your own research. It also comes with a SMART goals research planner. For more ideas about research strategies you can use, check out Goal 3 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-05-08 England Parishes on the Wiki: To help with your England research, the FamilySearch Wiki has tables (alphabetical listings) for each parish in each of the counties of England. These tables help you find records, maps, and neighboring parishes. This RootsTech video walks you through the parish tables, with tips for doing effective person and record searches. To learn more about England parish research, check out Goal 6 in the England country page.
2024-05-07 It's a Hint ... or Is It? One of the most tempting pieces of genealogy information is a record hint - it's packaged and delivered to your tree (FamilySearch, Ancestry, etc.) ready to be added. But as this Family Tree Magazine article points out, there's some due diligence that needs to be done before accepting a hint, from checking document images to dissecting hint information, and more. For tips on using hints, see Goal 9 in FamilySearch Project 1, and Goal 5 in Ancestry Project 2.
2023-05-06 Finding Maiden Names in Your Tree: Two of the toughest challenges in research are working around missing 1890 U.S. census records, and not knowing the maiden names of female ancestors. For the second problem, this article from Family Tree Advice provides six handy tips for finding maiden names, from searching BMD certificates to finding clues in Social Security applications. You can find more resources for maiden name research in the Vault.
2023-05-03 Citing Your Research Sources: As the saying goes, genealogy without sources is mythology. Adding citations to sources is the next step in solid research. This Thoughtco article explains why citations are helpful, the two basic types of sources to cite, and rules for creating citations. It also discusses a variety of records and how citations can be applied to them. For more tips on citing sources, see Goal 2 in Project 4: Discover, and the Vault.
2024-05-02 Handling Conflicting Evidence: Here are six tips for handling conflicting evidence, from Archives.com: 1) Notice it (don't hide it or ignore it); 2) Make sure it matters (does it affect additional research?); 3) Keep looking (check out additional records and sources); 4) Analyze (evaluate each piece of evidence); 5) Correlate (organize the info for new perspectives); and 6) Write and record your conclusions. See additional ideas for working with conflicting evidence in Project 4: Goal 7.
2024-05-01 Exploring Church Records in Norway: One of the best resources for Norwegian research is church records. Denominations besides Lutheranism were allowed in the country only after 1845. You can learn quite a bit about how church records were recorded, what kinds of information they contain, and where to find them in this FamilySearch Wiki article. For more tips on using Norwegian church records, check out Goal 4 in the Norway country page.
2024-04-30 Six Habits of the Highly Effective Researcher: Genealogist John Grenham is well known for his keen insights, served up with a dry sense of wit. In this blog article, John shares some simple but practical tips for researchers, from overcoming preconceived ideas to the art of "thinking sideways" and more. To learn more about basic research skills and strategies, check out Goal 2 and Goal 3 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-04-29 Writing Your Own Story: Finding your ancestors and documenting their life experiences can be a very rewarding activity. Remember that one of the most important people in your family tree is you. To help you capture interesting and important items about your life to share with your family and others, read 16 Things to Write Down about Yourself. It also includes a fun "Mad Libs" activity you can try for capturing family history memories. For more ideas, see Goal 9 in Project 2: Memories.
2024-04-26 Searching in the Wrong Place: Could your ancestor have bought a piece of land in one county and later sold the same property in a different county? Yes, if the county boundaries changed. In this brief video, Genealogist Aimee Cross explains how to accurately trace ancestor events between shifting counties. This and other tips she shares can help you avoid looking in the wrong places for ancestor events and records. For more about using location strategies in your research, see Goal A2 in the United States page.
2024-04-25 Family History Do's and Don'ts: Every so often it's good to have a reminder about what to do, and what not to do, as we do our family history research. Here are The 12 Important Genealogy Dos and Don'ts You Need to Know, courtesy of Family History Daily. You'll learn about good habits to follow as well as common pitfalls for researchers. For additional tips on avoiding common mistakes in your research, check out Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-04-24 Discovering Online Periodicals: Where can you find local history journals, family history newsletters, and genealogy magazines all in one place? Check out PERSI (Periodical Source Index), the free online source produced by the Allen County Library. This RootsTech video gets you started with how to access and use PERSI to find research clues and genealogy information from a huge variety of sources. You can learn more about PERSI in Goal F5 of the United States page.
2024-04-23 Location Research - a Game Changer: Here's an interesting quote to think about, from Family History Daily: "... often, location research can reveal as much or more about an ancestor as the vital records you've likely already collected." As the article explains, researching ancestors' communities, towns and states can lead to finding more records and building a much more complete picture of their lives and family situations. To learn more about location research, check out Goal A2 in the United States page.
2024-04-22 Adoption: Tips for Finding Birth Families: A quick Google search tells you that about 2% of the adult American population today are adopted. If your family history research leads you to someone who may have been adopted, this article by Kimberly Powell will help you get started with locating birth parents. It includes tips for working with adoptive parents as well as agencies who can help in your search. For more ideas on adoption research, see Goal B3 in the United States page.
2024-04-19 10 Great Tips for Google Searches: Sometimes the research info you need isn't on FamilySearch or Ancestry, etc., but it's somewhere out there on the internet. You can find that information quicker and easier with these Google tips from Lifewire.com. You'll learn how to use site searches, quotes, Boolean operators and more, to get you the genealogy search results you need. For more tips and guidelines for successful online searches, check out Goal 6 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-04-18 Collateral and Clusters: There's a whole new world of genealogy outside of direct-line ancestors. As expert genealogist Thomas MacEntee explains in this MyHeritage Wiki article, you can use collateral and cluster research to develop an "ancestor network" with many connections that bring the people and locations in your family history picture into clearer focus. Learn more about collateral research in Goal 1 of Project 3: Descendants and cluster research in Goal 4 of Project 4: Discover.
2024-04-17 Ancestry Trees - Public or Private? Through the years, millions of family trees have been built on Ancestry.com. So, should your Ancestry tree be public or private? As this Family History Daily article points out, there are important issues to consider in the public vs. private decision, such as DNA collaboration with others, making a tree private but searchable by others, and more. For additional tips on managing your Ancestry tree settings, see Goal 4 in Ancestry Project 1.
2024-04-16 Research Help, U.S. States: Need help with research in a particular U.S. state? In The Family History Guide, check out Goal 12: Get Help in any of the 50 United State pages plus District of Columbia, or Goal 8 for Puerto Rico. These pages have links to Facebook groups, forums, message boards, genealogy societies and more, to help you collaborate with fellow researchers and get your questions answered. For example, here's the Get Help Goal for Massachusetts.
2024-04-15 The Churches of U.S. Immigrants: Church records are a great genealogical resource, and tying them to U.S. immigrants can make them even more useful. On the FamilySearch Wiki is a U.S. Church Records handout. A ways down the page is a remarkable chart: it contains the names and origin countries of immigrant churches, the predominant U.S. states where the churches grew, and the types of records that were kept by the churches. To learn more about U.S. church records, see Goal F1 in the United States page.
2024-04-12 Successful Visits to Libraries and Archives: One of the most popular videos at RootsTech 2023 has been Melissa Barker's 10 Things Genealogists Should Do Before they Leave a Library or Archive. You can select to view it on YouTube and then click the Chapters arrow to see the 10 tips at a glance, some of which include asking about specific archives, files, and collections. To learn more about research in archives and libraries, see Goal F5 in the United States page.
2024-04-11 Discovering Sanborn® Insurance Maps: As the Sanborn® Map Company went about creating maps of properties for fire insurance in over 13,000 towns, it was at the same time creating a valuable reference for genealogists. This blog article by Kimberly Powell explains how to find these color maps online in 28 U.S. states, as well as Canada and Mexico, from 1880 to 1925. To learn more about maps in research, see Goal A2 in the United States page.
2024-04-10 Tips for Trips: A genealogy road trip can be a wonderful experience: you get to connect with your ancestors as you enjoy the places where they lived. But a successful trip does require planning and strategy. Check out this article by Treemily for some practical tips about merging genealogy research with your travels to get the results you want. For additional tips, see Goal 8 in Project 4: Discover, as well as the Vault section that deals with family history trips.
2024-04-09 Getting to Know Wie Was Wie:
Need help tracing your Dutch ancestry? The Wie Was Wie (Who Was Who) database is a great resource to help you get started. WieWasWie contains records from many provincial, regional, and city archives in the Netherlands, such as for baptism, birth, marriage, death, burial, and passenger lists. It also has links to many partner archives and genealogical societies in the country. You can learn more about Wie Was Wie in the Netherlands country page, Goal 4: Civil Registration.
2024-04-08 Exploring Early U.S. Census Records: Census records are a go-to resource for family history research. But what about those pre-1850 censuses, where children are listed by "tick marks" and not by name? Genealogist Kimberly Powell explains the art of Digging Details from Pre-1850 U.S, Census Records, including five essential strategies and practical examples that identify ancestors. For more tips about using early U.S. census records in your research, see Goal C2 in the United States page.
2024-04-05 Using School Yearbooks for Research: School yearbooks are a great source of nostalgia and fun, but they can also be a useful resource for genealogy research. In this article in the MyHeritage Education Center, genealogist Thomas MacEntee offers 10 tips for finding research clues in yearbooks, as well as a list of resources that can help you locate school yearbooks online. To learn more about how yearbooks can help in genealogy, check out Goal F1 in the United States page.
2024-04-04 Irish Research - the Basics: The Emerald Isle can be a challenging place to do genealogy research, but understanding the basic principles for success will get you off to a good start. This RootsTech 2024 video by genealogist Jenny Joyce helps you understand the geography and townlands of Ireland, Irish church records, the Irish census, and more. Also check out Goal 1 in the Ireland country page for strategies and tips on Irish research.
2024-04-03 Discovering FamilySearch Full-Text Search: Now that FamilySearch has introduced full-text search for a number of image-only record collections, there are a lot of interesting possibilities. Finding what you need may depend on how well you use search filters, wildcards, locations and landmarks, as described in this article by Kimberly Powell. She outlines 12 practical tips that can help full-text searches find your ancestors. See also this FamilySearch blog article for tips on working with image-only collections.
2024-04-02 Discovering Old Letters and Postcards: Looking for an interesting and productive way to learn more about your ancestors? Check out this video from Genealogy TV's Constance Knox, titled Top 5 Reasons to Transcribe Old Family Letters and Postcards. Reason #1 is to discover details that may be new to you, and #2 is tips on including what you learn from transcriptions into your ancestors' stories. For more about finding important information in your family documents, see Goal 1 in Project 2: Memories.
2024-04-01 Finding Church Records in Archives: Church records are a staple in online genealogy research, but they are also available in archives throughout the U.S. This RootsTech video by Melissa Barker, the "Archive Lady," explains how to find church records in archives, including an overview of archive types, contact methods, how to dig out clues in photographs and documents, and much more. For additional tips on working with church records, see Goal F1 in the United States page.
2024-03-29 Dealing with Aliases and Name Changes: Tracing your ancestors can be challenging enough without worrying about multiple names for the same person. If people in your family tree have changed their names at some point or have aliases, this Legacy Tree article will help. It provides several real-life examples and solutions for name dilemmas in research. For more tips on dealing with name challenges, see this section in the Vault.
2024-03-28 Getting the Most Out of Census Records:
Quick questions: What's special about the 1900 U.S. Census? And what types of relationships should you be looking for as you do census research? This RootsTech 2024 video by Julie Merrill answers these United States census questions and many others, helping you find additional clues in records that you might have been missing. You can learn more about a variety of census topics in Goal C1 of the United States page, or Goal C2 for census records by decade.
2024-03-27 Tips for Writing and Publishing a Family History:
Has your family history writing project stalled? Or does it read more like a research paper instead of a story? Then check out Writing and Publishing a Family History: 10 Steps, presented by Penelope Stratton of the New England Historical Genealogical Society. The blog article summarizes the ten steps to follow, and there is a link to the corresponding RootsTech video that provides more details. To learn more about developing storywriting skills, see Goal 9 in Project 2: Memories.
2024-03-26 Google Translation Tips: As you work with records and web pages in different languages, Google Translate can be a powerful tool. There are some handy tips that can make using the tool easier for you, and we have captured some of these in a new page in The Family History Guide. For example, go to any country page, such as Ireland, and you will see a new link to Translation Tips at the top of the page. The tips cover the use of Select Language, Google Lens, getting rid of rating popups, and more.
2024-03-25 The Tombstone Transcription Project: Are you searching for burial information for an ancestor? You may find the USGenWeb Tombstone Transcription Project to be a valuable asset. It has many resources, including links for U.S. state pages and links to the corresponding counties. The county pages have available details for names, date of birth, date of death, age at death, and tombstone inscriptions. Learn more about cemetery records in Goal 6 of the United States page.
2024-03-22 Finding Ancestors in Irish Census Records: The Family History Guide has a helpful section on using census records in Ireland to find your ancestors. There are overview articles and videos, QUIKLinks for searching census records from 1821 to 1911, resources for census substitute records, and much more. There is also a Practice Exercise for using census records, as well as information on exploring Irish electoral rolls in your research.
2024-03-21 No Death Certificate? Try These Ideas:
Because civil registration started in different time periods in many different places, finding an ancestor's death certificate might be difficult or impossible. This RootsTech 2024 video offers some great alternatives for finding death information, such as letters, cemetery records, newspapers, and more. It also uses "mind maps" to walk you through situations that may have existed near an ancestor's death, for research clues. See also Goal B5 in the United States page.
2024-03-20 United States Research with The Family History Guide:
The BYU Family History Library recently posted a new video on its YouTube Channel: United States Research with The Family History Guide by Bob Taylor. It covers key resources for a wide range of U.S. records, with links to essential articles, videos, and databases. Also featured are helpful tools for individual state and county research. For more information and tips on doing U.S. research, check out the United States page.
2024-03-19 Capturing Metadata in Your Family History:
Many of us have hundreds, even thousands of family history photos and documents. What if we could make them easily searchable and include vital pieces of of our stories in them? That's what metadata is all about, as Maureen Taylor and Rick Voight explain in this brief RootsTech 2024 video. They are working on a cross-platform standard called Save Metadata to establish standards for how you can use and share metadata on a large number of platforms. For more info on metadata, see the Vault in The Family History Guide.
2024-03-18 Canadian Research with the Vancouver Public Library:
If you are researching Canadian ancestors, the Vancouver Public Library is a must-have on your list of online resources. The Basics section gets you started with tools and techniques, and the Resources section has links for researching a wide variety of records in Canada, such as directories, military records, obituaries, and more. For additional help with your Canadian research, check out the Canada country page in The Family History Guide.
2024-03-15 Identifying People in Photographs:
Maureen Taylor is popularly known as the "Photo Detective" - and for good reason. She has delivered many articles and videos on identifying ancestors in photographs, such as this recent RootsTech video. The 16-minute presentation features five "photo traps" (common problems in photo identification) and technology tricks you can use with your photos. For more information on identifying people and clues in photos, see Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-03-14 Discovering Passenger Lists:
Some of the earliest immigration records are the lists of passengers on boats coming to America. The key is to connect the names on the passenger lists and other associated documents with the immigrant once that person has arrived in America. This article features practical tips for searching passenger lists to find what you need. For more information, see Goal D2 in the United States country page.
2024-03-13 Discovering the GENUKI Site: GENUKI (United Kingdom and Ireland Genealogy) is an extensive site that has research resources for all British and Irish countries. For example, the England page has links to 54 separate research topics. GENUKI also has an excellent Getting Started page. Other helpful resources include links to county pages, a directory of churches, and a gazetteer. The site also has a search feature, site map and navigation aids for users.
2024-03-12 7 Essential Tips for German Research: Many of us have ancestors from Germany, and quite a few German records are available. Genealogist Katherine Shober points us in the right direction with 7 Essential Tips for Starting German Genealogy. Two of the tips are finding local sources exploring German church records. The video also includes an extensive Q&A session at the end, and it has a helpful video transcript and a handout. For more on German research basics, see the Germany country page.
2024-03-11 Webinar: United States Research: Come and join us for a live webinar presented by Bob Taylor of The Family History Guide Association: "United States Research with The Family History Guide." It will cover a wide variety of records and resources, including those for U.S. state and county research. The webinar is scheduled for Thursday, March 14 at 5 p.m. Mountain Time, and you can register on this page. A recording of the webinar will be available on the BYU Family History Library YouTube Channel on the following Monday. See you there!
2024-03-08 Finding Free Sites for England Research: In your genealogy research, free and useful are good things. This RootsTech 2024 video by Jenny Joyce covers some little-known but helpful sites for expanding your England research, such as Online Parish Clerks, Dusty Docs, and more. Plenty of examples are included to illustrate the features in each of the sites. To learn more about doing basic research in England, check out Goal 1 in the England page.
2024-03-07 Resolving Conflicts in Your Research: It's great to resolve conflicts within a family, and it's also great to resolve them in your family history research. Genealogist Alice Childs has a six-part series on Evidence Analysis, and the Part 5 article focuses on how to handle conflicting information in records in a case study. She discusses essential questions about the records and how to correlate the evidence. Learn more about handling conflicting information in Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-03-06 U.S. Immigration in the 1920s: Before 1920, immigration into the United States was pretty much "open door." However, immigration policies changed in the mid-1920s, affecting the flow of immigrants. This FamilySearch blog article describes what happened and how you can find clues for your ancestors who may have arrived in the U.S. after this time. Also check out Goal D1 in the United States page to learn more about immigration basics for research.
2024-03-05 What You Can Learn from Passport Applications: When your ancestors traveled to and from the United States, passports were essential, as far back as 1795. As this Ancestry blog article points out, passport applications captured key information such as date and place of birth, place of residence, names and ages of others traveling with them, and photographs for later passports. To learn more about using passport applications for research, see Goal D3 in the United States page.
2024-03-04 Deciphering Old Genealogical Documents: Working with old documents can be fascinating and frustrating at the same time. How do you make sense of handwriting from another age? This Family History Daily article provides some welcome aid, as it discusses abbreviations in old documents, handwriting styles, and where to find additional tips. Check out Goal 5 in Project 5: Indexing for more strategies and techniques for working with old or difficult handwriting.
2024-03-01 Handling Conflicts in Information: Occasionally you may run into records that don't agree with each other, in terms of the important information that's recorded on them. What should you do in that case? This article from Legacy Tree has two solid tips to help you make the best choices with conflicting information, by zeroing in on the sources you are using. To learn more about handling conflicting information in your research, see Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-03-01 Handling Conflicts in Information: Occasionally you may run into records that don't agree with each other, in terms of the important information that's recorded on them. What should you do in that case? This article from Legacy Tree has two solid tips to help you make the best choices with conflicting information, by zeroing in on the sources you are using. To learn more about handling conflicting information in your research, see Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-02-29 Ladies and Land: The U.S. Homestead Act helped to encourage the population to move west and obtain their own property from the government. An often overlooked aspect is the role that women played. In this RootsTech video you'll learn the details of the Homestead Act and see records and examples of women obtaining land and thriving on the frontier. To learn more about doing research with the U.S. Homestead Act, see Goal F2 in the United States page.
2024-02-28 Successful Visits to Libraries and Archives: One of the most popular videos at RootsTech 2023 was Melissa Barker's 10 Things Genealogists Should Do Before they Leave a Library or Archive. You can select to view it on YouTube and then click the Chapters arrow to see the 10 tips at a glance, some of which include asking about specific archives, files, and collections. To learn more about research in archives and libraries, see Goal F5 in the United States page.
2024-02-27 Tips for Hard-to-Find Irish Ancestors: Ireland can be one of the more challenging countries to do research in. The Legacy Tree article Four Historical and Geographical Tips to Help You Trace Your Irish Ancestors is a great way to help you explore some effective tools you might have missed, such as U.S. census clues and a variety of military records. To learn more about next steps in Irish research, see Goal 1 in the Ireland country page.
2024-02-26 Using Network Graphs for DNA Research: Once you have taken a DNA test, there is an interesting and effective way to show the results visually. Family Locket's How to Make a DNA Network Graph and How to Interpret a DNA Network Graph get you started using the free Gephi visualization tool to build pictures of your DNA match data and see connections between match clusters for research. For more tips on DNA tools, check out the DNA Research Tools Goal.
2024-02-23 Black History Month and Family History: February is Black History Month in the U.S., and there are some great resources in The Family History Guide that can raise your awareness. In the African American section, check out Goal 4: Slavery Resources. Two of the items discussed there are the Freedmen's Bank and Bureau, and the Underground Railroad. Both of these have links to helpful articles and videos, to help you trace slave ancestors and shine a light on important events in Black history.
2024-02-22 Tips for Using the FamilySearch Catalog: For many of us, the FamilySearch Catalog is unexplored territory—it's big, and it's different from the record collections screens. To help us get started, Genealogist Alice Childs shares Pro Tips for Using the FamilySearch Catalog More Efficiently). These include understanding the icons used in the Catalog, how to find digitized versions of books and microfilms, and more. For additional info on the FamilySearch Catalog, check out Goal 5 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-02-21 Researching Newspapers by State: In The Family History History Guide, each of the 50 U.S. states has its own collection of state pages. Goal 9 page for each state is newspaper research, and you'll find helpful resources such as FamilySearch articles and statewide Ancestor Hunt databases for tracking down published information about your ancestors (for example, here's the Colorado page). For more tips on conducting research with newspapers, see Goal F4 in the United States page.
2024-02-20 Using Telephone Books for Research: The first telephone book was created in 1878, with only 50 names in it. Since then, many have been published, and quite a few are available online, as genealogist Alice Childs explains in Phone Books as a Source for Genealogy Research. The article has links to where to find the online collections and tips for searching them. To learn more about directories for research, see Goal A2 in the United States page.
2024-02-19 A Digital Map of Your Family History: Using Google Maps is an essential skill for most of us as we travel from point A to B. It can also be a useful way to record and pin interesting locations in our family history. This article gives some practical tips for pinning and saving locations, including those that are off the beaten path, and they can be an essential part of your future plans for family history trips. Learn more about using mapping tools in genealogy in Goal A2 of the United States page (scroll down).
2024-02-16 Avoiding Mistaken Identity: From Genealogy.com: "A particularly difficult problem can arise during your research when two or more identically-named people of roughly the same age have lived jointly in one locale. You can also find people with the same name in the same family, such as mothers and daughters. Often, they are not related to each other, making it crucial that the genealogist not confuse them." The full article has some great tips for avoiding mistaken identities in your research. See also Goal 7 in Project 4: Research.
2024-02-15 Discovering the Place of Origin: In family history research, few things are as exciting as discovering the town where an immigrant ancestor was born. But that discovery is a process that may take considerable time and effort. Genealogist Alice Childs lays out the steps to follow and provides a real-life case study of finding the birth town of an ancestor, from locating a New York marriage certificate to assembling naturalization and passenger records, to determining the origin village as Ozyma, Austria. For more tips and information on tracing immigrant ancestors, see Goal D1 in the United States page.
2024-02-14 Finding Marriages at Greta Greens:
If you're having trouble finding a marriage record for an ancestor couple, consider that they may have eloped. Two characters from "Pride and Prejudice" considered crossing into Gretna Green in Scotland where marriage laws were much less restrictive than in England. This Legacy Tree article (scroll down) has more info about Gretna Green, including a list of over 50 modern-day "Gretna Green"-type towns in the United States. For more strategies on finding marriage records, see Goal B4 in the United States page.
2024-02-13 Timelines and Research Skills: While genealogy timelines can help you pinpoint the events and locations in your ancestors' lives, working with timelines can also help you develop important research skills. In this RootsTech video, Dr. Shelley Viola Murphy explains how to get started with research using timelines, as well as the benefits of timelines and how to find records associated with them. To learn more about timelines and research, check out Goal A4 in the United States page.
2024-02-12 Passenger Lists, Era by Era: In Unlock Your Family Story with U.S. Passenger Arrival Records by FamilySearch, you'll discover that there are basically three eras of records: Passenger Lists before 1820, Customs Passenger Lists from 1820 to 1891, and Immigration Passenger Lists from 1891 to 1906 (which also extends to 1957). The article describes the types of information collected about passengers during each of these eras. Learn more about passenger lists in Goal D2 of the United States page.
2024-02-09 Why Some Genealogy Info May Be Wrong: Should you always trust what you find in a record? Here are three reasons why to double-check the info you have: 1) A person gave false or misleading info in a record, to avoid an embarrassing situation; 2) The index or transcription may have been copied incorrectly; and 3) The person recording the info wrote it as it sounded, not with the correct spelling. For more about dealing with record issues and problems, see Choice B in Goal 7 of Project 4: Discover.
2024-02-08 Finding That Next Generation: Locating an ancestor's parents is one of the key goals in family history. But what if vital records aren't available, or you'd like an extra record to verify what you already have? This article by Family History Daily explores some helpful clues for extending a generation, such as parents living with adult children in the census, city directory entries, and more. See also the research strategies in articles and videos in the Vault.
2024-02-07 The Immigrant Servants Database: Many who immigrated to Colonial America in the 1600s and 1700s were not heads of households or their children but were servants to them. Price Genealogy has created a helpful Immigrant Servants Database, with information on over 20,000 servants, male and female, who made the trip to America. You can search the entries by name, date or place of birth, place of arrival, and much more. For additional information on immigration records, see Goal D1 in the United States page.
2024-02-06 Organizing Your Genealogy: Sometimes managing your family history materials can seem like a daunting task. Diane Haddad has some simple suggestions to help, in her article titled 6 Baby Steps to Organize Your Genealogy Work. True to the title, these really are baby steps that are easy to understand and implement, with the result being more efficient and effective research. Check out additional ideas for organizing your genealogy, including binders, to-do lists and more, in Goal 1 of Project 4: Discover.
2024-02-05 Coming to "Terms" with Genealogy: Genealogy has its own vocabulary, and it can sometimes sound like a foreign language to those new to it (indeed, many of its words are international). Here are three glossaries to help clear up the mysteries: a basic one (it's just one page long); an intermediate one (from New Zealand); and a more advanced one (quite a few peculiar words). For more lists of genealogy terms and acronyms, see the Beginner's page in The Family History Guide (scroll down to the end).
2024-02-02 An Irish Secret: The website is not really "secret" - it's just not that well-known but should be. In this recent YouTube video, genealogist Ciara Chivers introduces Memorials of the Dead in Ireland, a site with journals and directories for a wide variety of Irish records. The handout for the video includes web links and tips for how to get the most from the site. For more info on church and cemetery records in Ireland, see Goal 5 in the Ireland country page.
2024-02-01 Discovering the Digital Public Library of America: Looking for a free online site that joins resources from libraries and archives across the United States? The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) may be just what you need, according to this article from Family History Daily. You'll get an overview of what's available on the site, as well as examples of a variety of family history records found in the DPLA. To learn more about research with archives and libraries, see Goal F5 in the United States page.
2024-01-31 Breaking News: A New Educational Partnership: Today we are excited to announce an official partnership between The Family History Guide Association and the National Genealogical Society. The Family History Guide Association will provide educational materials and training to the National Genealogical Society, enabling their members to accelerate their learning and research skills in genealogy. Learn more about this vital alliance on our Facebook page and other platforms in the Media menu. Welcome to the National Genealogical Society!
2024-01-30 Descendancy Research Tips: From FamilySearch: "Descendancy research is the process of identifying all of the children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren of an ancestral couple. Use descendancy research to expand the family, identify new names, and even connect with cousins." Easy Steps to Descendancy Research gets you started with the process, and it helps you find collateral ancestors who might be missing from the tree. For more tips on descendancy research, see FamilySearch Project 3: Descendants.
2024-01-29 Service Activities for Family History: One of the best ways to catch the spirit of family history work is to help others experience the joy. In the Family Activities section, check out Goal 6: Service Activities for ideas. You'll find fun opportunities such as Cemeteries and Smartphones, Give the Gift of Family History, Do a Family History Interview, Visit a Story Room, and more. There are also some great service activities for youth, individuals, and kids.
2024-01-26 Finding Land Records on the BLM Site: Land and property records can tell you quite a bit about your ancestors, and they were often available even before vital records were recorded. A great place to explore U.S. land records is on the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) site. There you can search for land records by state, county, name of owner, township, and more. You can also explore land surveys and tract books for genealogy info, or search by location. See also Goal F2 in the United States page.
2024-01-25 The Next Level: How do you move your research skills to the next level? What are the skill levels that people typically go through as they start looking for ancestors and move forward in research? The answers to these questions can be found in this interesting article by James Tanner. He uses census records as a starting point and then describes the challenges and opportunities that follow. For more tips on developing your family history research skills, check out Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-01-24 Exploring the Historic Map Works Site: Historical maps can help you pin down locations for your U.S. ancestors, and a great place to find free ones is HistoricMapWorks.com. There are maps and atlases for each of the 50 states, including county boundaries, townships with property owners, geographical features and more, with many search criteria. For additional U.S. map resources, see Goal F2 in the United States page.
2024-01-23 Is That Really My Ancestor?: Sooner or later we find that person who seems like they should fit into our family tree ... but how can we be reasonably sure? This FamilySearch article shares five tips from Ancestry's Crista Cowan to help you prove your connection to an ancestor, such as analyzing and correcting information, and being thorough in your searches. For more tips and guidelines on working with genealogical evidence, check out Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2024-01-22 Finding Trade Directories in the U.K.: An often overlooked resource for tracing your ancestors in the United Kingdom is trade directories, which list occupations and locations. This article by Who Do You Think You Are describes some excellent online sources for trade directories in England and Scotland, including the National Library of Scotland with over 700 directories available. To learn more about occupations in England, see Goal 4 in the England country page.
2024-01-15 On Vacation: The Tip of the Day is on vacation until January 22. See you then!
2024-01-12 Finding Free Obituaries Online: Obituaries are a great source of genealogical information, but sometimes getting the one you want can be a bit challenging. This recent article shows you how to conduct searches on Google, the GenealogyBank collection in FamilySearch, Chronicling America, and much more. It also describes in detail the types of information you should be looking for when you begin your searches. Check out Goal B5 in the United States page to learn more about obituaries.
2024-01-11 Track Your Progress with a Research Log: As you do your genealogy research, do you know the details of what you've covered and what you've found? This article by Family History Daily shows you how keeping a good research log can not only keep you organized but can actually transform the work you are doing. It has suggestions to help with positive and negative research results, templates and online forms to use, and more. See Goal 1 in Project 4: Discover for additional tips.
2024-01-10 Taking Advantage of Tax Records: Death and taxes are a certainty, but chances are most of us are more familiar with death records than with tax records. You may be surprised to learn that early U.S. tax records can place an ancestor in a specific location and time, confirm land ownership, provide birth, marriage, and death dates, track migration, and more. Get more tips on using tax records in your research in Goal F2 of the United States page.
2024-01-09 Making Good Genealogy Habits: It's a new year, and many of us are thinking about good goals and habits to establish. Noted genealogist Amy Johnson Crow gives us a hand in this concise and helpful blog article. She begins with finding important information in source introductions and concludes with ideas for transferring online discoveries into written examples. You can learn more about effective research strategies in Goal 3 of Project 4: Discover.
2024-01-08 Getting Started with England Research: Three keys to English research are 1) understanding the types of records available; 2) knowing where to find the records; and 3) extracting the information you need for your research. You can get a good start with these tasks in Goal 1 of the England country page. Choice A features articles and videos from Ancestry, the BYU Family History Library, and Legacy Tree, as well as a timeline of events to help correlate records with historical events in England.
2024-01-05 Finding Missing Persons in the U.S. Census: Let's say you suspect, or even have some evidence, that there could be missing family members for a set of parents. How do you go about finding them? This RootsTech article can get you started, with eight effective strategies for locating your missing people, using U.S. census records. For additional census tips and strategies, check out Goal C1 in the United States page.
2024-01-04 Strategies for Finding Marriage Records: If you are searching for a marriage record for one of your ancestors, there may be more ways to find it than you realize. This summary article by Family History Daily covers five important strategies for finding marriage records, such as contacting the state or church where the marriage took place, or finding marriage information in a variety of other records. To learn more about using marriage records in research, see Goal B4 in the United States page.
2024-01-03 Finding Ancestors in Town Records: Tracing early British colonial ancestors can be a challenging task. One of the best resources is using town records in New England and Virginia, as James Tanner explains in this recent BYU video. Resources include free online books, the FamilySearch Catalog, historical societies, and much more. For additional tips on tracing colonial ancestry, check out Goal D3 in the United States page.
2024-01-02 Don't Forget Your Own Story: Doing family history research is an exciting—and extensive—process. Are we forgetting person #1 by neglecting to tell our own story for future generations? In this article by Family History Daily you'll find important tips for preserving your life story to pass down to others. To learn more about creating life stories for you and your ancestors, check out the Choices in Goal 9 of Project 2: Memories, including life sketches and stories as well as journaling.
2024-01-01 Happy New Year!: On behalf of The Family History Guide Association, we wish you a happy and productive year for 2024. We're grateful for your interest in, passion for, and service with family history work. May you discover more ancestors this year, enjoy more family moments, and know how much your efforts are appreciated!
2023-12-29 Tips for Using City Directories: City directories can provide a wealth of information about your ancestors. To get a good introduction to city directories, check out this FamilySearch handout. In the section titled "Uses for City Directories" you'll find 12 ways to connect directories with the research you are working on, such as identifying relationships within a family and determining dates for births, marriages, and deaths. See Goal A2 in the United States page for more information on working with city directories.
2023-12-28 How to Verify an Online Source: If the information we want is online, the temptation is to take what we find at face value. But what if that information was copied from an unreliable source? This article by Kimberly Powell walks you through five steps for verifying online sources in your research, from searching for an original source to dealing with contradictions in records. Learn more about the importance of genealogical sources in Goal 8 of Project 1: Family Tree.
2023-12-20 On Vacation: The Tip of the Day is on vacation and will return on December 28. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!
2023-12-19 Discovering European Archives: There are many useful, free online archive websites where you can search for your European ancestors. In the Quick Research Basics playlist on our YouTube Channel, there is a series of short videos by Miles Meyer that take you on a virtual tour through these archives and how to use them. In these videos you'll find helpful resources for countries including France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, England (British Isles), and Ireland.
2023-12-18 Church Records in Counties and Cities: Church records are one of the most useful genealogical resources in the United States. What you may not know is that there are many smaller collections of church records online, by location. The Ancestor Hunt site provides links to church records by state, including many counties and cities, for a variety of faiths. You can learn more about church records in states in Goal 4 of the state page, such as for Colorado.
2023-12-15 The Gold Mine of Land Records: Land records have a great deal of useful genealogy information, but the legal jargon can be confusing at times. How do you find the facts you need in land records? This article by Yourigins.com gets you started: it explains why land records are important in research, as well as the nuggets of information you can often find there. For more information on land records, see Goal F2 in the United States page or the corresponding Land Goal in the country page of interest.
2023-12-14 Finding Your Italian Ancestors: Do any of your ancestors come from Italy? How do you find them, including those who immigrated from Italy to America? Check out this Ancestry video and this FamilySearch blog article to get you familiar with Italian history, immigration, and language tips. To learn more about Italian records, immigration, and research strategies, check out Goal 1 and Goal 5 in the Italy country page.
2023-12-13 Discovering Mortuary & Funeral Home Records: One useful resource for research that's often overlooked is mortuary and funeral home records. These records include place of death, occupation of the deceased, obituaries, and much more. The Ancestor Hunt website has links for mortuary records in all 50 U.S. states. Learn more about mortuary and funeral home records in Goal B6 of the United States page.
2023-12-12 What's in a Name?: An interesting FamilySearch feature is "Name Meaning" which is found on the About tab of the Person page. This feature gives the likely origins of first and last names for the ancestor, including insights into multiple languages where useful. The info comes from the Dictionary of American Family Names by Patrick Hanks, and the Dictionary of First Names, by Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges. Learn more about surname research in Goal 3 of Project 4: Discover.
2023-12-11 Obituaries for Each County: Published obituaries can be a great resource for family history, as they often include information about the extended family of the deceased person. On the Newspaperobituaries.net site you can search for obituary sources county by county, in each of the 50 U.S. states. To learn more about using obituaries in your research, check out Goal B5 in the United States page, or Goal 3, Choice D in any of the U.S. state pages.
2023-12-08 The Tombstone Transcription Project: Are you searching for burial information for an ancestor? You may find the USGenWeb Tombstone Transcription Project to be a valuable asset. It has many resources, including links for U.S. state pages and links to the corresponding counties. The county pages have available details for names, date of birth, date of death, age at death, and tombstone inscriptions. Learn more about cemetery records in Goal B6 of the United States page.
2023-12-07 A Closer Look at Reading Maps: What information about your ancestors is hiding in plain sight? There may be quite a lot, according to this three-part series of articles in Ancestral Findings. You'll learn about essential types of maps, and how overlays, boundaries, and map features can help you pinpoint ancestor locations and open up new clues for your research. Learn more about using historical maps in the United States page, Goal A2.
2023-12-06 Tips for German Church Records: One of the best resources for your German research is using church records. To get you started, check out this two-part RootsTech video series, Seven Things You Need to Know about German Church Records by Katherine Schober. It covers handwriting, chronology, record formats, translation resources, and more. For additional tips and strategies you can use, check out Goal 3 of the Germany country page.
2023-12-05 Brick Walls and Lessons Learned: Even experienced genealogists may encounter "brick walls" in their research. In this article, noted blogger Amy Johnson Crow describes a 20-year brick wall she faced while doing U.S. Midwest research and the lessons she learned as she finally broke through it. You can find additional tips and strategies for breaking through brick walls in Goal 7 of Project 4: Discover.
2023-12-04 Finding Your Cousins: To put a different perspective on your family tree research, you can search for cousins, which includes whole families (grandchildren, siblings, etc.). This course guide by FamilySearch gets you started with cousin research, including which lines to choose and how to find the records you need. Another good resource is this handout from the Riverton FamilySearch Library. For more ideas and tips, check out Project 3: Descendants.
2023-12-01 Finding a Genealogical Society: The National Genealogical Society has over 1,000 member chapters and associated groups. On their website, you can look up genealogical societies in the U.S. to find a genealogical society to collaborate with on your family history. The Get Help Goals in most countries also have links for international societies. To learn more about genealogical societies, see Project 6: Help, Goal 2, Choice B.
2023-11-30 Your DNA Toolbox: If you have taken a DNA test, you should know there are quite a few free tools you can use to help you use and organize your test results and DNA matches. Examples include GEDMatch, DNA Painter, DNA Match Labeling and more. This blog article by The DNA Geek gives a nice overview of popular DNA tools and what they can do for you. For more information on using DNA tools in your research, check out Goal 6 in Project 8: DNA.
2023-11-29 "Dreaming" of Marriage: Young people may dream about marriage, and genealogists may dream about marriage records. The "I Dream of Genealogy" site is where volunteers have transcribed many thousands of U.S. county records for marriages and other events, and provided them for free online. For example, here is the Indiana page which includes marriage info (some groom-indexed and some bride-indexed) newspaper notices, etc. For more marriage record resources, see Goal 3 in any U.S. state page of The Family History Guide.
2023-11-28 Probate Records Could Be the Key: You might be surprised at the types of family history clues that probate records —legal documents created after someone dies—can provide, especially for earlier research. This article by Family History Daily gives examples of family relationships mentioned in probate records, as well as a handy glossary of probate terms to guide you in your research. To learn more about probate records and how to use them, see Goal F2 in the United States page.
2023-11-27 New Menus and Project Tiles: The Family History Guide website now has a condensed set of menus across the top (and side, for tablets and phones). Also being introduced are the new Project Tile pages, which show all the Goals and Choices for any Learning Path Project on a single page for convenience. You can learn more about the changes to the menus and tiles in this blog article.
2023-11-24 Exploring the National Records of Scotland: When you find a website that combines learning resources with records, you're in for a treat—and that's exactly the case with the National Records of Scotland site. In the Research Guides section you'll find everything from basic vital records to census, military, land, courts, and much more, with summary articles and links. For additional information on doing Scottish research, check out Goal 1 in the Scotland country page.
2023-11-23 Happy Thanksgiving!: The Management Team of The Family History Guide Association wishes you a happy and peaceful Thanksgiving day. We're grateful for all you do to find your ancestors and keep their memories alive and well with us today. We wish you continued success and happiness!
2023-11-22 Collecting Family Stories: Family stories are at the heart of family history. American diplomat Michael Cleverly decided he wanted to make a difference in his retirement years, so he has collected and shared family stories from the past thousand years. He shares his tips for collecting family stories in this brief RootsTech 2021 video. You can see more tips on finding family stories in Goal 8 of Project 2: Memories.
2023-11-21 Why Genealogy? Some people get started with genealogy out of simple curiosity; others have religious or immediate family motivations. What moves you forward in your family history quest, especially when the tasks become challenging or the rewards seem few? In What Makes Genealogy So Important by Ancestral Findings, you'll learn about 12 key reasons why people get involved in genealogy, and how they provide purpose and direction. For additional tips and resources, see the Get Started page.
2023-11-20 On Vacation Today: We'll be back tomorrow with more—see you then!
2023-11-17 The Genealogical Proof Standard Explained: The Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS) is a foundational part of family history, but it's still a bit of a mystery to many researchers. Fortunately there is an excellent article by Marc McDermott in Genealogy Explained, to take you through each step of the GPS. The article also includes a handy flowchart, How to Conduct Research using the GPS, that helps you visualize each part of the process and how it all fits together. See also Goal 8 in FamilySearch Project 1.
2023-11-16 Finding Social Security Info for Research: From Genealogy.com: "For many people born in the nineteenth century before formal birth registration was required, Social Security records can provide valuable vital facts about birthplace and date, death date, or parents' names." This article dives into the background of Social Security and discusses ways you can use SS IDs and the Social Security Death Index to further your U.S. research. Also check out Goal B5 in the United States page.
2023-11-15 Finding Your Ancestors' Cemeteries: With thousands of ancestors in your family tree, that adds up to a lot of final resting places in cemeteries. The FamilySearch Cemetery Sites feature brings it all together for you, with maps, search bars, and cemetery information for your ancestors. This blog article gets you started and provides helpful tips on cemetery research. For more tools and suggestions, check out Goal B6 in the United States page.
2023-11-14 English Odds and Ends: Have you ever been shopping and encountered a store with a delightful array of interesting items? The Family History Directory, a website hosted in the UK, is such a place for genealogists. You'll find links to free records, archives, photographs, maps and more, for England counties, as well as resources for Canada, Ireland, Scotland, and New Zealand. To learn more about England county research, access the links under the main picture on the England page in The Family History Guide.
2023-11-11 Discovering the England 1921 Census: The 1921 Census for England and Wales is available online at Findmypast.com. In 1921, there were 38,000 census enumerators who visited over 8 million households and gathered information on more than 38 million people in all parts of England and Wales. This 1921 Census is especially important for researchers, as the 1931 Census was destroyed by fire, and the 1941 Census was never taken because of World War II. To learn more about England census records, see Goal 4 in the England country page.
2023-11-10 100 Questions for Family History Interviews:
If you're looking for a big list of great questions to ask relatives about their lives, you're in luck. This article from Family History Daily features 100 thoughtful questions you can ask, and it includes some great tips about how to prepare for giving a successful family history interview. For more tips and information on interviewing others, check out Goal 3 in Project 2: Memories.
2023-11-09 Home Page Updates and Learning Tiles: The Home page for The Family History Guide has an updated look, with new Learning Tiles on the left side of the page. The tiles for "Learn FamilySearch" and "Learn Ancestry" open up pages that show Projects, Goals, and Choices all in one place. There is also a "More" link to open tile pages for MyHeritage and Findmypast, as well as other popular options. Check out the new home page and watch for an upcoming blog article with more details.
2023-11-08 Moving from State to State: How did your ancestors get from point A to point B in the United States, and what were the common paths of travel? Understanding the routes and reasons can unlock a whole series of clues for your research. This FamilySearch article has a wealth of information about migration paths between U.S. states, especially in the Pre-1850 Migrations section. To learn more about U.S. migration in research, see Goal F1 in the United States page.
2023-11-07 Same Person, Different Names: Usually we when we see different names in records, they of course belong to different people. But sometimes those different names are actually for the same person, which can make for challenging research. This article by Olive Tree Genealogy describes scenarios where a person may be using different names, and how you can accurately put the pieces together. For more information on dealing with names and conflicting information in research, see Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2023-11-06 Arkivalieronline—One-Stop Danish Research: If you have Danish ancestors, you really shouldn't miss the Arkivalieronine site. Get started with this FamilySearch Wiki article and then check out records for church, census, military, probate, and more. Tip: You can use Google Translate to convert the site pages to English. See the Denmark country page for more resources.
2023-11-03 Exploring Church Records in Norway: One of the best resources for Norwegian research is church records. Denominations besides Lutheranism were allowed in the country only after 1845. You can learn quite a bit about how church records were recorded, what kinds of information they contain, and where to find them in this FamilySearch Wiki article. For more tips on using Norwegian church records, check out Goal 4 in the Norway country page.
2023-11-02 Researching Your Immigrant Ancestors: As you learn about your immigrant ancestors, you may be surprised to discover that there are many types of records to consider. As noted in the RootsWeb article Immigration Research Approaches, these include citizenship papers, alien registrations, passenger lists, passport applications, and more. To explore immigration records in more depth, check out Goal D1 in the United States page, or the corresponding Emigration Goal in the country page of interest.
2023-11-01 Finding Your Ancestors in Cities: Ancestry Academy has a great collection of short videos titled Street Smarts: Finding Your Ancestor in the Big City. Sample video topics include Urban Ancestors on the Move, City Directories, and Getting to Know Your Ancestor's Community. (Note that Ancestry Academy videos require a free account to access.) To learn more about tracking your city ancestors, see Goal A2 in the United States page.
2023-10-31 Don't Be Afraid ... of Cemeteries: On this Halloween day, what better topic to discuss than cemeteries? In her video Don't Be Scared of Cemeteries, expert genealogist Amy Johnson Crow offers some reassuring tips on how to make the most of cemetery research, including tombstone markings and cemetery office records, as well as some practical examples for how to use the information gleaned from a visit. You can find out more about successful research in cemeteries and graveyards in Goal B6 of the United States page.
2023-10-30 Simple but Effective Search Tips: How you approach that records search dialog in FamilySearch, Ancestry, or other platforms can have a lot to do with successful results. This FamilySearch article spells out some record search tips you may not have thought about, such as which fields to leave blank, searching by last name or place only, and searching unindexed records. To find additional search tips for FamilySearch, check out Goal 4 in Project 4: Discover.
2023-10-27 Discovering FreeUKGenealogy: As you explore research for your ancestors in the British isles, check out the FreeUKGenealogy site for some great resources. It includes FreeReg for parish records, FreeBMD for birth, marriage, and death records, and FreeCen for free census records, all in the United Kingdom. This video demonstrates FreeReg, and this video gives an overview of Free BMD. For additional help, see the British Isles entries in the Countries menu of The Family History Guide.
2023-10-26 Luck of the Irish: Exploring Church Records: A great place to start or continue your research for Irish ancestors is with church records. In Goal 5 of the Ireland Country page you'll find links to great resources, such as research articles and videos, parish records, Irish Catholic records, and more. One of these is A Guide to Church Records in Ireland. Check out the rest of the Ireland Country page for more ideas and resources.
2023-10-25 This Land Is Your Land!: One of the biggest incentives for people settling the western United States was the promise of free or cheap land to settle on. The BLM (Bureau of Land Management) site is a great place to find records created by the U.S. government for land transactions. You can search for land "patents" by name, location, or type of land, to find mention of your ancestors. For more information on working with U.S. land records, see Goal F2 in the United States page.
2023-10-18 On Vacation: The Tip of the Day is on vacation from October 18-24 - we'll return with more tips on Wednesday, October 25. See you then!
2023-10-17 Family History and the War of 1812: Even if you don't have a direct ancestor who served in the War of 1812, the chances are good that some family members may have been affected by the war, as David Rencher (now Chief Genealogy Officer for FamilySearch) explains in this Ancestry Academy video. It's part of a collection of 12 brief videos that explore history, pension records, state militia records, and more. You can learn about research for the War of 1812 in Goal E2 in the United States page.
2023-10-16 Finding the Pastors and Ministers in Your Tree: Church activity was an essential part of life in early America, across many denominations and neighborhoods, and pastors and ministers kept things rolling along. Our Family Tree is a website with over 400,000 pastor and minister records, including links to churches where the leaders served and their biographical info on the Internet Archive. To learn more about church records for research, see Goal F1 in the United States page.
2023-10-12 The Churches of U.S. Immigrants: Church records are a great genealogical resource, and tying them to U.S. immigrants can make them even more useful. On the FamilySearch Wiki is a U.S. Church Records handout. A ways down the page is a remarkable chart: it contains the names and origin countries of immigrant churches, the predominant U.S. states where the churches grew, and the types of records that were kept by the churches. To learn more about U.S. church records, see Goal F1 in the United States page.
2023-10-11 Youth Activities for Latter-day Saints: One of the Youth pages in the Family History Guide has a link to Ward and Stake Activities. You can use these for planning and carrying out family history activities for Latter-day Saint youth, from scavenger hunts to Mission Possible to Rockin' the 50's, and more. There links to downloadable materials to personalize the activities and make them come to life. See also the Latter-day Saints Youth page.
2023-10-10 The Stories Behind the Photographs: If a picture is worth a thousand words, there are lots of stories waiting to be told. This RootsTech article by Maureen Taylor shares tips and ideas for turning ancestor photos into engaging stories. You'll learn how to recognize stories behind photos, research clues, and timeframes, as well as find helpful writing tips to get you started with your storytelling. For more ideas on telling ancestor stories, check out Goal 8 in Project 2: Memories.
2023-10-09 Activities Planning Sheet: In the Activities menu of The Family History Guide, you can find the Activities Planning Sheet. It's a Google spreadsheet that you can download, print, and save in a variety of formats, to help you track the activities you have done or plan to do. The sheet lists all the family history activities on the site and has columns for date, planning notes, notes for next time, and a rating of 1 to 5 for each activity.
2023-10-06 Researching Women in World War II: While we often focus on finding information about male ancestors in World War II, we should remember that many women also served in the war effort. This Archives.com article gets you started with history and resources for research. To learn more about records and research for ancestors in World War II, see Goal E2 in the United States page.
2023-10-05 Discovering Scandinavian Church Records: As you search for your ancestors in Scandinavia, you'll find that church records are a great tool for expanding your family tree. In this three-part video series from RootsTech 2021, genealogist Jenny Hansen explains how to establish a parish of origin, as well as how to read and understand christening, marriage, and burial records. See also the Church and Cemetery Goals for Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.
2023-10-04 Finding Revolutionary War Ancestors with DAR: The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) organization has a terrific database for doing research on Revolutionary War patriots. You can do searches for a variety of records, such as the Revolutionary War Pension Index, and even display a list of all known descendants of a selected ancestor. The indexes often include listings of family members and their relationships to the patriots. For more help with Revolutionary War research, check out Goal E2 in the United States page.
2023-10-03 Three Things to Avoid in Your Research: Sometimes it's the subtle things that trip us up. In this well-crafted article, expert genealogist Amy Johnson Crow points out three common mistakes we make in research. What's especially interesting is that we are tempted to fall into these bad habits over and over again, as we extend our research and examine more records for ancestors. To learn more about common problems in research habits and how to avoid them, check out Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2023-10-02 Voting Records:
Voting records can be a great resource for researching your ancestors in the United States. In Goal 3 of each State page in The Family History Guide, Choice E has a link to a FamilySearch article that points you to census and voting record resources at the county and district levels. Here's an example for Georgia. There are also practice exercises for selected states that give you an inside look at information in voting records.
2023-09-29 Timelines from Census Records: Creating a research timeline from one or more census records can be a good way to find genealogy clues. In Ancestry's Timelines that Produce Answers, you'll learn how to get started with census timelines and discover additional information you may not have seen, including links to migration and historical events. For more tips and guidelines on creating and using timelines for research, check out Goal A4 in the United States page.
2023-09-28 Passenger Lists, Era by Era: In Unlock Your Family Story with U.S. Passenger Arrival Records by FamilySearch, you'll discover that there are basically three eras of records: Passenger Lists before 1820, Customs Passenger Lists from 1820 to 1891, and Immigration Passenger Lists from 1891 to 1906 (which also extends to 1957). The article describes the types of information collected about passengers during each of these eras. Learn more about passenger lists in Goal D2 of the United States page.
2023-09-27 Book a Trip to the Library: According to Legacy Tree Genealogists, "Public libraries can be one of the most overlooked resources in family history research, and are one of the most valuable. Even the smallest one might hold the largest historical collection in the surrounding area." This blog article gets you acquainted with the large online libraries as well as the research possibilities that can open up when you visit smaller local libraries and work with librarians. To learn more about using library resources in your research, see Goal F5 in the United States page.
2023-09-26 Finding Your German Town of Origin: One of the keys to establishing your research in Germany is locating the town of origin for an immigrant ancestor. In Goal 1 of the Germany country page there is Town of Origin section with some helpful links to get you started, such as articles about record types and strategies for German towns of origin, by Price Genealogy. You'll also find a brief video by Ancestry Academy for additional insights.
2023-09-25 Speeding Up Cluster Research: Doing cluster research, or FAN (Friends, Associates, Neighbors), can be a powerful way to break through research barriers, but it can also demand a lot of time. This Genealogy TV video shows how to speed up and organize cluster research, by combining census records with spreadsheets. Selective filtering is used to identify and isolate possible ancestor records in large amounts of data. To learn more, check out Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2023-09-22 Is That What It Means?: Some of the basic terms we use today for family relationships didn't always mean the same thing in years gone by. According to this brief article from Genealogy.com, older records may hold different meanings for "niece and nephew," "brother and sister," "junior and senior," and "in-laws." You can find out more about older medical terms, Latin terms, and name and word spellings in Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2023-09-21 Finding Research Clues in Photos: There are valuable research clues in many old photographs. How do you find them and bring them to light? The free PhotoTree website may be just what you're looking for. It has identification tips by era, a gallery of 1,000 historical images, and plentiful case studies that walk you through the identification process. To learn more about using photographs in your family history research, check out Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2023-09-20 Beginning World War II Research: Finding ancestors who served in the U.S. military in World War II can be challenging, partly due to a loss of records because of a 1973 fire in the National Archives in St. Louis. A good place to get started is with this Amy Johnson Crow YouTube interview, which explains how to track enlisted soldiers and find their records. To learn more about World War II research, see Goal E2 in the United States page.
2023-09-19 FamilySearch Catalog - Practice: The FamilySearch Catalog has online entries that enable you to find many genealogical items in the FamilySearch Library. To help you develop your search techniques for the Catalog with hands-on exercises, check out these articles: FamilySearch Catalog Class and Find - FamilySearch Catalog. For more about the FamilySearch Catalog, see Goal 5 in Project 4: Discover.
2023-09-18 Introducing Class Outlines: Preparing family history training just got a whole lot easier with the arrival of the new Class Outlines in The Family History Guide. Each class is based on a single Google slide with customizable Speaker Notes that point you to highlights on the website for the topic. You can also use the Class Outlines for individual learning; as of this time, there are 28 ready to go, with many more on the way, covering basic and United States research. Check them out in the Trainers menu.
2023-09-15 Exploring FamilySearch with TreeFind: The BYU Family History Technology Lab has created an interesting tool for searching your part of the FamilySearch tree, called TreeFind. It can produce a list of direct-line ancestors, ancestors missing a parent, ancestors tied to important U.S. or world history events, and more. It can also save search results to a spreadsheet and location info to a downloadable .kml file for Google Earth.
2023-09-14 Discovering Old Letters and Postcards: Looking for an interesting and productive way to learn more about your ancestors? Check out this video from Genealogy TV's Constance Knox, titled Top 5 Reasons to Transcribe Old Family Letters and Postcards. #1 is Discover Details that may be new to you, and #2 is Story Telling for tips on including what you learn in your ancestors' stories. For more about finding important information in your family documents, see Goal 1 in Project 2: Memories.
2023-09-13 Finding Vital Records in France: In the France country page of The Family History Guide, there are a number of resources that help you find vital records (birth, marriage, and death) for ancestors. Goal 3: Civil Registration provides links to articles and videos by FamilySearch and Thoughtco, as well as an extensive QUIKLinks section for searching online record collections. Be sure to click the Provinces link to see additional QUIKLinks for each province in France.
2023-09-12 The Review Process: What about "completed" information in your tree—is it worth thinking about again? Review documents, records, and sources that are already in place, as they may have valuable clues for finding additional family members and lead to new discoveries. You can also review what you have already concluded about family lines, based on the additional information you have found in records and documents. See Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover for more ideas on evaluating and reviewing family history information.
2023-09-11 The Value of Cemetery Records: As pointed out in this Ancestry article, cemetery records can provide clues about ancestors that would be difficult to find anywhere else, such as children who died young, names of women not specified in census records, etc. The article also describes a wide variety of records, including church burial registers, sexton's records, plat records, and more. To learn more, see Goal B6 in the United States page or the Church and Cemeteries Goal in a country of interest.
2023-09-08 Genealogies and Trees: The FamilySearch tree is a single, shared and global tree. You might not be aware that FamilySearch also has a Genealogies collection of many others, including trees for entire communities, oral genealogies, and partner trees, to assist you with your research. Check out this RootsTech video for details, and learn more about the FamilySearch Genealogies page in Goal 5 of Project 4: Discover.
2023-09-07 Finding Your Female Ancestors: It can be a challenge tracing female ancestors in your tree, because of name changes at marriage and other reasons. Ancestry Academy has a free series of videos that are focused on helping you with researching your female ancestors. Topics include general strategies and finding records for the women, their husbands, their children and siblings, plus a helpful case study. For additional tips on finding female ancestors, see Goal B4 in the United States page.
2023-09-06 The 1940 Census—Next Steps: After finding your ancestor in the 1940 Census, where do you go next to discover more information about the person? This article by James Tanner in LDSGenealogy.com suggests a wealth of record resources that are related to what you may discover in the 1940 Census, including city directories, voting records, land and property records, place of birth, and more. To learn more about what's in the 1940 Census and how to use it in your research, see Goal C2 in the United States page.
2023-09-05 Finding Marriages at Greta Greens:
If you're having trouble finding a marriage record for an ancestor couple, consider that they may have eloped. Two characters from "Pride and Prejudice" did just that, crossing into Gretna Green in Scotland where marriage laws were much less restrictive than in England. This Legacy Tree article (scroll down) has more info about Gretna Green, including a list of over 50 modern-day "Gretna Green"-type towns in the United States. For more strategies on finding marriage records, see Goal B4 in the United States page.
2023-09-04 Canadian Emigration:
From the FamilySearch Wiki: "The first large emigration from Canada was between 1755 and 1758 when 6,000 French Acadians were deported from Nova Scotia. Some settled temporarily in other American colonies and in France. Many eventually found permanent homes in Louisiana, where they were called "Cajuns." During the "Michigan Fever" of the 1830s, large numbers of Canadians streamed westward across the border. By the late 1840s, over 20,000 Canadians and newly landed foreign immigrants moved to the United States each year. California gold fever attracted many, beginning in 1849." See also Goal 5 in the Canada page.
2023-08-25 History, Land, and Property: From James Tanner—"Doing genealogical research without a knowledge of history is like wandering in a forest without a compass or map. Land and property records are not generally classified as genealogical records; they are mainly historical records that contain information about your ancestors." You can learn more about land and property records in Goal F2 of the United States page, as well as in corresponding Goals in the Country pages.
2023-08-24 Interviewing Reluctant Relatives: Noted blogger and genealogist Sunny Morton describes six qualities an interviewer should emulate when interviewing a relative who is reluctant to open up: sensitive, caring, brave, curious (but respectful), and patient. She also provides tips on using each of these qualities in interviews. For more info on preparing for family history interviews, see Goal 3 in FamilySearch Project 2.
2023-08-23 Birth Record Alternatives: When you can't find a birth record for an ancestor, that doesn't have to be the end of the story. This article from Ancestor Hunt describes how to find and use 27 resources for finding birth information, including military records, naturalization papers, birth announcements in newspapers, and much more. For more information about using alternatives to birth records, see Goal B2 in the United States page.
2023-08-22 Germany Church Records: Church records can be a great resource for tracking your ancestors in Germany. In The Family History Guide, check out Goal 3 of the Germany country page. You'll learn how to find church records on FamilySearch, how to explore the Archion.de database for Protestant Church records, Matricula Online for Catholic records, how to coordinate German church and town records, and more.
2023-08-21 Research in the Southern Colonies: If you have ancestors who lived in the colonies of Virginia, North or South Carolina, or Georgia, you may find that research there can be a challenge. This Family Locket article provides some helpful tips on working around missing vital records by focusing on maps and legal documents to get the clues you need. For more tips and suggestions on doing research in the Southern states, see Goal A3 in the United States page.
2023-08-18 What You May Have Missed in the 1930 Census: The 1930 U.S. census is a go-to resource for most researchers. Still, it has are a few unique features that you might not be aware of. This Ancestral Findings article highlights those features, such as new fields dealing with marriage, housing, employment, race and more. For additional tips and worksheets for the 1930 U.S. census, check out Goal C2 in the United States page.
2023-08-17 Tracing U.S. Midwest Immigrants: Many of us have immigrant ancestors who lived in the Midwest part of the United States. You can find handy tips for finding their locations in this article from Price Genealogy. Using Minnesota as an example, the article explores sources where immigrant information can be found, such as the census, death certificates, church records, and more. To learn more about doing research in the Midwest United States, see Goal A3 in the United States page.
2023-08-16 Simple but Effective Search Tips: How you approach that records search dialog in FamilySearch, Ancestry, or other platforms can have a lot to do with successful results. This FamilySearch article spells out some record search tips you may not have thought about, such as which fields to leave blank, searching by last name or place only, and searching unindexed records. To find additional search tips for FamilySearch, check out Goal 4 in Project 4: Discover.
2023-08-15 Location Research - a Game Changer: Here's an interesting quote to think about, from Family History Daily: "... often, location research can reveal as much or more about an ancestor as the vital records you've likely already collected." As the article explains, researching ancestors' communities, towns and states can lead to finding more records and building a much more complete picture of their lives and family situations. To learn more about location research, check out Goal A2 in the United States page.
2023-08-14 The Ellis Island Experience: According to this article in GenealogyInTime Magazine, about 1/3 Americans can trace their ancestry through Ellis Island, a small island off the coast of New York's Manhattan. The article explains travel patterns of families, cases where immigrants might be rejected, how names were recorded, and more. For additional tips on tracking immigration through Ellis Island and other U.S. ports, see Goal D2 in the United States page.
2023-08-11 What Are the Records You Need?: If you were to put together a list of important record types to look for, what would it contain? You can find a good example on the Genealogy One-on-One site. It's helpful for both new and experienced researchers, with links to over 30 essential record types and pages with descriptions and tips for using them. To learn more about the types of records you'll need for your research, visit Goal A1 in the United States page.
2023-08-10 Discovering Census Mortality Schedules: From 1850 to 1900 the U.S. census included mortality schedules to collect information about deaths occurring in the past 12 months before the census. According to this Legacy Tree article, these schedules can sometimes provide information for researchers that would otherwise be unavailable, such as details on causes of death, and names of children who died under the age of 10. To learn more about U.S. census schedules, check out the Maps and Schedules section in Goal C1 of the United States page.
2023-08-09 Finding Local Histories: One of the best ways to bring your ancestors' stories to life is to learn about the history of where they lived. With today's technology you can do that both visually and textually. This FamilySearch article describes three websites that can be go-to resources for learning about and exploring local histories. To learn more about local history and genealogy, see Goal A4 in the United States page (scroll down to Local Histories).
2023-08-08 Hidden Stories in City Directories: City directories can be a great resource for finding ancestor information. This handout from RootsTech 2019, presented by the Family History Fanatics group, introduces you to directories and then explores ways to uncover stories about your ancestors that may be hidden in them. Examples of info to look for include job changes, name changes, moves, etc. To learn more about using city directories in your research, check out Goal A2 in the United States page.
2023-08-07 Using the "No Name" Search: So you have a record for an ancestor, and you'd like to find additional records for that person‐but online searches are not yielding results. It may be time to explore the "no name" search, where you focus on other information besides the ancestor name, to widen the search net. This Family History Daily article explains the steps to follow to get the results you need. For more tips on effective search techniques, see Goal 6 in Project 4: Discover.
2023-08-04 Canada Archives and Libraries: The Libraries and Archives Canada site is a great resource for finding a wide variety of information about your Canadian ancestors. There is an A to Z Index you can browse, and you can also find information by topic or by type. To search for ancestors in their databases, use the Ancestors Search link in the Search the Collection menu. See also Goal 11 in the Canada country page.
2023-08-03 Dealing with Aliases and Name Changes: Tracing your ancestors can be challenging enough without worrying about multiple names for the same person. If people in your family tree have changed their names at some point or have aliases, this Legacy Tree article will help. It provides several real-life examples and solutions for name dilemmas in research. For more tips on dealing with name challenges, see this section in the Vault.
2023-08-02 3 Tips for Ancestry Searches: If you'd like to get more effective search results in Ancestry while saving valuable time, check out this article from the Ancestry Help Center. It explains how to use the Card Catalog, filters, location searches, Soundex, and spelling variations in your searches. For more information and tips on searching historical records in Ancestry, see Project 4: Research, Goal 4 (Search Records) and Project 4: Research, Goal 5 (Search Collections).
2023-08-01 Exploring the Internet Archive: One of the largest repositories of internet information (and genealogical information) is the Internet Archive site. You can find millions of free books, photos, stories, histories, and much more, to expand your genealogy research. Check out this RootsTech video, as well as Goal F5 in the United States page, for tips on exploring and using the Internet Archive.
2023-07-31 The WANDER Method:
According to expert genealogist and blogger Amy Johnson Crow, the research path is not so much a straight line; rather, it has twists and turns along the way. The "WANDER" method helps you stay on course: W = What do you want to find; A = Analyze what you already have; and N through R are explained in her blog article. For more ideas on how to use effective research strategies, see Goal 3 in Project 4: Discover.
2023-07-28 Understanding England Civil Registration: To get started with England civil registration records, check out the Quick Research Basics video on our YouTube Channel. It's narrated by Kathryn Grant and covers topics such as the history, geography, and indexes for English civil registration. You can learn more about it in The Family History Guide, in Goal 3 of the England country page, where this video is also available.
2023-07-27 Finding Your Immigrant Ancestors: Discovering your immigrant ancestors' stories can open up research possibilities and provide unique insights into your ancestors' lives. In this LegacyTree article you'll get a look inside the immigration experience and find tips for tracing ancestors from specific countries and ethnicities, as well as discover 15 practical tips for researching immigrant ancestors. Learn more about immigration strategies in Goal D2 of the United States page.
2023-07-26 The Other Half of Research is Writing: According to expert researcher Harold Henderson, we are often in such a hurry to find new genealogical information that we don't take the time to "put the meat on the bones." In his article Why We Don't Write, and How We Can, Henderson takes us through the process of breathing life into family history findings, while accomplishing the three "P's" ... Prove our conclusions; Propagate our findings; and Preserve our information. Explore more tips for writing family history stories in the Vault section of The Family History Guide.
2023-07-25 Finding Offline Vital Records: Vital records are the backbone of your family tree, but it may surprise you to learn that the majority of vital records are still not online. In this Family History Daily article you'll discover where these offline records can be found and how to order them—in many cases for free—whether from private or government sources. Learn more about using vital record in your research in Goal B1 of the United States page.
2023-07-24 Happy Pioneer Day!:Today, July 24, is the day that the first Mormon pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake valley in what would later be the state of Utah. If you have Mormon pioneers in your ancestry or would like additional information about them, there are some helpful resources in Goal F1 of the United States page (scroll down): the FamilySearch Pioneers website; the Early LDS Pioneer database; and the Latter Day Saint Ancestral Families Association.
2023-07-21 Early U.S. Census Records: Census records in the U.S. from 1790-1840 listed only the heads of households by name, with tick marks for children. Are these records still worth searching? Check out Early Census Research on the BYU Family History Library YouTube channel and this article by Ancestral Findings for some practical tips on locating children and other information from early census records. Learn more about these records in Goal C2 of the United States page.
2023-07-20 The Power of Siblings: Many of us, of course, grew up with brothers or sisters in our homes. When it comes to genealogy, those siblings can be a key to helping you solve challenging research problems, as explained in this article from Family History Daily. The article includes case studies in the U.S., Ireland, and Italy that focus on sibling research, and it has quite a few practical tips. Learn more about creative problem solving methods in Goal 7 of Project 4: Discover.
2023-07-19 Finding Trade Directories in the U.K.: An often overlooked resource for tracing your ancestors in the United Kingdom is trade directories, which list occupations and locations. This article by Who Do You Think You Are describes some excellent online sources for trade directories in England and Scotland, including the National Library of Scotland with over 700 directories available. To learn more about occupations in England, see Goal 4 in the England country page.
2023-07-18 Working with County Boundary Changes:
Over time, there have been many changes to county boundaries in U.S. states, which can make finding your ancestors even more challenging. To see interactive maps of where boundaries were for any given decade, you can use the Newberry site or the RandyMajors site. See also the United States page, Goal A2, for more details on using maps in research.
2023-07-17 Tips for Family History Reunions: Family history reunions can be fun and meaningful events that bring relatives together and provide an opportunity to share family history information with each other. This article by Janet Hovorka features five practical tips for planning and holding a successful event, including recipe sharing, family skills and talents, storytelling, and more. To learn more about family history reunions, check out Goal 3 in Project 6: Help.
2023-07-14 Exploring the British National Archives: As explained in this Legacy Tree article, the British National Archives has an extensive collection of free online genealogy records to assist you in your research. You can use the advanced search feature to narrow down search results, and you can download wills and other documents from the site. For documents that have not yet been digitized, you can request a search for a small fee. Learn more in Goal 8 of the England country page.
2023-07-13 Discovering the Digital Public Library of America: Looking for a free online site that joins resources from libraries and archives across the United States? The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) may be just what you need, according to this article from Family History Daily. You'll get an overview of what's available on the site, as well as examples of a variety of family history records found in the DPLA. To learn more about research with archives and libraries, see Goal F5 in the United States page.
2023-07-12 Back to Basics with U.S. Vital Records: Can you name the four basic types of U.S. vital records? Or which records were kept at the state level and which at the county level? This FamilySearch article by Jill Shoemaker answers these questions and many more about what vital records are, where to find them, and how to use them. To learn more about vital records in the United States, check out Goal B1 in the United States page.
2023-07-11 Optimizing Your Searches on the Internet: Are you searching FamilySearch and Ancestry records, and that's about it? If so, you're missing some great possibilities in your research. Check out this new BYU Family Library History video by Maureen Brady, titled Optimizing Your Searches on the Internet. You'll learn how to expand your reach and search "broad" sites such as Cyndi's List, Chronicling America, Fold3, and more. For additional tips, see Goal 6 in Project 4: Discover.
2023-07-10 Genea-Blogs and "40 Places to Find Help": Genealogist Randy Seaver recently shared his list of favorite blog articles for the week of July 2-8, and at the top of the list was 40 Places to Find Family History Help by Bob Taylor. It covers help resources in The Family History Guide, FamilySearch, and other sites and physical locations where you can get help with a wide variety of family history topics. For more ideas, check out the Help Goals for many of the countries, states and provinces in The Family History Guide.
2023-07-07 Records at the County Level: Besides your basic vital records, what other types of records are available to access in U.S. counties? This FamilyEducation article describes an interesting variety of county records, with tips on how to use them effectively. They include records for guardianships, apprentices, taxes, voting, and more. See also the County and Town Resources section in Goal A2 of the United States page.
2023-07-06 Legal Terms in Records: As you research county and court records, marriage licenses, birth and death certificates, etc. you'll come across legal terms that may be unfamiliar to you. There's a helpful article titled Genealogy and the Law that points you to a glossaries and definitions for many legal terms. For example, decedent, relict, and dower look similar to other common words but are very different in meaning. Learn more about definitions and glossaries in the Terms to Know section at the bottom of this page in The Family History Guide.
2023-07-05 Finding Ancestry Researchers: There may be a number of Ancestry users who are researching some of the same people you are. You can find these users with the Member Search feature in Ancestry, focused on research interest. Click the Research Interest tab, and you can specify the Last name, Location, and Year for ancestor events you are interested in. You'll get a list of users with links to their public trees with names in common. See also Ancestry Project 5: Help for more collaboration tips.
2023-07-04 Happy Independence Day!: The Family History Guide wishes you a happy and safe 4th of July. If you have U.S. ancestors—and so many of us do—why not check out the collection of United States pages in The Family History Guide. You'll find tips and resources for general records, vital records, census, immigration, military, church, land, and many other types of records. Plus, there are research pages for each of the 50 U.S. states and Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico.
2023-07-03 How Naturalization Works: In the Colonial period up to 1790, how did naturalization (becoming a U.S. citizen) work? After 1790, what were the changes in the process? This FamilySearch article provides clear and simple explanations, as well as types of naturalization, forms that were used, exceptions to the process, and where to find the records. Learn more about U.S. naturalization and how it affected your ancestors in Goal D2 of the United States page.
2023-06-30 Getting Un-stuck in your Genealogy: Chances are good that at some point you've been stuck on one or more lines in your family tree. How do you get "un-stuck" and start moving ahead? This article from Findmypast has some practical suggestions for finding new records and getting help from others, to get past your genealogy roadblocks. You can find more tips for breaking through your brick walls in Project 4: Discover, Goal 7.
2023-06-29 Lost County Records: In your research you may eventually see a situation where the county records you are looking for have been burned or otherwise destroyed. What are your alternatives? This RootsTech video provides some helpful case studies for working around destroyed records at the county level. For more tips on dealing with limited or missing records in research, check out the Records Information topic in Goal A1 of the United States page.
2023-06-28 Go West! Resources for Ancestors in the Western U.S.: In addition to state pages for 13 western states, The Family History Guide also has a helpful section for doing research in the western United States. You'll find helpful resources there, including two series of videos from FamilySearch and a summary article of Ancestry links for western states. To learn more about doing research in the Western United States, see Goal A3 in the United States page.
2023-06-27 Strategies for Finding Marriage Records: If you are searching for a marriage record for one of your ancestors, there may be more ways to find it than you realize. This summary article by Family History Daily covers five important strategies for finding marriage records, such as contacting the state or church where the marriage took place, or finding marriage information in a variety of other records. To learn more about using marriage records in research, see Goal B4 in the United States page.
2023-06-26 Digging through Layers of Source Records: Paleontologists are scientists who uncover the past by discovering fossils and analyzing them. Genealogy also has its layers of research records, according to James Tanner. At the top you'll find records that are widely available and easy to search, such as census records. Near the bottom you can find "gold" in records from archives, libraries, and historical societies. For more about records and research strategies, see Goal 3 in Project 4: Discover.
2023-06-23 Three Types of Evidence: As you work with records in your research, you'll discover three types of genealogical evidence: direct (directly answers a question), indirect (shows a pattern or connection), and negative (information that should be there but isn't). In this Ancestry video, Crista Cowan explains "direct" at 2:55, "indirect" at 3:50, and "negative" at 6:00, and there is a detailed case study on negative evidence at 12:30. For more on evidence types, see Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2023-06-22 Church Records—A Video Series: A valuable but often overlooked source for genealogy is church records. This series by Ancestry Academy contains 13 brief videos that cover baptismal, marriage, and burial records for a variety of denominations, as well as tips for finding records and examples of reading and using the records in research. To learn more about church records and what they offer, see Goal F1 in the United States page, or the Church and Cemetery Records Goal in a country of interest.
2023-06-21 Finding Ancestors with Few Records: What can you do when you have an ancestor who seems to have little or nothing recorded about his or her life? This article by Ancestral Findings provides some practical strategies, such as using family naming patterns, researching neighbors, and finding research clues in local newspapers. For more information on working with records, see the Record Information heading in Goal A1 of the United States page.
2023-06-20 Research Basics on FamilySearch: FamilySearch has a page at the bottom of the Help Center called Research Basics (next to Family Tree Basics, which features The Family History Guide). This page has a series of 18 lessons, including basic computer skills such as split screen, handling images, and Google searches, as well as the Research Process and using the FamilySearch Wiki. For more information on learning research basics, see Goal 2 in Project 4: Discover.
2023-06-19 Overlooked Genealogy Clues in Records: In the Ancestral Findings article 3 Overlooked Clues in Genealogical Documents, these helpful information clues are discussed: 1) the year of immigration, in U.S. Census records; 2) the names of witnesses in deeds, wills, and other legal documents; and 3) death certificate informants, who are usually relatives of the deceased. For more information on the types of information you can find in various records, see Goal A1 in the United States page.
2023-06-16 After Your DNA Test ... If you are considering a DNA test for family history, it's good to know what to expect from the results and what steps to take to interpret them. This article from the Collecting Cousins site has a good overview, including DNA basics and terms, websites with free resources, help groups for DNA research, and more. For additional tips on different types of DNA tests and the information they provide, check out Goal 2 in Project 8: DNA.
2023-06-15 What Are the Records You Need? If you were to put together a list of important record types to look for, what would it contain? You can find a good example on the Genealogy One-on-One site. It's helpful for both new and experienced researchers, with links to over 30 essential record types and pages with descriptions and tips for using them. To learn more about the types of records you'll need for your research, visit Goal A1 in the United States page.
2023-06-14 Finding Ancestors in Irish Census Records: The Family History Guide has a helpful section on using census records in Ireland to find your ancestors. There are overview articles and videos, QUIKLinks for searching census records from 1821 to 1911, resources for census substitute records, and much more. There is also a new Practice Exercise for using census records, as well as information on exploring Irish electoral rolls in your research.
2023-06-13 How Immigration Affected Surnames: One of the challenging aspects of tracing immigrant ancestors is dealing with name changes in the United States. According to this Family Education article, name changes occurred for a variety of reasons, including a wish to sound "American," using occupational names, dropping certain letters from the original language, etc. Learn more about names and U.S. immigration in Goal D1 of the United States page.
2023-06-12 Exploring Canadian Census Records: One of the best ways to find and track your recent Canadian ancestors is through census records. In Canada, national censuses have been conducted from 1851 to 1921, and some regional censuses are available from 1825 to 1926. In Goal 3 of the Canada country page, you'll find QUIKLinks to all these census records, plus resources that include articles and videos, worksheets, and more, to help you with your Canadian research.
2023-06-09 Finding Protestant Ministers in America: Do you have an ancestor who was a Protestant minister? The List of Pastors and Ministers page has listings for over 320,000 pastors and ministers in the U.S. It includes links to churches of service and lets you do searches by name, location, and other occupations, You can see transfers between church locations, and an About page has clues for tying information together from other sources. For more on Protestant church records, see the Protestant page in the Faiths menu.
2023-06-08 The Q&A Center: Check out The Q&A Center in The Family History Guide (Intro and Trainers menus). The page links to four Google spreadsheets you can view and download: FamilySearch and Partners, Research Essentials, United States Research, and Countries Research. Each sheet has tabs with common questions asked about family history and links to where to find the answers in The Family History Guide. The Q&A Center is great for self-study or for group training, as well as for consultants and trainers.
2023-06-07 Tips for Ancestry Hints: One of the most recognized icons in genealogy is the shaky leaf on your Ancestry tree indicating there is a record hint for an ancestor. But how reliable are the hints, and what else do you need to know about them? This article by genealogy expert Amy Johnson Crow gives you an inside look at Ancestry hints and how to use them for best results. You can learn more about working with these hints in Goal 5 of Ancestry Project 2: Family Tree.
2023-06-06 About Migration Patterns: Why did your ancestors move from place to place, and why did they choose a location to settle? According to this article by genealogist James Tanner, the answers to these questions can open up insights for finding new information in your research. He also poses questions you can ask about your own family situation to get you started in the thought process. For more tips on understanding ancestor migration, see Goal F1 in the United States page.
2023-06-05 Free Resources for English Ancestry: Many of us have ancestral roots going back to England. The "Who Do You Think You Are Magazine" site highlights what it considers the best 25 free genealogy websites for doing genealogy research in the U.K. You can find additional resources as well as research strategies in Goal 1 of the England country page.
2023-06-02 Learning Geography, Culture, and History: Many of the Country pages in The Family History Guide have Goals for the geography, culture, and history of the particular country. These Goals are typically the last ones in each of the header areas, and they provide useful context to help you with your research in various locations. For example, here is a link to the Geography, Culture, and History Goal on the France page.
2023-06-01 Benefits of Joining a Genealogical Society: As the annual convention kicks off for the National Genealogical Society in Richmond Virginia (and yes, The Family History Guide is there in the Exhibit Hall), you might be wondering about the benefits of belonging to a genealogical society. This brief RootsTech video highlights eight important reasons to join, such as research help, local area experts, speakers and presentations, and more. Get additional info about genealogical societies in Goal C1 of the United States page.
2023-05-31 Finding Your Ancestors in the U.S. Census: Census records are one of the easiest genealogical sources to use, and they can give you a picture of a broader geographical area for your research. This article by Marc McDermott is a great place to start: it gives a brief history of the U.S. census, the types of data that were captured, limitations of the records, and practical tips for searching the records for your ancestors. For more tips on using U.S. census records in your research, see Goal C1 in the United States page.
2023-05-30 Using Naturalization Records: A great way to discover your immigrant ancestor to the United States is through naturalization records, which document U.S. citizenship. This Findmypast blog article gets you started, as it discusses naturalization petitions, state record resources, and tips for exploring records. You can find out more about naturalization records in Goal D2 of the United States page, which also discusses researching passenger lists.
2023-05-29 Finding Military Records for Your Ancestor :
Memorial Day and Veteran's Day are great times to reflect on the lives of our ancestors who served in the military. This article by LegacyTree offers tips for finding military records, including draft registrations, pension documents, bounty land warrants, and more. For additional tips and resources about military research, see Goal E1 in the United States page, or the military records Goal in a country page of interest.
2023-05-26 Tips for Writing and Publishing a Family History:
Has your family history writing project stalled? Or does it read more like a research paper instead of a story? Then check out Writing and Publishing a Family History: 10 Steps, presented by Penelope Stratton of the New England Historical Genealogical Society. The blog article summarizes the ten steps to follow, and there is a link to the corresponding RootsTech video that provides more details. To learn more about developing storywriting skills, see Goal 9 in Project 2: Memories.
2023-05-25 Starting Your Norway Research:
Researching Norwegian ancestors? Get off to a good start with the Norway country pages. There are Goals for basic research, census records (featuring DigitalArkivet), churches and cemeteries, emigration, and more. You will also find QUIKLinks to help you locate records faster and easier, a Get Help Goal, and a summary of geography, culture, and history.
2023-05-17 Finding The Family History Guide, on FamilySearch: FamilySearch has updated their Help and Learning pages, and The Family History Guide is featured as a training resource for learning FamilySearch Family Tree. One of the new pages is called Family Tree Basics, and here's the path to finding it: Help icon (main FamilySearch screen) > Help and Learning > Build Skills - Learn More (lower right) > Family Tree Basics. We are grateful for the confidence FamilySearch has placed in us to refer people to our site for family history learning!
2023-05-16 Deciphering Ancestor Nicknames: As you search through records and sources, sometimes you may find an ancestor listed with a nickname. Some are fairly common, such as Joey for Joseph (and sometimes what appears to be a nickname may actually be the given name). But what about names like Sadie or Tad— what would be the given names, if those are nicknames? Check out this article by Thoughtco that has an extensive list of nicknames and given names in English. You can learn more about name variations in Project 4: Discover, Goal 6.
2023-05-15 Using School Yearbooks for Research: School yearbooks are a great source of nostalgia and fun, but they can also be a useful resource for genealogy research. In this article in the MyHeritage Education Center, genealogist Thomas MacEntee offers 10 tips for finding research clues in yearbooks, as well as a list of resources that can help you locate school yearbooks online. To learn more about how yearbooks can help in genealogy, check out Goal F1 in the United States page.
2023-05-12 Keeping a Family Journal: How well do you remember the small, touching experiences that have happened in your family through the years? A good way to preserve those memories is to create and keep a family journal. In her article 24 Ways and Reasons to Keep a Family Journal, blogger Trina Holden shares tips for making journals a fun and meaningful family experience. You can find additional tips on creating and sharing journals in Project 2: Memories, Goal 9.
2023-05-11 England Cemetery Research:
Before the Burial Acts of 1852 and 1853, most people were buried in church graveyards. The Burial Acts enabled the town officials to purchase and use land as civil graveyards. Private companies also maintained cemeteries before and after this time. Civil cemetery registers are located at local archives or libraries or are held by the group controlling the cemetery. For more information on cemetery resources, see Goal 6 in the England country page, or similar Goals in the England county pages.
2023-05-10 Asking the Right Genealogy Question: At the heart of focused, effective research there are questions. These questions are specific and designed to help you gather needed information about an ancestor. This article from the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society does a great job of explaining how to ask the kinds of questions that will get results in your research. For more tips on questions to ask, see Goal 2 in Project 4: Discover.
2023-05-09 Finding Civil War Records: If you have a male ancestor born in the U.S. between 1830 and 1850, he may have served in the Civil War. There are many Civil War records available online, and this FamilySearch article offers some helpful tips on working with dates, locations, and Civil War regiments. Goal E2 in The Family History Guide also has an Intro video for Civil War research, as well as links to many other helpful articles and videos.
2023-05-08 It's a Hint ... or Is It?: One of the most tempting pieces of genealogy information is a record hint - it's packaged and delivered to your tree (FamilySearch, Ancestry, etc.) ready to be added. But as this Family Tree Magazine article points out, there's some due diligence that needs to be done before accepting a hint, from checking document images to dissecting hint information, and more. For tips on using hints, see Goal 9 in FamilySearch Project 1, and Goal 5 in Ancestry Project 2.
2023-05-05 Starting Your Mexican Genealogy Research: We recently published a two-part video series about research in Mexico, narrated by James Tanner. The first video gets you started with the history and culture of the Mexican people, and the second video explores record collections and strategies to use in doing research in Mexico. To learn more about Mexican research, check out the articles, videos, and databases in the Mexico country page.
2023-05-04 Luke ... He Is Your Father: In honor of Star Wars day (May the Fourth be with you), here is an interesting article from Family History Daily that highlights unusual places (no Death Stars) to find missing parents for ancestors in your tree. There are tips for working with census records, city directories, newspapers, and more. (Although not as popular as the movie, the article does have nearly 100,000 shares.) For more tips, see Next Steps in the Vault section.
2023-05-03 Exploring Early U.S. Tax Records: Tax records in the United States can tell us where a person was living and the personal net worth, but there's a lot more that can be learned from them, according to this RootsTech 2022 video from Lisa Ratzlaff. The video covers state and county taxes and how to decode them, from 1776 to 1850, which is a period where other research records may be scarce. For more about using tax records in research, see Goal F2 in the United States page.
2023-05-02 Tips for England Census Records: As you track your ancestors in England, you may find the 1841 and 1851 Censuses to be of great help. You can find a number of useful tips for using these census records in A Date Guide to English Genealogy, Part III from the GenealogyInTime website. It explains the types of information found in these census records, how to avoid incorrect assumptions, and how to find additional clues for research. To learn more about England census records from 1841-1939, see Goal 4 in the England country page.
2023-05-01 5 Things to Do with Each Record: When you find a record for an ancestor, the typical thing to do is to write down all the genealogical clues in it. But what other activities should be on your checklist? This brief Ancestry video describes five things to do with each record you find, to keep your research on track and moving forward. Learn more about record information, including access links for the above video, in Goal 1 of the United States page (scroll down to Record Information).
2023-04-28 Through the Eyes of the Parish Priest: The Family History Guide has a Hispanic Research section with links to many helpful resources for research. One of these is a series of short videos from FamilySearch, with the theme of "Through the Eyes of the Parish Priest." It covers strategies for finding and using a variety of Catholic Church records in Latin America, including baptism, marriage, burial, and confirmation. To learn more about Latin American resources, check out Goal 2 in the Hispanic section.
2023-04-27 Distances and Travel Time in Research: In terms of geography and time, how far apart could life events happen within a family? The answers may surprise you, according to this article by James Tanner. Getting from point A to B took much longer in earlier days, for a variety of reasons. That would have a direct impact on where and when family events would have happened, and when it's more likely that events belong to a different person or family than the one you are researching. Learn more about location strategies in Goal A2 in the United States page.
2023-04-26 Hometown Clues for Research: While some of your ancestors may have lived in many places in their lives, most of them probably settled down in a specific place for a number of years. What do you know about their hometowns? As this Family Education article points out, there are many genealogical clues waiting to be discovered in local libraries, including books, vertical files, county histories and more, some of which may also be online. For more on town research, see Goal A2 in the United States page.
2023-04-25 Top 10 Mistakes, and How to Avoid Them: Doing genealogy research can be rewarding at times and frustrating other times. Some of that frustration can occur when you fall into easy-to-make mistakes. This Thoughtco article outlines 10 common mistakes that researchers make (especially beginners), from handling names and dates to immigration strategies, and how to avoid them. For more information on correcting myths and mistakes in genealogy, see Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2023-04-24 Writing a Life Sketch:
When you decide to put together a life sketch for an ancestor, these tips from Legacy Tree Genealogy may come in handy: 1) Begin with an interesting story or detail; 2) Widen the national and historical context for events in your ancestor's life; and 3) Add visuals, such as Google Maps pictures of places where they lived, historical maps, etc. For more ideas, read this blog article and see Choice B in Project 2: Memories, Goal 9.
2023-04-21 Successful Visits to Libraries and Archives: One of the most popular videos at RootsTech 2023 has been Melissa Barker's 10 Things Genealogists Should Do Before they Leave a Library or Archive. You can select to view it on YouTube and then click the Chapters arrow to see the 10 tips at a glance, some of which include asking about specific archives, files, and collections. To learn more about research in archives and libraries, see Goal F5 in the United States page.
2023-04-20 Tips for Canadian Research: Locating your ancestors in Canada often depends on knowing Canadian regions and their history. In Family Tree Magazine's brief article titled 7 Canadian Genealogy Tips, you'll find guidelines for finding helpful information on places, provincial archives, Canadian ethnic groups, censuses and more. To learn more about Canadian research, check out the Goals in the Canada country page or explore the individual province pages.
2023-04-19 Newspaper Sources You're Likely Missing: It's pretty well-known that newspapers can be a valuable resource for genealogy, providing obituaries and social history for places where your ancestors lived. As expert researcher Amy Johnson Crow points out in 3 Kinds of Newspapers Every Genealogist Should Know, there are some unusual types of newspapers that are often overlooked but can be rich in information and clues. You can learn more about using newspapers in your research in Goal F4 in the United States page.
2023-04-18 Citing Your Research Sources: As the saying goes, genealogy without sources is mythology. Adding citations to sources is the next step in solid research. This Thoughtco article explains why citations are helpful, the two basic types of sources to cite, and rules for creating citations. It also discusses a variety of records and how citations can be applied to them. For more, see the Add Sources Goals in the Family Tree Projects for FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, and Findmypast.
2023-04-17 Jurisdictions and Boundaries: Two of the most important things to know about a genealogical record are who created it (the jurisdiction) and where it was created (county, state, or country boundaries). The Understanding Boundaries and Jurisdictions video from RootsTech 2022 gives a solid background on these topics, including administrative divisions, place names, and terms to know for your research. Also check out Goal A2 in the United States page for more tips.
2023-04-14 The Next Level: How do you move your research skills to the next level? What are the skill levels that people typically go through as they start looking for ancestors and move forward in research? The answers to these questions can be found in this interesting article by James Tanner. He uses census records as a starting point and then describes the challenges and opportunities that follow. For more tips on developing your family history research skills, check out Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2023-04-13 Starting Your Research - Four Things to Know: What advice would you give to those who are starting their family history journey? In this RootsTech video, genealogist Jenny Hansen shares four things she wishes she had known back when she was starting to do research, starting with Have a Focused Research Goal. You can find more tips for research strategies in Goal 3 of Project 4: Discover, and more tips for starting research in the Vault.
2023-04-12 Finding Female Ancestors: An essential part of filling out your family tree is finding the female ancestors in your lines, whether direct-line or children in families. The Family History Guide has two sections to help you get started and go farther in finding your female ancestors. In the United States page, go to Choice C in Goal B4 for some helpful tips and strategies. And in the Vault, you'll find plenty of additional resources, with links to over 20 articles and videos to explore for researching female ancestors.
2023-04-11 Family Tree and the Genealogical Proof Standard: One of the benefits of working on the FamilySearch Family Tree is that it's a collaborative effort. However, that's also one of the challenges, as sometimes sources are lacking for ancestors, or changes are made without proper evidence. This Family Locket article does a deep dive into how to use the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS) to guide the changes you make in Family Tree. See Goal 8 in FamilySearch Project 1 for more about the GPS.
2023-04-10 Archives and Libraries:
In all the U.S. state pages of The Family History Guide and in most of the Country pages there is a Goal for using archives and libraries. (It's usually Goal 2 on the page but may vary with countries.) These Goals offer great resources for using online archives, as well as tips for visiting archives and libraries in person. Here's an example for Massachusetts Archives and Libraries, Goal 2 and another for Finland Archives and Libraries, Goal 2.
2023-04-07 Is Your Research Accurate?: According to the Ancestral Findings site, there are five ways to tell if your research is accurate. Although these are not guarantees, they are definitely helpful: 1) Find the same information in multiple sets of records; 2) Find research from others that matches yours; 3) Gather sources that provide evidence; 4) Look for secondary evidence to back up your assumptions; and 5) Get evidence from DNA test results. Learn more in Goal 7 of Project 4: Discover.
2023-04-06 Research with Google News: Would you like to browse old newspapers quickly and easily, looking for ancestor clues? It's easy to do at Google News, using the Newspapers section. You can browse through the long list or use the alphabet links at the top of the page. Select a newspaper issue, click the page, and start reading. You can also zoom the view. For more information on research with newspapers see Goal F4 in the United States page, or the Newspapers Goal in the corresponding Country page.
2023-04-05 The Art of Taking Notes: What makes for a good genealogy note-taking system? That's a question that expert genealogist Amy Johnson Crow addresses in this blog article. She suggests a combined approach that handles notes and a research log, and she describes ways to stay organized with research notes that will help you save time and get better results. For more information on using notes and logs in your genealogy research, see Goal 1 in Project 4: Discover.
2023-04-04 Reading Old Handwriting: Whether you're doing indexing or examining online records for research, you're likely to come across handwritten information that's hard to decipher. With these handwriting tips and examples from Findmypast, you'll be on your way to making sense of what you're seeing in records, phrase by phrase and letter by letter. Learn more about working with old handwriting in Goal 6 of Project 5: Indexing.
2023-04-03 Discovering Old Letters and Postcards: Looking for an interesting and productive way to learn more about your ancestors? Check out this video from Genealogy TV's Constance Knox, titled Top 5 Reasons to Transcribe Old Family Letters and Postcards. #1 is Discover Details that may be new to you, and #2 is Story Telling for tips on including what you learn in your ancestors' stories. For more about finding important information in your family documents, see Goal 1 in Project 2: Memories.
2023-03-31 Finding Unindexed Records in the FamilySearch Catalog: Did you know that there are actually more unindexed records in the FamilySearch catalog (about 2 billion) than indexed records (about 1.5 billion)? This video by James Tanner explains how the FamilySearch Catalog is organized and provides tips for locating unindexed records, which don't show up when you do historical record searches in FamilySearch. To learn more about using the FamilySearch catalog see Goal 5 in Project 4: Discover.
2023-03-30 Finding Research Clues in Insurance Maps: Sanborn Insurance Maps, available on the Library of Congress website, provide details for many city locations. In many cases, the maps can help identify old buildings shown in photographs and may give valuable clues as to the churches and businesses in the area where you are searching for your ancestors. For more information, see Sanborn Insurance Maps - an Overlooked Genealogical Resource).
2023-03-29 Records for Women Serving in World War I: When doing research for ancestors involved in World War I, we typically focus on the male lines. You may be surprised to know that there are quite a few records available for women who served in different capacities in the war, such as the Army Nurse Corps and the Red Cross, according to this blog article by A3 Genealogy. The article also has a link to a helpful video about women in World War I. For more about tracing World War I ancestors, see Goal E2 in the United States page.
2023-03-28 Italian Civil Registration:
If you have not been using the Portale Antenati for your Italian civil registration research, it's time to dive in to that amazing database to find your ancestors. Learn more about a variety of civil registration and vital record resources in Goal 3 of the Italy country page. You'll also find QUIKLinks to records for the entire country and for regions in Italy.
2023-03-27 Activities for Children:
There is a fun place in The Family History Guide especially for children: the Kids Corner. It has 70 engaging activities, with categories such as My Family Tree, Group Fun and Games, My Memories, and Family History Stories. The content on the pages is written at a language level that's comfortable for kids, and there are instructions for parents and other adults to help them get the best results in the activities.
2023-03-24 Probate Records: The transfer of a person's property after death are collectively referred to as probate actions. Probate records may include wills, bonds, petitions, accounts, inventories, administrations, orders, decrees, and distributions. Probate records are essential for research because they often pre-date the birth and death records kept by civil authorities. The Family History Guide has Goals for probate records in the United States, each U.S. state page (see the California page for example, as well as in most Country pages.
2022-03-23 Using the David Rumsey Map Collection: Historical maps can provide a wonderful window into the details of your ancestors' lives. The 
David Rumsey map collection is a useful and free resource for finding these maps, in just about any country in the world. You can browse the digital maps by location, category, or year, to help you pin down locations and place names for your ancestors. For more information on using maps in your research, see Goal A2 in the United States page, or the Maps Goal in your country of interest.
2023-03-22 Going Dutch - Getting Started with Netherlands Research: Finding your Dutch ancestors and learning about them can be an exciting venture. Goal 1 in the Netherlands country page introduces you to the basic research tools and strategies you'll need, to be successful in the hunt. Two of the articles of note are 4 Pro Tips for Finding Dutch Family History Resources by Legacy Tree, and this 2019 RootsTech article. For more, explore the additional Goals for the Netherlands.
2023-03-21 The Ellis Island Experience: According to this article in GenealogyInTime Magazine, about 1/3 Americans can trace their ancestry through Ellis Island, a small island off the coast of New York's Manhattan. The article explains travel patterns of families, cases where immigrants might be rejected, how names were recorded, and more. For additional tips on tracking immigration through Ellis Island and other ports, see Goal D2 in the United States page.
2023-03-20 Research Clues, at Home: Usually we think of finding research clues in online record collections, or in libraries or archives that we may visit. But there may be valuable pieces of evidence right under our own roof. How to Find Research Clues in Your Family Mementos explains how to locate your missing information in letters, postcards and more, and how to organize it all for best use. See more ideas for gathering photos and documents in Goal 1 of Project 2: Memories.
2023-03-17 Finding Irish Records: Happy St. Patrick's Day! Although many Irish records were destroyed in a fire at the Public Record Office in Dublin, you can still find a great number online. Two great sources are Findmypast and Ancestry. This video describes collections available on Findmypast (there's also an extended video version) and this article has tips for searching Ancestry collections of Irish records. There are also links to databases of Irish records in Goal 1 of the Ireland country page.
2023-03-16 Free Genealogy Books on Google: Did you know that there are thousands of free eBooks related to genealogy, on Google Books? To get started, go to this link. Then use "genealogy" as the search term to find a list of genealogy books, including compiled family research, surnames, etc. You can click the Read button to see the text in the book, and you can click eBooks for download options, or use the "Search this book" field to find the text you want within the book. For more about free genealogical books, see Goal F5 in the United States page.
2023-03-15 Canadian Church Records: Three-fourths of all Canadians claim affiliation with one of four churches: the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Church of Canada, The United Church of Canada, or the Presbyterian Church in Canada. The Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church kept more detailed records than some other religions. Other groups, especially those that did not baptize infants, often did not keep church registers unless required by law. Common church records include baptism, marriage, and burial. Learn more Canadian church records in Goal 4 of the Canada page.
2023-03-14 Finding Early Immigrants: The U.S. government didn't require arriving ships to keep passenger lists until about 1820. If you have ancestors who may have immigrated before then, there are still places you can check, as noted in this article in Family Tree Magazine. Resources include ship and cargo records from Boston and Philadelphia, records of ancestor court cases, etc. For more about early colonial research, see Goal D3 in the United States page.
2023-03-13 County Archives: For an inside look at using county archives for research, see the United States page, Goal F5, Choice D. You'll find tips on handling and exploring all sorts of documents and heirlooms in county storage, including books, photos, manuscripts and scraps, which may provide great genealogical clues. The tips are courtesy of a blog site run by the "Archive Lady," a county archivist in Tennessee.
2023-03-10 Reading Spanish Records: Many of us have a number of Latin American or Hispanic ancestors somewhere in our family trees. Knowing the basics of reading and understanding Spanish records can be very helpful. In the Hispanic Project, check out Choice C in Goal 1. You'll learn the essentials of the Spanish alphabet, handwriting tips, words and dates, and tips for the types of records you'll be using. For more about Hispanic research, see Goal 1 and Goal 2 in the Hispanic Project.
2023-03-09 Finding Death Records: In addition to death certificates, there are actually quite a few places where you can find death information for your ancestors. The Findmypast blog article titled 9 Places to Find Information About Your Ancestor's Death explores resources such as the Social Security Death Index, gravestones, probate records, church records, and more. For more about death records, check out Goal B5 in the United States page, or the Vital Records Goal in the country page of interest.
2023-03-08 Why Genealogy? Some people get started with genealogy out of simple curiosity; others have religious or immediate family motivations. What moves you forward in your family history quest, especially when the tasks become challenging or the rewards seem few? In What Makes Genealogy So Important by Ancestral Findings, you'll learn about 12 key reasons why people get involved in genealogy, and how they provide purpose and direction. For additional tips and resources, see the Get Started page.
2023-03-07 Social History Makes Ancestors' Stories Come Alive: Do we see the lives of our ancestors as a collection of names, dates, and places, or do we see the rich tapestry of people and events that shaped their lives? In this three-part video series, Miles Meyer explores the importance of adding social history to family history, including sources for finding social history and case studies that show how that integration can be done. For more about history in your ancestors' lives, see Goal A4 in the United States page.
2023-03-06 Exploring the British National Archives: As explained in this Legacy Tree article, the British National Archives has an extensive collection of free online genealogy records to assist you in your research. You can use the advanced search feature to narrow down search results, and you can download wills and other documents from the site. For documents that have not yet been digitized, you can request a search for a small fee. Learn more in Goal 8 of the England country page.
2023-03-06 Finding Irish Towns: When doing Irish research, you'll find that location is often the name of the game. The Irish Townlands website is a great resource for pinning down places in Ireland where your ancestors may have lived. Arranged from large to small, its entries include counties, baronies, civil parishes, electoral divisions, townships, and sub-townships, with corresponding maps and links to genealogy resources for the locations. For more info, see Goal 9 in the Ireland country page.
2023-03-03 Finding Irish Towns: When doing Irish research, you'll find that location is often the name of the game. The Irish Townlands website is a great resource for pinning down places in Ireland where your ancestors may have lived. Arranged from large to small, its entries include counties, baronies, civil parishes, electoral divisions, townships, and sub-townships, with corresponding maps and links to genealogy resources for the locations. For more info, see Goal 9 in the Ireland country page.
2023-03-02 100 Questions for Family History Interviews:
If you're looking for a big list of great questions to ask relatives about their lives, you're in luck. This article from Family History Daily features 100 thoughtful questions you can ask, and it includes some great tips about how to prepare for giving a successful family history interview. For more tips and information on interviewing others, check out Goal 3 in Project 2: Memories.
2023-03-01 Gazetteers:
A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary or index. It typically contains useful information about locations, churches and synagogues, civil registration offices, schools, and more. Online gazetteers such as Kartenmeister (Prussia, Poland, Germany) enable you to search by keyword. You can find links to gazetteers in most Country pages in The Family History Guide, in the Maps and Gazetteers Goals.
2023-02-28 Researching Protestant Church Records: In the Faiths menu, you'll see an entry for Protestant research. This page has Choices with links to articles and videos for the following denominations: Baptist, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Quaker, and others. In the header area there is also a link to the Research by Country page, which connects you with Protestant resources for a number of countries in the world.
2023-02-27 Using Cluster Research: Also known as FAN (Friends and Neighbors), cluster research is where you trace the people living near your ancestor, or those who knew your ancestor, to gain additional research clues. Local city directories and newspapers can be helpful in this regard. In Goal 7 of FamilySearch Project 4, Choice D has links to several articles and a video that explain how to get started with cluster research for selected ancestors.
2023-02-24 Tips for Google Searches: It's pretty well known that you can use Google to search for ancestor information online. However, your Google searches might not be returning the information you need: too much, too little, or off track. In this ThoughtCo article, Kimberly Powell shares some handy tips for using search operators to get better results, as well as strategies that can keep you moving in the right direction. To learn more about using Google searches in genealogy, see Goal 6 in Project 4: Discover.
2023-02-23 Take Another Look:
From Amy Johnson Crow: "My question for all these years has been, 'When and where did Matilda die?' ... I hadn't looked for Matilda on FamilySearch for a while, so I started exploring. And there she was. Matilda McFillen in FamilySearch's collection, 'Illinois Deaths and Burials, 1749-1999.' Death in 1899 in Kankakee County, Illinois." This shows the value of checking the major sites for new record collections, as they are frequently being added and made accessible. Learn more about breaking through research brick walls.
2023-02-22 What's Next? Ten Ideas to Keep You Going: Has your family history momentum stalled? Or do you sometimes feel like you need a need a change of pace with your routine? Here is a great list of ten things you can do to jump-start your efforts, courtesy of GenealogyAtHeart. The ideas include planning for the future in your research, identifying areas of growth and learning, reaching out to others to discover missing pieces of information, and more. For more ideas on tasks and to-do lists, see Goal 1 in Project 4: Discover.
2023-02-21 The Whys of Immigration:
Look for reasons that made your immigrant ancestor move in the first place. In a family tree, a person may be listed as living in a certain location and then moving to another location that does not make any sense. Usually, it turns out that the second person is in fact a different person. If you find information about an ancestor that runs counter to the normal migration pattern, this is an invitation to do more intensive research into the history surrounding the family. Learn about U.S. immigration here, or see the Immigration Goal in the country page of interest.
2023-02-20 State Census Records:
Individual U.S. states have conducted their own census surveys for many decades, sometimes between the years of the regular U.S. Federal Census schedule. In The Family History Guide, each of the U.S. state pages has Goal 3: Vital and Census Records, Choice E, where you can find valuable information about using census records for the selected state. For example, here is the one from the California state page.
2023-02-17 Family History Reunions: Have you thought about holding a family history reunion? It can be a fun and meaningful event, where family members get the chance to mingle, enjoy activities, and share family history information with each other. This article by Genealogy Explained provides a list of tips so you can plan ahead for a successful event, such as invitations, location, food, and more. To learn more about family history reunions, check out Goal 3 in Project 6: Help.
2023-02-16 Probate Records Could Be the Key: You might be surprised at the types of family history clues that probate records —legal documents created after someone dies—can provide, especially for earlier research. This article by Family History Daily gives examples of family relationships mentioned in probate records, as well as a handy glossary of probate terms to guide you in your research. To learn more about probate records and how to use them, see Goal F2 in the United States page.
2023-02-15 Passenger Lists—10 Things to Know: When you are on the trail of finding an immigrant ancestor or family, passenger lists can be a great resource for finding the information you need. Ancestry's 10 Things to Know: Passenger Lists provides a practical list of ways to get started with passenger research, including timelines and search tips. You can find additional tips and guidelines for using passenger records in Goal D2 of the United States page.
2023-02-14 Marriages in the News: A helpful but often underused way to find marriage-related information is in newspapers. This RootsTech 2022 video provides tips for searching online newspapers to find weddings, engagements, bridal showers, elopements, divorces, and anniversaries, using additional keywords besides just the name and "marriage" in the search. For more tips on finding marriage information, check out Goal B4 in the United States page.
2023-02-13 English Surnames: Many of us have ancestry from England, so learning about English surnames can be interesting and useful for research. This article from BYU's English Ancestors site gets you started with an overview, research tips, distribution of surnames throughout England, surname variants, and other information. To learn more about English surnames and their distribution, check out Goal 1 in the England page.
2023-02-10 Immigration to and through Canada: Many people came from Great Britain to Canada in the 1800's, and a number of them continued on at some point to the United States. To help you track your ancestors' arrivals and migrations, check out Goal 5: Emigration in the Canada country page. In Choice A, note the resources for passenger lists and the article titled Finding Your Lost Ancestors in Canada. Naturalization records are discussed in Choice B, and additional resources are included in Choice C.
2023-02-09 A Guide to Vital Records: The Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness website has a series of free research guides available for download. One of them is for United States vital records. It includes background information on birth, marriage, divorce, and death certificates and how to order them. It also discusses how other types of records, such as census, church, cemetery, and court, can supplement vital records and provide additional research clues. For more tips on working with vital records, see Goal B1 in the United States page.
2023-02-08 Tips for a Great RootsTech 2023: RootsTech 2023 is now just three weeks away! If you are planning to attend in person, remember that the early-bird special price is expiring soon, so be sure to get your registration finished right away. Whether you're coming to Salt Lake City or attending RootsTech virtually, you'll want to check out this RootsTech preview from Jen Allen, with plenty of good Q&A about the event. "See" you there!
2023-02-07 Relationships in U.S. Census Records: As you browse through census records online, you'll need to decide whether and how the people listed are related to your ancestor. As explained in this Ancestry video, relationships in the records could be stated or implied, or you could infer the relationship from the information provided. The video also offers additional tips for evaluating relationships in census records. To learn more, check out Goal C1 in the United States page.
2023-02-06 Finding Female Ancestors: Finding the female ancestors in your tree can sometimes be a challenge. Maiden names may be missing, and customs in the past focused more on men than women. In this article from Archives.com, Lisa Alzo offers five practical tips on finding your female ancestors, from census records to locating friends. Check out additional useful tips in Goal B4 of the United States page.
2023-02-03 Historical Context for Your Ancestors: Names, dates and places are the the backbone of genealogy, but there is so much more to an ancestor's story. Understanding the historical context of ancestors' lives helps you see their lives in perspective, and it often leads you to more research clues. Watch the Somewhere in Time video from RootsTech for tips, or use the Info button (in Choice B) to quickly find video topics such as county histories, journals, manuscript collections, and more.
2023-02-02 Danish Research:If you have Danish ancestors, or think that you might, the Denmark country page in The Family History Guide is a great place to find them and learn more about them. There are tips for basic research, as well as for census, church, and cemetery records. There is also a Goal for Arkivalieronline, a handy database for looking up information on Danish ancestors. And Goal 14 finishes up with some great resources for learning about the culture, geography, and history of Denmark.
2023-02-01 Now That's an Interesting Story! Some family history stories are a bit on the dry side, but others draw us into the lives and places of the characters we are reading about. The difference may be how well you are weaving history into the story. The RootsTech blog article Flesh Out Your Family History Stories with Historical Context shares some great tips for blending history and narrative, to help your family history stories come to life. For more tips on creating engaging family history stories, see Project 2: Memories, Goal 8.
2023-01-31 Tracing Your Ancestry with Photos: Photographs are a wonderful way to capture and share memories of your family, but they can also provide you with valuable clues in your genealogy research. This article by Explore Genealogy provides some basic pointers on how to identify timeframes and locations in photos, leading you to more information about your ancestors. For additional ideas on using photographs in your research, check out Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2023-01-30 Exploring GenGuide for UK and Irish Research: If you have yet to discover the free GenGuide site, you are in for a treat. It's one of the largest information sources for British and Irish research, with links to thousands of source articles, record collections, and contact organizations. You can use the Search bar to find what you are looking for, or browse through entries on the site alphabetically. For more information on UK and Irish research, select your country of interest in the Countries menu (British Isles) or from the All Countries page.
2023-01-27 Swedish Church Records:
One of the best resources for Swedish research is church books. The Slaktdata.org website provides a database of transcribed church records you can search. It also provides a name search feature for people, as well help information for searching. Record information includes birth, estate inventory, moving information, etc. For more information on Swedish church records, see Goal 4 in the Sweden country page.
2023-01-26 Types of Marriage Records: How many types of marriage records are you familiar with? It may surprise you that there are actually quite a few. In this Thoughtco article by Kimberly Powell you'll learn about an interesting variety of records, such as marriage banns, contracts, certificates, consent affidavits, and more, all of which may provide clues for your ancestor research. See Goal B4 in the United States page for more tips on using marriage records.
2023-01-25 Birth Record Alternatives: When you can't find a birth record for an ancestor, that doesn't have to be the end of the story. This article from Ancestor Hunt describes how to find and use 27 resources for finding birth information, including military records, naturalization papers, birth announcements in newspapers, and much more. For more information about using alternatives to birth records, see Goal B2 in the United States page.
2023-01-24 Tips for Searching Old Newspapers: Before the Industrial Revolution of 1840, newspapers tended to focus on politics, trade, and news from far away. This Findmypast article (scroll down to last entry) explains how to shift your focus when working with 18th- and 19th-century newspapers, to find different types of ancestor clues than you would look for in modern newspapers. For more tips and information on searching online newspaper collections, see Goal F4 in the United States page.
2023-01-23 Geneopardy: From the BYU Family History Technology Labs, Geneopardy is a fast-paced family history game that helps you learn about your ancestors, while enjoying a friendly competition with family or friends. The link above logs you in to FamilySearch on your account, where you can select categories such as Places, People, Dates, or Facts. Learn more about Geneopardy in this blog post.
2023-01-20 Free Genealogy Books on Google: Did you know that there are thousands of free eBooks related to genealogy, on Google Books? To get started, go to this link: https://books.google.com/googlebooks/about/free_books.html. Then use "genealogy" as the search term to find a list of genealogy books, including compiled family research, surnames, etc. You can click the Read button to see the text in the book, and you can click eBooks for download options, or use the "Search this book" field to find the text you want within the book. For more about free genealogical books, see Goal F5 in the United States page.
2023-01-19 England Probate Records: As you go farther back in your research in England, probate records (legal transfer of property, such as wills) can be a helpful resource. The BYU Discovering English Ancestors site has a page dedicated to getting started with English probate research. It covers both pre-1858 and post 1858 eras, with 1858 being when record keeping switched from church-based to civil-based. You can find more information in Goal 5 of the England country page.
2023-01-18 City Directories by State: City directories can provide many additional research clues about the people living in a town or urban area. The Ancestor Hunt website has a great collection of free city directories, arranged by U.S. state. Most of these are also linked from the state pages in The Family History Guide, in Goal 2, Choice B for each state. To learn more about using city directories, see Goal A2 in the United States page.
2023-01-17 Finding Time for Family History:
Does your schedule seem busy and hectic at times? You can do meaningful family history activities in small pieces— anywhere from 10 minutes to two hours at a time can be useful and rewarding. Check out Fitting Family History into Your Life for examples. It's on the 15 Minutes a Day page, along with other great resources for keeping family history alive in your life.
2023-01-16 Breaking through Barriers in African American Research: If you have African American ancestry, chances are you have run into a challenge or two in your genealogy research. In the African American pages of The Family History Guide, check out Goal 5. It has tips for meeting research challenges and offers several DNA test case studies. It also provides guidelines for finding ancestors before the Civil War. For help beginning your African American research, see Goal 1: Get Started.
2023-01-13 Dates and Events: From Genealogy.com: "... put more faith in the record that was created closer to the event or was created by the individual himself. For example, a birth date on a birth record is more likely to be accurate because it was created at the time of the event. A birth date on a marriage certificate has fairly good chances of being accurate because the individual probably wrote down his own birth date. A birth date on a death certificate has smaller chances of being accurate: first, it was created several years after the actual birth, and second, someone other than the individual had to have provided the birth date on the death certificate." Learn more about record information in Goal A1 of the United States page.
2023-01-12 Discovering Irish Placenames: One of the interesting challenges of doing Irish research is understanding the names for places where ancestor events occurred. Fortunately, the Logainm.ie website can help. On that site you can search for placenames, download a glossary and maps of place types, find historical maps and illustrations, browse places by Irish county, and more. For additional help with Irish names, see Goal 1 in the Ireland country page.
2023-01-11 Using Keywords in Ancestry Searches: Ancestry.com has a huge number of useful record collections from around the world. If your searches are not turning up the results you need, this tip from the Genealogy Research Journal might help. It explains how using the Keyword box can make a difference, especially with searches in online newspaper collections and city and town directories. Check out additional tips for successful Ancestry searches in Goal 6 of Project 4: Research.
2023-01-10 The Immigrant Ancestors Site: Between 1821 and 1924, about fifty-five million Europeans emigrated, many of them to the United States. Brigham Young University hosts a helpful website for tracking ancestor migrations, called Immigrant Ancestors. Here you can search passenger records from Ireland, Germany, Italy, and England, and other countries by archive or by ancestor name. For additional information on passenger lists for immigrants, see Goal D2 in the United States page.
2023-01-09 Small-Town Newspapers:
Once you find your ancestor mentioned in a rural or small-town newspaper, it's a good idea to search the rest of the issue for mention of other relatives, as they were frequently mentioned there as well. The Chronicling America site is a good place to start your newspaper searches; it has millions of free online newspaper records, from 1690 to the present day. You can also find links for historical U.S. state newspapers on the Ancestor Hunt website.
2023-01-06 Passport Applications: Passports were issued in the United States as early as 1789, and prior to 1856 individual states could also issue them. The genealogy information found in passport applications can be quite extensive. This FamilySearch blog article provides a good introduction to using passport applications for research, and Choice B in Goal D3 of the United States page has additional resources to help you learn about passport records.
2023-01-05 German Words and Scripts: If you are doing any research on German ancestors, or plan to do some in the future, you may enjoy this video on our YouTube Channel: German Records, Words, and Scripts. It provides good information on getting familiar with German words and names in records, and it includes a link to a German script generator so you can create examples of phrases in the German script you choose. To learn more about German words and handwriting in your research, see Choice D in Germany Goal 1.
2023-01-04 Forming a Research Strategy: In this new year of genealogy, one of the keys to successful research is developing a good strategy to work with. In Project 4: Discover, Goal 3, The Family History Guide has a brief introductory video by James Tanner to get you started, and the Strategies section in Choice A has additional resources such as A Guide to Research from the FamilySearch Wiki. Be sure to check out the other resources for strategies in Choice A.
2022-12-26 On Vacation: The Tip of the Day is on vacation until January 4, 2023. Happy New Year, and thanks for all you do for family history work!
2022-12-26 Sharing Timeline Documents with Ancestry LifeStory: One of the challenges of sharing your research findings is doing it in a way that's simple and inviting for others to read and explore. This article by genealogist Annette Kapple explains how the LifeStory feature in Ancestry can help you present your documentation and keep it organized as you go forward with research. The article also presents a research case study showing how LifeStory was used. Learn more about LifeStory in Goal 4 of Ancestry Project 3.
2022-12-23 Access to Catholic Records: From Findmypast: "The Catholic church maintains a very strict protocol governing access to their records and how they might be digitized. Findmypast were uniquely able to fulfil their requirements and open the door for your access to these records." Check out this Findmypast blog article for details on the Catholic Heritage Archive and the resources it provides, and explore the Catholic pages in the Faiths section of The Family History Guide.
2022-12-22 That Can't Be True ... Can it? Recently I was browsing a record in the 1850 U.S. census for one of my wife's ancestors who had immigrated from Norway. I was shocked to see that the census taker had listed his current residence as ... Norway! That had to be a mistake, right? As I glanced down the page, it became clear that it was no mistake in the record, although it was certainly misleading: the current residence was a town called Norway, in Racine County, Wisconsin. See more census tips in Goal C1 of the United States page.
2022-12-21 Six Habits of the Highly Effective Researcher: Genealogist John Grenham is well known for his keen insights, served up with a dry sense of wit. In this blog article, John shares some simple but practical tips for researchers, from overcoming preconceived ideas to the art of "thinking sideways" and more. To learn more about basic research skills and strategies, check out Goal 2 and Goal 3 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-12-20 Research in the Southern Colonies: If you have ancestors who lived in the colonies of Virginia, North or South Carolina, or Georgia, you may find that research there can be a challenge. This Family Locket article provides some helpful tips on working around missing vital records by focusing on maps and legal documents to get the clues you need. For more tips and suggestions on doing research in the Southern states, see Goal A3 in the United States page.
2022-12-19 Exploring the JewishGen Website:
One of the best ways to trace Jewish ancestry is using the JewishGen website. The Family History Guide highlights a number of useful resources on the site, including the First-Timer video, the JewishGen Family Finder database, the JewishGen Town Finder, and the JewishGen discussion group. For additional tips on finding your Jewish ancestors, check out the Jewish research pages in the Ethnic section of The Family History Guide, or find Jewish resources in selected areas of the Countries menu.
2022-12-16 Mind Mapping: A Visual Approach to Research: If you are a visual learner, seeing a picture of the research problem you are trying to solve would be very helpful. You can do that with a technique known as "mind mapping," as explained in this Family Locket article. It describes a free website that gets you started, with tutorials to guide you. The result is your own custom view of the people, places, and relationships you're working on. For additional creative ways to look at your genealogy, see Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-12-15 Seeing Ancestor Locations: When you find a location for an ancestor event, don't miss the next big thing—seeing that location from the comfort of your own chair. This article by genealogist Wheaton Wood describes the tools you need to get started, from Google to map collections to city directories, as well as research clues you'll pick up by visualizing the placement of names and geographical landmarks. Learn more about using locations to your advantage in Goal A2 of the United States page.
2022-12-14 A Surprising Resource for Irish Research: Knowing the customs of the country where you are doing research can be a big help. For example, an unusual Irish custom is the widespread publication of death notices, followed by celebrations of the deceased's life. Genealogist John Grenham describes the process in detail, as well as sources for locating these death notices. For more information on Irish vital records, see Goal 3 in the Ireland country page.
2022-12-13 Finding Births and Deaths in Other Records: Sometimes finding vital records for an ancestor may be difficult, or even impossible in some cases. The good news is that you can often find birth and death information in other types of records. This RootsWeb article covers a wide variety of cases where vital information may be "hiding in plain sight." For tips on locating and using vital records in your research, see Goal B1 in the United States page.
2022-12-12 Access to Archival Databases (AAD): The U.S. National Archives is well-known for its vast array of genealogical records. What you may not know is that there is a huge section dedicated to free, online records— it's called Access to Archival Databases (AAD). This article by Family History Daily gets you started exploring the occupational, immigration, military and other types of records that are found there. To learn more about online archives for U.S. research, see Goal F5 in the United States page.
2022-12-09 Organizing and Preserving Your Photos: As we do family history, many of us end up with small or large collections of photo prints. Knowing how to organize, use, and protect these photos can ensure they become viable family history assets, instead of being neglected, damaged, or discarded. In this article photo expert Maureen Taylor shares eight handy tips for getting the most from your photo collection, including clues for opening up research on what they contain. See also Goal 1 in Project 2: Memories.
2022-12-08 Collecting Family Stories: Family stories are at the heart of family history. American diplomat Michael Cleverly decided he wanted to make a difference in his retirement years, so he has collected and shared family stories from the past thousand years. He shares his tips for collecting family stories in this brief RootsTech 2021 video. You can see more tips on finding family stories in Goal 8 of Project 2: Memories.
2022-12-07 The FreeREG Project: One of the best resources for British Isles research is parish registers. FreeREG is an ongoing project where volunteers transcribe parish registers for England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Northern Ireland and make them available online. This RootsTech video explains what FreeREG is and how to get started with it. You can learn more about parish registers in Goal 6 of the England country page, or in corresponding church and cemetery Goals for the other counties.
2022-12-06 Finding Missing Marriages: As you trace your lines in almost any country, you will find that some ancestors married multiple times, such as when a spouse died or there was a divorce. This article in Genealogy In Time points out that missing a marriage can lead to assigning children to the wrong parents, or not having family lines filled out as well as they could be. The article also points out some great sources for finding marriage records. Learn more in Goal B4 in the United States page.
2022-12-05 Dealing with Record Limitations: Two reasons you might not be finding the information you need: a) the record you are looking for was never created; or b) the information was not recorded where you are looking, but it can be found in another record (which may require patience and persistence). In this article James Tanner explores a number of reasons for missing information and what can be done to track it down. Learn more about record information in Goal A1 of the United States page.
2022-12-02 Avoiding Mistaken Identity: From Genealogy.com: "A particularly difficult problem can arise during your research when two or more identically-named people of roughly the same age have lived jointly in one locale. You can also find people with the same name in the same family, such as mothers and daughters. Often, they are not related to each other, making it crucial that the genealogist not confuse them." The full article has some great tips for avoiding mistaken identities in your research. See also Goal 7 in Project 4: Research.
2022-12-01 Family Research vs. Direct-Line Research:
As James Tanner explains, it is quite common to see a family tree where generation upon generation has only one member of the family identified. It is virtually impossible to keep that kind of pedigree accurate. Without the confirmation of the names of other family members, keeping this same-name situation correct presents almost insurmountable problems. You should search for everyone in every family. In cases where the wife is unidentified there are huge resources for finding the wife's name. (Search for Every Ancestor, Not Just Your Direct Line).
2022-11-30 Where Was My Ancestor Buried? Even with great online tools like Find A Grave and BillionGraves, finding your ancestor's burial location may sometimes be a challenge. The Ancestral Findings site has some helpful tips for locating unknown or alternate burial locations in these articles: Tricks for Finding the Unknown Burial Location of an Ancestor and Alternative Locations for Burial Places for Your Ancestors. Learn more about cemetery records in Goal B6 of the United States page.
2022-11-29 Location, Location, Location: You've heard the slogan in real estate, and it's just as relevant in family history— location really does matter. This Family Locket article explores the what, where, and why of research, so you can step back from just doing record searches and start getting a solid understanding of the locations that were important to your ancestors. That in turn can open more doors to discovery in your research. See also Goal A2 in the United States page.
2022-11-28 Organizing Your Family History: The more family history you do, the more information and materials you collect. How do you find a place for everything, and keep everything in its place? Habits of Highly Organized Genealogists by Family Tree Magazine could be just what you need. This article provides great tips on managing paper, going digital, getting into a organization routine, and more. Also check out Goal 1 in Project 4: Discover for additional ideas on getting and staying organized with your family history.
2022-11-25 Researching U.S. Immigrants: If you're searching for more information on your immigrant ancestors, don't miss the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services site. It has tips for researching your immigrant ancestors. There are handy links to help you learn about arrival records, nationality records, and correspondence files, all sorted by time period. There is also a live chat feature on the page that offers help with immigration questions. Also check out Goal D2 in the United States page.
2022-11-24 Happy Thanksgiving! On behalf of The Family History Guide Association, we wish you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving day. We are grateful for the sacrifices and love shared by our ancestors, and we deeply appreciate the work you do to find them and bring their memories to life. Have a wonderful day!
2022-11-23 Finding Research Clues in Newspapers: Although newspaper articles are not generally considered a primary source for research information, they can help you turn up quite a few research clues. For example, this article from the FamilySearch Wiki and this Ancestry Academy video describe how to find online newspapers, the types of research info you can find in them, and search strategies for finding the information you need. For more, check out Goal F4 in the United States page.
2022-11-22 Is That Really My Ancestor?: Sooner or later we find that person who seems like they should fit into our family tree ... but how can we be reasonably sure? This FamilySearch article shares five tips from Ancestry's Crista Cowan to help you prove your connection to an ancestor, such as analyzing and correcting information, and being thorough in your searches. For more tips and guidelines on working with genealogical evidence, check out Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-11-21 Discovering Ancestors in New England: Many of us have ancestors who lived in the northeast United States, including the New England area. Goal A3 of the United States page connects you to a wealth of resources for doing New England research, including this overview video from FamilySearch. There are also categories in Choice C for New England vital, military, tax, land, and probate records.
2022-11-18 Using Map Overlays:
Overlaying historical maps onto Google Maps and Google Earth can be quite useful, as it helps you compare historical images with current maps and satellite images. But it can also be a time-consuming process. This article from Thoughtco.com provides links to ready-to-use map overlay collections, from David Rumsey, Historic Map Works, New York Public Library Map Warper, British Library Geo-referenced Maps, and more. To learn more about using maps in your research, check out Goal A2 in the United States page.
2022-11-17 Relative Finder: The Relative Finder tool from the BYU Family History Technology Lab provides a way to see interesting and famous people in your family tree, from astronauts to presidents and more. It displays these relatives in a handy table you can sort and search. You can also create and join custom groups to connect with others and see the relationships you share with them. For more info, see Goal 4 in Project 3: Descendants.
2022-11-16 Hometown Clues for Research: While some of your ancestors may have lived in many places in their lives, most of them probably settled down in a specific place for a number of years. What do you know about their hometowns? As this Family Education article points out, there are many genealogical clues waiting to be discovered in local libraries, including books, vertical files, county histories and more, some of which may also be online. For more on town research, see Goal A2 in the United States page.
2022-11-15 What's in a Name?: FamilySearch has been rolling out a lot of new changes lately (and we are working to get those updated in The Family History Guide this week!) One of the new features, on the About tab of Person page, is Name Meaning, which gives the likely origins of first and last names for the ancestor. These are taken from the Dictionary of American Family Names by Patrick Hanks, and the Dictionary of First Names, by Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges. Learn more about surname research in Goal 3 of Project 4: Discover.
2022-11-14 The Q&A Center: It's brand new, and it's waiting for you! Check out The Q&A Center in The Family History Guide (Intro and Trainers menus). The page points you to four Google spreadsheets you can view and download: FamilySearch and Partners, Research Essentials, United States Research, and Countries Research. Each sheet has tabs with common questions asked about family history, as well as links to where to find the answers in The Family History Guide. Watch for some new tab content in the coming weeks!
2022-11-11 A Variety of Military Records: On Veteran's Day, we remember those who have served in the U.S. Military, to protect our freedoms. The Family History Guide can help you learn about and find a wide variety of military records, for each of these major conflicts: Revolutionary War, Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, and others such as the War of 1812. Check out Goal E2 in the United States page to get started with articles, videos, and QUIKLinks to U.S. military record collections.
2022-11-10 Ten Things to Improve On: Are you overlooking something simple that could help you in your genealogy research? Even experienced genealogists may be missing some of these tips, as explained in this 2021 RootsTech video. An example is using the help information provided in search screens, such as from the National Archives or the Trove site, or even FamilySearch's "How to Use This Collection" links. For more tips and strategies in doing online searches, see Goal 6 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-11-09 England Research, Pre-1800: If you have been struggling to extend an English family line into the 1700s or earlier, this blog post by Tyler Stahle—4 Tips for Pre-1800 British Research—can make a difference. He discusses starting points for research, record changes, search tips, and research questions. You can find additional tips for earlier English research in Goal 1 of the England country page, steps 4 and 5 in Choice C.
2022-11-08 Beyond the Search, with Google Tools: In your genealogy work, if you use of Google only for doing occasional web searches, you may be missing a lot. In this RootsTech video, leading genealogist Thomas McEntee discusses how additional Google tools, such as Images, Drive, Transcription, Alerts, and Earth, can make a noticeable difference in your research. To learn more about including Google in genealogy, check out Goal 6 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-11-07 Discovering Scandinavian Church Records: As you search for your ancestors in Scandinavia, you'll find that church records are a great tool for expanding your family tree. In this three-part video series from RootsTech 2021, genealogist Jenny Hansen explains how to establish a parish of origin, as well as how to read and understand christening, marriage, and burial records. See also the Church and Cemetery Goals for Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.
2022-11-04 Using Discrepancy Charts: When you are researching an ancestor, what do you do if you find a number of records with conflicting information? That's where a discrepancy chart can be a handy tool. For each record, make a table that includes the record name, event date, event place, age of the ancestor, and source for the record. This enables you to weigh the evidence and see which information is more likely to be correct. For more information, see this article and Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-11-03 Helping Others Avoid Incorrect Family Tree Changes: The FamilySearch Help Center has an article titled "How can I prevent other people from making inaccurate changes to Family Tree?" Avoiding errors is the first step to prevention, and the article has useful collaboration tips, including sourcing, notes, reason statements, and discussions, to keep Family Tree information as accurate as possible for all who are working on it. For more info on accuracy in research, see Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-11-02 Town Annual Reports: If you are searching for ancestor information in New England in the 1800's and 1900's, there's a little-known resource that's available for free. The article Genealogical Gold in Town Annual Reports describes the information you'll find in town reports for the government, including vital record information, names of town employees, records for the poor, and more, as well as where to find the reports online. See also Goal A4 in the United States page for info on local histories.
2022-11-01 Finding Your Ancestors in the U.S. Census: Census records are one of the easiest genealogical sources to use, and they can give you a picture of a broader geographical area for your research. This article by Marc McDermott is a great place to start: it gives a brief history of the U.S. census, the types of data that were captured, limitations of the records, and practical tips for searching the records for your ancestors. For more tips on using U.S. census records in your research, see Goal C1 in the United States page.
2022-10-31 Don't Be Afraid ... of Cemeteries: On this Halloween day, what better topic to discuss than cemeteries? In her video Don't Be Scared of Cemeteries, expert genealogist Amy Johnson Crow offers some reassuring tips on how to make the most of cemetery research, including tombstone markings and cemetery office records, as well as some practical examples for how to use the information gleaned from a visit. You can find out more about successful research in cemeteries and graveyards in Goal B6 of the United States page.
2022-10-28 Top 10 Mistakes, and How to Avoid Them: Doing genealogy research can be rewarding at times and frustrating other times. Some of that frustration can occur when you fall into easy-to-make mistakes. This Thoughtco article outlines 10 common mistakes that researchers make (especially beginners), from handling names and dates to immigration strategies, and how to avoid them. For more information on correcting myths and mistakes in genealogy, see Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-10-27 Half a Million Books—for Free: You may not be aware that FamilySearch has over 500,000 digitized family history books online, ready to be searched and explored. This BYU FHL video by James Tanner introduces you to the types of books available and how to search them, as well as copyright and usage guidelines. You can use the Key Moments section for this YouTube video to see chapters of interest. Find more resources for free books in the Surname eBooks page of The Family History Guide.
2022-10-26 The Genealogical Proof Standard Explained: The Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS) is a foundational part of family history, but it's still a bit of a mystery to many researchers. Fortunately there is an excellent article by Marc McDermott in Genealogy Explained, to take you through each step of the GPS. The article also includes a handy flowchart, How to Conduct Research using the GPS, that helps you visualize each part of the process and how it all fits together. See also Goal 8 in FamilySearch Project 1.
2022-10-25 Finding Historical Photos: A great way to see into the past is with photos that were taken where your ancestors lived. This not only helps put your ancestors' live in context, but it may also provide research clues you can follow. The Ancestor Hunt website has state-by-state collections of free, downloadable images of people and places to get you started (scroll down to "State Articles"). Goal 1 in each state page of The Family History Guide has links to these photograph collections for the state, including cities, counties, and more.
2022-10-24 Interviewing Seniors—Some Practical Tips: Doing interviews is great way to capture family history information, but interviewing those of advanced age, especially who have memory issues, can be a challenge. This 2019 RootsTech article shares 20 practical tips for how to begin, engage, and complete successful interviews with seniors who have a lot to share but may need help in retrieving and communicating what they know. You can find additional interviewing tips in Goal 7 of Project 2: Memories.
2022-10-21 3 Tips for Breaking Brick Walls: When your research seems to have slowed or stopped on one of your family lines, here are three tips from Archives.com that can help get you going: 1) Explore information for collateral relatives (uncles, aunts, siblings, etc.); 2) Search online sources again and again for newly posted records; and 3) Take advantage of library and archive links, such as those you can find in The Family History Guide. For more tips on breaking through the brick walls in your research, see Project 4: Discover, Goal 7.
2022-10-20 Going Dutch: Getting Started with Netherlands Research: Finding your Dutch ancestors and learning about them can be an exciting venture. Goal 1 in the Netherlands country page introduces you to the basic research tools and strategies you'll need, to be successful in the hunt. Two of the articles of note are 4 Pro Tips for Finding Dutch Family History Resources by Legacy Tree, and this 2019 RootsTech article. For more, explore the additional Goals for the Netherlands.
2022-10-19 15 Minutes a Day: Feeling like you should be working on you family history, but life is just too busy? The 15 Minutes link in the Intro menu of The Family History Guide has some great ideas for staying engaged with the joy of family history on a regular basis. For example, in the "Fitting Family History into Your Life" section on the page, click the link in step 1. You'll find a handy schedule to help you fit family history activities into your life, arranged by amounts of time.
2022-10-07 English Odds and Ends: Have you ever been shopping and encountered a store with a delightful array of interesting items? The Family History Directory, a website hosted in the UK, is such a place for genealogists. You'll find links to free records, archives, photographs, maps and more, for England counties, as well as resources for Canada, Ireland, Scotland, and New Zealand. To learn more about England county research, access the links under the main picture on the England page in The Family History Guide.
2022-10-06 Keeping Track of Records and Information: As you work on family history research, you'll accumulate a lot of records and information, whether online or on paper. How are you keeping track of it all? This RootsTech 2021 video has some great tips on pulling all your information together, from charts to research logs to sources, to keep your research fine-tuned and easy to access. For more tips on organizing your genealogy, see Goal 1 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-10-05 Discovering Olive Tree Genealogy:
The Olive Tree Genealogy site has been online for a number of years, but it still might be new to you. It has an outstanding collecting of immigration resources, especially to the United States and Canada, and it features a wide variety of records for Canadian research, including its provinces. It also includes a Help for Beginners page. For more research info, see Goal D1 in the United States page and Goal 1 in the Canada page.
2022-10-04 100 Questions for Family History Interviews:
If you're looking for a big list of great questions to ask relatives about their lives, you're in luck. This article from Family History Daily features 100 thoughtful questions you can ask, and it includes some great tips about how to prepare for giving a successful family history interview. For more tips and information on interviewing others, check out Goal 3 in Project 2: Memories.
2022-10-03 Finding Your Italian Ancestors: Do any of your ancestors come from Italy? How do you find them, including those who immigrated from Italy to America? Check out this Ancestry video and this FamilySearch blog article to get you familiar with Italian history, immigration, and language tips. To learn more about Italian records, immigration, and research strategies, check out Goal 1 and Goal 5 in the Italy country page.
2022-09-30 Exploring the England GRO:
The General Register Office (GRO) has been collecting information on all births, marriages, and deaths in England since 1837. Some of the indexes are available for free on FamilySearch, Ancestry, and Findmypast; official certificates can be requested from the GRO for a fee. To learn more about the GRO and how it can help you with vital records research in England, see Goal 2 of the England country page.
2022-09-29 Family Locket Site:
The Family Locket site is a great resource for a variety of family history topics. It's run by a mother-daughter team that includes expert genealogists, and it features a wide variety of how-to articles for genealogy, DNA research tips, and fun family history activities. The Family History Guide has links to a number of Family Locket articles, such as Examining City Directories to Discover New Avenues of Research.
2022-09-28 Exploring School Records: As you search for more records about your ancestors' lives, remember that it's likely they were mentioned in school records at some time in their lives. You can use "school records" as keywords in your online record searches (Ancestry, FamilySearch, etc.), and this Findmypast article provides some practical tips for finding, reading, and searching education records. You can find additional info on school records in Goal F1 of the United States page.
2022-09-27 Go West! The American Migration from 1783 to 1900: As you research your United States ancestors, it's highly probable that some or many of them moved westward over time. This RootsTech video from 2021 discusses various reasons for the migration, as well as common transportation routes and modes that can help you track ancestors as they migrated. To learn more about American migration patterns, check out Goal F1 in the United States page.
2022-09-26 Keeping Memories Alive: Here are four ways to keep family history memories alive: 1) Understand that memories can be an important trigger for family history enjoyment and involvement. 2) Don't assume that because you read a story once, you'll remember all the details. Review stories to renew your connection with events and descriptions. 3) Keep others in the loop on where to find memory items for the family. Share photos, stories, and documents, and upload them to FamilySearch Memories, Ancestry, Google Photos, etc. 4) Record your own memories. In family lines where ancestors recorded little or nothing about their lives, it's harder to in the tapestry of who they were. Learn more in the Memories Project.
2022-09-23 Record Search Tips for FamilySearch: When you are ready to search for ancestor records on FamilySearch, there are ways to do that more efficiently and effectively. This FamilySearch Wiki article outlines best practices, field-specific search tips, advanced tips and tricks, and other places you can look when searches are not yielding the results you need. For additional resources to help with your searches, study the information in Goal 4 of Project 4: Discover.
2022-09-22 Researching Women in World War II: While we often focus on finding information about male ancestors in World War II, we should remember that many women also served in the war effort. This Archives.com article gets you started with history and resources for research. To learn more about records and research for ancestors in World War II, see Goal E2 in the United States page.
2022-09-21 Stories for Children: A great way to instill a love of family history is to acquaint children with stories of their ancestors. In the Kids Corner of The Family History Guide, there is a section for Family History Stories. Activities in the section include discovering, preserving, and recording family stories, as well as role-playing, crafts, videos and more. Also check out the My Memories section for additional ideas.
2022-09-20 Researching Newspapers by State: In The Family History History Guide, each of the 50 U.S. states has its own collection of state pages. The Goal 9 page is for newspaper research, and you'll find helpful resources such as FamilySearch articles and Ancestor Hunt databases for tracking down published information about your ancestors, state by state (such as for Colorado). For more tips on conducting research with newspapers, see Goal F4 in the United States page.
2022-09-19 Brick Walls and Lessons Learned: Even experienced genealogists may encounter "brick walls" in their research. In this article, noted blogger Amy Johnson Crow describes a 20-year brick wall she faced while doing U.S. Midwest research and the lessons she learned as she finally broke through it. You can find additional tips and strategies for breaking through brick walls in Goal 7 of Project 4: Discover.
2022-09-16 Researching Your Immigrant Ancestors: As you learn about your immigrant ancestors, you may be surprised to discover that there are many types of records to consider. As noted in the RootsWeb article Immigration Research Approaches, these include citizenship papers, alien registrations, passenger lists, passport applications, and more. To explore immigration records in more depth, check out Goal D1 in the United States page, or the corresponding Emigration Goal in the country page of interest.
2022-09-15 Rhyming and the U.S. Census: If you are looking for a person that should be in the U.S. census in a given decade, but the person isn't there, you may want to try name variations. This brief RootsTech video shows how to use a rhyming website to help you see how a census enumerator may have mis-heard a surname and recorded it incorrectly. You can find a wealth of additional tips and strategies for working with the U.S. census in the Vault section.
2022-09-14 Reading Gravestone Markings: When you find an ancestor's gravestone in a cemetery, you might still have a challenge to be able to read what's inscribed on it. This RootsTech video helps you understand gravestones and what's typically on them, and this GenealogyInTime article offers a remarkably simple tip that helps you read old or faded inscriptions on tombstones. To learn more about using gravestones in your research, see Goal B6 in the United States page.
2022-09-13 Compiled Military Service Records: What's in a compiled military service record? Typically it will list a service person's rank, military unit, date of entry into service, and whether discharged or separated by desertion, death, or other reasons. Ancestry.com has a number of collections of these records, with some of them being included as QUIKLinks in The Family History Guide. For more information on using compiled military service records in your research, see Goal E1 in the United States page or watch this Ancestry Academy video (requires a free account).
2022-09-12 Exploring the National Records of Scotland: When you find a website that combines learning resources with records, you're in for a treat—and that's exactly the case with the National Records of Scotland site. In the Research Guides section you'll find everything from basic vital records to census, military, land, courts, and much more, with summary articles and links. For additional information on doing Scottish research, check out Goal 1 in the Scotland country page.
2022-09-09 Where to Start Researching: It may be tempting to randomly choose a family line to research, or to always start with your direct paternal line. However, choosing the best line to begin your research can pay dividends. In this Explore Genealogy article you'll learn some basic strategies for selecting a family line, as well as how to collaborate with others who may have done previous research there. See Project 4: Goal 2 for more tips and strategies on identifying lines to research.
2022-09-08 Working with the 1890 US Census: Census records in the United States began in 1790, and those are somewhat of a challenge because there is little distinction between ages of people. As explained in this FamilySearch blog article, the 1800 US Census offered multiple age divisions for men and women, and census records remain for 16 of the 20 states that existed at the time. To learn more about 1800 US Census records, check out Goal C2 in the United States page.
2022-09-07 Track Your Progress with a Research Log: As you do your genealogy research, do you know the details of what you've covered and what you've found? This article by Family History Daily shows you how keeping a good research log can not only keep you organized but can actually transform the work you are doing. It has suggestions to help with positive and negative research results, templates and online forms to use, and more. See Goal 1 in Project 4: Discover for additional tips.
2022-09-06 Digital Storytelling with Google Earth: Need a different approach to your family history stories? You can create a fascinating digital landscape for your family history by combining places, photos, and words. Google Earth can bring your ancestors' places to life as you tell their life stories. Find out how it's done in this BYU webinar: Digital Storytelling with Google Earth. For more ideas on storytelling, see Goal 9 in Project 2: Memories.
2022-09-05 Help with DNA Questions: Taking a DNA test for family history can open doors for research, but it can also raise questions at the same time. Getting help with your questions is just a few clicks away: check out Goal 8 in FamilySearch Project 8 (or the final Goal in any of the other DNA Projects). There are links to Facebook pages, blog sites, message boards and forums, where you can ask your questions and get help. To get familiar with basic DNA concepts and terms, see Goal 1 in Project 8.
2022-09-02 30 Family History Interview Questions: The time you spend interviewing older relatives is precious, so you'll want to make the best use of it to gather the information you need. Findmypast provides a good starter list of questions you can use, including categories such as Basics, Life and Times, Family Relationships, and Dig Deeper. More interview questions and tips for conducting successful interviews are available in Goal 3 of Project 2: Memories.
2022-09-01 Countries Knowledgebase:
Doing research is a country that's new to you? The Countries Knowledgebase is like having your own collection of family history facts for over 60 countries from around the world. Topics range from geography and history to record sources, research strategies, and more, with convenient links at the top for quick access. You'll find the Countries Knowledgebase at the bottom of the Countries menu in The Family History Guide.
2022-08-31 Tips for Canadian Research: Locating your ancestors in Canada often depends on knowing Canadian regions and their history. In Family Tree Magazine's brief article titled 7 Canadian Genealogy Tips, you'll find guidelines for finding helpful information on places, provincial archives, Canadian ethnic groups, censuses and more. To learn more about Canadian research, check out the Goals in the Canada country page or explore the individual province pages.
2022-08-30 Reading Old Handwriting: Whether you're doing indexing or examining online records for research, you're likely to come across handwritten information that's hard to decipher. With these handwriting tips and examples from Findmypast, you'll be on your way to making sense of what you're seeing in records, phrase by phrase and letter by letter. Learn more about working with old handwriting in Goal 6 of Project 5: Indexing.
2022-08-29 Public Lands and Your Ancestors: Land records can hold valuable research clues, but it's important to know the background and terminology for these records. In How US Public Land Is Surveyed and Distributed, author Kimberly Powell explains how townships, sections and ranges, types of land grants, and survey plats fit into your ancestors' land-owning experience. To learn more about U.S. land records, see Goal F2 in the United States page.
2022-08-26 Tips for Finding Lost Ancestors: Some genealogy articles on the web have been around for a long time but are just as relevant today. That's the case with Diane Richard's article Tips To Help You Find Seemingly "Lost" Ancestors on the Archives.com site. Here she discusses strategies for name variations, census challenges, children without recorded parents, and more. You can find many additional resources for breaking down walls in your research in Goal 7 of Project 4: Discover.
2022-08-25 10 Effective Strategies for Research: New to family history research? Or perhaps you'd like to make sure you are heading in the right direction. In either case, check out Ten Effective Strategies on How to Build a Family Tree by GenealogyInTime Magazine. You'll learn about focusing your research efforts, dealing with older documents, handling conflicts in the information you find, and more. You can find additional tips for research strategies in Project 4, Goal 3.
2022-08-24 Brick Walls and Misindexed Records: Anyone who has done record indexing knows there is a potential for mistakes in the process, especially with difficult-to-read handwriting. Incorrect indexes can sometimes lead to brick walls in research, but this article by Ancestral Findings offers suggestions on how to work around these issues and find the information you need. For more tips on working with potential problems with records and indexes, see Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-08-23 Finding Details for Ancestor Stories: From FamilySearch: "Stories add depth to the family narrative and breathe life into your family tree." So what makes for a good story, and how do you find the details you will need? This blog article provides some insights on what to include in your stories, as well as helpful tips for resources to find interesting details. For more tips on writing engaging stories for ancestors, see Goal 8 in Project 2: Memories.
2022-08-22 Tagging Ancestors, in Ancestry: One of the cool features available in Ancestry is MyTreeTags. You can attach MyTreeTag labels to ancestor profiles to help you do custom searches for ancestors in your tree. Categories include Research Status (Actively Researching, Verified, Brick Walls, etc.), Relationships, DNA, and more, and you can create your own tags and add notes and comments for any tag. See Goal 1 in Ancestry Project 2 to learn more about MyTree Tags.
2022-08-19 What's in Cemetery Records? You can photograph tombstones and search Find A Grave, but you can also discover more information by using cemetery office records. This Family Locket article shows examples of what you can find in cemetery records, and it offers several tips for finding these records for your research. For more tips on conducting cemetery research, see Goal B6 of the United States page.
2022-08-18 Search Tips for Databases: There are thousands of genealogical databases online. When you start exploring a new database for the first time, it may take a while to figure out the best search strategies to use. In this article by Amy Johnson Crow you'll learn four essential tips for understanding database features and how to maximize your search results. To learn more about using effective online search strategies, see Goal 6 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-08-17 Exploring the JewishGen Website: One of the best ways to trace Jewish ancestry is using the JewishGen website. The Family History Guide highlights a number of useful resources on the site, including the First-Timer video, the JewishGen Family Finder database, the JewishGen Town Finder, and the JewishGen discussion group. For additional tips on finding your Jewish ancestors, check out the Jewish pages in the Ethnic section of The Family History Guide, or find Jewish resources in selected areas of the Countries menu.
2022-08-16 Discovering Passenger Lists:
Some of the earliest immigration records are the lists of passengers on boats coming to America. The key is to connect the names on the passenger lists and other associated documents with the immigrant once that person has arrived in America. This article features practical tips for searching passenger lists to find what you need. For more information, see Goal D2 in the United States country page.
2022-08-15 U.S. Regional Research:
In addition to the 50 individual U.S. state pages plus Puerto Rico and Washington D.C., The Family History Guide covers each major region of the United States for research: Midwest, Northeast (New England and Mid-Atlantic), Southern (Mid-South and Gulf Coast), and Western (West Coast/Pacific and Mountain West). There are links to helpful articles, videos, and websites in each section to assist you with your research.
2022-08-12 Exploring Historical Images: FamilySearch has a large number of records that are online but have not yet been indexed. You can search for and browse these unindexed records using the Explore Historical Images feature. This gives you a head start in finding records you may be interested in that do not show up yet in the indexed record collections. Search options are available for dates and event type, but not for names. For more information on using the Explore Historical Images feature, see Goal 5 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-08-11 Telling Your Ancestors' Stories: If research is the first part of genealogy, the second part is sharing the stories of your ancestors' lives, with details that will engage your readers. If you could use some help with that effort, here are two articles to get you started: 3 Tips to Make You a Great Storyteller and 7 Fantastic Storytelling Tools and Apps. To learn more about building and telling stories for your ancestors, check out Goal 8 in Project 2: Memories.
2022-08-10 Through the Eyes of the Parish Priest: The Family History Guide has a Hispanic Research section with links to many helpful resources for research. One of these is a series of short videos from FamilySearch, with the theme of "Through the Eyes of the Parish Priest." It covers strategies for finding and using a variety of Catholic Church records in Latin America, including baptism, marriage, burial, and confirmation. To learn more about Latin American resources, check out Goal 2 in the Hispanic section.
2022-08-09 The History of a Home: A home or house can be a gateway to interesting historical and genealogical facts. There are many online resources available for tracing the history of a home, such as learning about previous owners, geography and maps, property and architectural facts, and more. A great place to get started is this article from IPL.org, which has links to many online resources about home history and how to research it.
2022-08-08 1950 U.S. Census FAQs: Records for the 1950 U.S. Census are available online at Archives.gov, as well as FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage and other sites, with some indexes available. You can find an extensive list of FAQs about the census on the Archives.gov site, including search tips, who was enumerated, enumeration maps, census schedules and forms, and more. See additional resources for the census in Goal C2 in the United States page.
2022-08-05 What's in a Death Certificate?: There may be more genealogical information in a death certificate than you realize, and the types of information may vary according to the decade or U.S. location. Check out 27 Key Facts to Extract from a Death Certificate for an in-depth look at what you'll find, along with comparisons between certificates from New York and Ohio. For more information on using death certificates in your research, see Goal B5 in the United States page.
2022-08-04 Exploring the British National Archives: As explained in this Legacy Tree article, the British National Archives has an extensive collection of free online genealogy records to assist you in your research. You can use the advanced search feature to narrow down search results, and you can download wills and other documents from the site. For documents that have not yet been digitized, you can request a search for a small fee. Learn more in Goal 8 of the England country page.
2022-08-03 Finding Clues in Ship Manifests: As you search for information about your immigrant ancestors, ship manifests and passenger lists can be a great resource. This article from Fortify Your Family Tree outlines six key genealogical facts that were included in the manifests of most immigrant ships. To learn more about passenger lists and how they can help you in your research, see Goal D2 in the United States page.
2022-08-02 Hearth Tax in England: Tax records in England have gone through interesting phases, including hearth (fireplace) taxes from 1662 to 1689 that were collected twice a year, and window taxes from 1696 to 1851. You can find over 200,000 records online in the Hearth Tax Digital database, covering England and Wales, and you can search, sort and download information for people found in the database. For more about England tax records and how to use them in research, see Goal 5 in the England country page.
2022-08-01 The Immigrant Servants Database: Many who immigrated to Colonial America in the 1600s and 1700s were not heads of households or their children but were servants to them. Price Genealogy has created a helpful Immigrant Servants Database, with information on over 20,000 servants, male and female, who made the trip to America. You can search the entries by name, date or place of birth, place of arrival, and much more. For additional information on immigration records, see Goal D1 in the United States page.
2022-07-29 Exploring Surnames with the Guild of One-Name Studies: Do you have interesting surnames in your family tree that you'd like to learn more about? The Guild of One-Name Studies is a non-profit organization where members share information on 9,000+ surnames throughout the world. The Guild also has an extensive YouTube Channel with additional surname tips and resources. Also, you can use the surname distribution maps available on FamilySearch to explore where surnames are concentrated in various countries.
2022-07-28 10 Research Challenges: Genealogy research can be a fascinating and fulling effort, but it can also be a challenge in more ways than one. To make things a bit easier on yourself, check out these 10 Challenges and How to Overcome Them from Family History Daily. The advice includes locating offline records, handling sources properly, dealing with errors and brick walls in research, and much more. For additional tips on basic research principles, see Goal 2 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-07-27 Timelines and Research Skills: While genealogy timelines can help you pinpoint the events and locations in your ancestors' lives, using timelines can also help you develop important research skills. In this RootsTech video, Dr. Shelley Viola Murphy explains how to get started with research using timelines, as well as the benefits of timelines and how to find records associated with them. To learn more about timelines and research, check out Goal A4 in the United States page.
2022-07-26 Don't Forget Your Own Story: Doing family history research is an exciting—and extensive—process. Are we forgetting person #1 by neglecting to tell our own story for future generations? In this article by Family History Daily you'll find important tips for preserving your life story to pass down to others. To learn more about creating life stories for you and your ancestors, check out the Choices in Goal 9 of Project 2: Memories, including life sketches and stories as well as journaling.
2022-07-25 Migration Clues: Celebrating Pioneer Day may remind us that we need to track our ancestors as they moved from place to place. It helps to understand their motivations for moving, as well as the challenges you may encounter when tracing their locations. This article by Diane Richard discusses reasons, problems, clues, timelines, and routes for migrating ancestors. See Goal F1 in the United States page for additional resources.
2022-07-22 Finding Vital Records in France: In the France country page of The Family History Guide, there are a number of resources that help you find vital records (birth, marriage, and death) for ancestors. Goal 3: Civil Registration provides links to articles and videos by FamilySearch and Thoughtco, as well as an extensive QUIKLinks section for searching online record collections. Be sure to click the Provinces link to see additional QUIKLinks for each province in France.
2022-07-21 Using the David Rumsey Map Collection: Historical maps can provide a wonderful window into the details of your ancestors' lives. The David Rumsey map collection is a useful and free resource for finding these maps, in just about any country in the world. You can browse the digital maps by location, category, or year, to help you pin down locations and place names for your ancestors. For more information on using maps in your research, see Goal A2 in the United States page, or the Maps Goal in your country of interest.
2022-07-14 Vacation Time: The Tip of the Day is on vacation, from July 14 to July 20. See you on the 21st!
2022-07-13 English Surnames: Many of us have ancestry from England, so learning about English surnames can be interesting and useful for research. This article from BYU's English Ancestors site gets you started with an overview, research tips, distribution of surnames throughout England, surname variants, and other information. To learn more about English surnames and their distribution, check out Goal 1 in the England page.
2022-07-12 Research with The Family History Guide: On Thursday, July 7 we recorded a new webinar video for the BYU Family History Library, titled Research with The Family History Guide. It covers 10 important areas of research, ranging from getting started and basics to problem solving and DNA tools. Other recent BYU webinars we have done for BYU include The Family History Guide: Tips and Tricks and Training with The Family History Guide.
2022-07-11 Discovering the Knowledgebase: One of the most useful features of The Family History Guide is the Knowledgebase for United States and general research. You can find it in the Learning Path menus (FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage and Findmypast), under Project 4. There is an alphabetical list of topic links at the top of the page, ranging from basic research to breaking through brick walls, and just about everything in between. Each topic opens up to individual nuggets of information to help you learn more about the area you are researching.
2022-07-08 Finding Hidden Original Records on Ancestry and FamilySearch: As you search online record collections in Ancestry and FamilySearch, you'll discover that some entries are index-only (no records). Because indexes are summaries, you may be missing valuable information from the original record. This article by Family History Daily has some great tips on using built-in tools and links on Ancestry and FamilySearch to track down these original records for your research. See also Goal B1 in the United States page for tips on finding vital records.
2022-07-07 When You Can't Find a Death Record: Death certificates for most states weren't created until the early 1900's, but there are other ways to get the information you need. This article by Family Tree Magazine describes nine types of death records for research, such as local death records, church burials, and census mortality schedules, and where to find them. For more information on using finding and using death records, see Goal B5 in the United States page, or the corresponding Goal in the Country page of interest.
2022-07-06 Location, Location, Location: You've heard the slogan in real estate, and it's just as relevant in family history— location really does matter. This Family Locket article explores the what, where, and why of research, so you can step back from just doing record searches and start getting a solid understanding of the locations that were important to your ancestors. That in turn can open more doors to discovery in your research. See also Goal A2 in the United States page.
2022-07-05 Exploring UK Birth, Marriage, and Death Records: For those doing research in the United Kingdom, there is an abundance of free birth, marriage, and death (BMD) records available online. The UK BMD site has links to BMD records by county and parish, as well as census records and other tools for finding British ancestors. To learn more about vital records in the UK, see Goal 2 in the England page, or corresponding Goals in the Scotland and Wales pages.
2022-07-04 Finding Your Revolutionary War Ancestors: Happy July 4! As we celebrate Independence Day in the United States, why not learn about ways to trace your ancestors who may have served in the conflict or lived in the areas where the war was being fought. You can get started with this article by Ancestral Findings, which gives a short intro to researching Revolutionary War ancestors. See also Goal E2 in the United States page, including the Events and People section.
2022-07-01 Discovering Ancestors in New England: Many of us have ancestors who lived in the northeast United States, including the New England area. Goal A3 of the United States page connects you to a wealth of resources for doing New England research, including this overview video from FamilySearch. There are also categories in Choice C for New England vital, military, tax, land, and probate records.
2022-06-30 Genealogy, Unrehearsed: Watching how experts solve problems—in real time—can be a valuable learning experience. Richard Miller and James Tanner are collaborating in a YouTube series of videos called Unrehearsed Genealogy Research, where they take a sample research challenge in each episode and work through the challenges on the spot. There are 13 videos so far, mostly centered around United States research. To learn more about solving problems in your research, check out Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-06-29 Finding Irish Records: Although many Irish records were destroyed in a fire at the Public Record Office in Dublin, you can still find a great number online. Two great sources are Findmypast and Ancestry. This video describes collections available on Findmypast (there's also an extended video version) and this article has tips for searching Ancestry collections of Irish records. There are also links to databases of Irish records in Goal 1 of the Ireland country page.
2022-06-28 Digging through Layers of Source Records: Paleontologists are scientists who uncover the past by discovering fossils and analyzing them. Genealogy also has its layers of research records, according to James Tanner. At the top you'll find records that are widely available and easy to search, such as census records. Near the bottom you can find "gold" in records from archives, libraries, and historical societies. For more about research strategies, see Goal 3 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-06-27 Finding Your German Town of Origin: One of the keys to establishing your research in Germany is locating the town of origin for an immigrant ancestor. In Goal 1 of the Germany country page there is Town of Origin section with some helpful links to get you started, such as articles about record types and strategies for German towns of origin, by Price Genealogy. You'll also find a brief video by Ancestry Academy for additional insights.
2022-06-24 Researching Welsh Ancestors Online: If you have ancestors from Wales and would like to begin tracing them online, you can find helpful resources in The Family History Guide. For example, this recent RootsTech video explains search criteria, major websites to use, online resources from the National Library of Wales, and more. To learn more about getting started with Welsh research, including tips for Welsh names and terms, check out Goal 1 in the Wales country page.
2022-06-23 Finding Elusive Genealogical Records: According to this article from the Origins International site, there are three basic reasons why you may be having trouble finding a certain record: 1) The record has not been digitized yet; 2) It may not exist, or was damaged or lost; and 3) Spelling mistakes in the index or record may be leading you astray in your online searches. See more tips for hard-to-find records in Goal A1 of the United States page, in the Record Information section.
2022-06-22 Learning about DNA Research:
If you'd like to get started learning about the basics of DNA and how it can help you in your family history research, check out Genetic Genealogy Simplified, from the DIY Genealogist. This brief video covers topics such as the basic anatomy of DNA, how DNA inheritance works, and how you can find your DNA-matching relatives from your test results. To learn more about DNA basics, see the resources in Goal 1 of Project 8: DNA.
2022-06-21 Tips for Trips:
A genealogy road trip can be a wonderful experience: you get to connect with your ancestors as you enjoy the places where they lived. But a successful trip does require planning and strategy. Check out this article by Treemily for some practical tips about merging genealogy research with your travels to get the results you want. For additional tips, see Goal 8 in Project 4: Discover, as well as the Vault section that deals with family history trips.
2022-06-20 Beginning a Line:
From FamilySearch: "When you begin research on a new family, start by compiling a family group record showing everything you know about them. It is important to list every known event in each person's life. The more events you list, the better. It is also important to cite the sources of your information. Some of your names, dates, and places may be guesses or estimates. Your sources for this data should explain how you arrived at the estimates." See Project 4: Goal 2 for info on identifying lines to research.
2022-06-17 Finding Unindexed Records in the FamilySearch Catalog: Did you know that there are actually more unindexed records in the FamilySearch catalog (about 2 billion) than indexed records (about 1.5 billion)? This video by James Tanner explains how the FamilySearch Catalog is organized and provides tips for locating unindexed records, which don't show up when you do historical record searches in FamilySearch. To learn more about using the FamilySearch catalog see Goal 5 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-06-16 Book a Trip to the Library: According to Legacy Tree Genealogists, "Public libraries can be one of the most overlooked resources in family history research, and are one of the most valuable. Even the smallest one might hold the largest historical collection in the surrounding area." This blog article gets you acquainted with the large online libraries as well as the research possibilities that can open up when you visit smaller local libraries and work with librarians. To learn more about using library resources in your research, see Goal F5 in the United States page.
2022-06-15 Creating a Research Binder: One way used by many genealogists to keep research information organized is a research binder. In this video by Deon Miller you can experience a step-by-step process for creating an effective binder for your research materials. Topics include items you will need, a color coding system, section numbering, pages and section content, and more. For additional tips on creating and using research binders, see Goal 1 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-06-14 Being There: Today there is a vast amount of genealogical records online, and more records are being indexed and made available each week. However, there is still a great deal of essential family history information and clues that are not online and may not be for quite a while. This FamilySearch blog article explains how you can capture that information and find research clues by visiting local archives, societies, libraries and even stores in places where your ancestors lived. For more, see Goal F5 in the United States page.
2022-06-13 Answers Hiding in Plain Sight: Sometimes we may be a bit overwhelmed by family history research, thinking of it as a "leap into the unknown." This video by Kathryn Grant takes a different approach, as she explains that working from what you already know about an ancestor or family can uncover research information that has been hiding in plain sight. You can learn more about basic research strategies in Goal 3 of Project 4: Discover.
2022-06-10 Finding Research Clues in Newspapers: Although newspaper articles are not generally considered a primary source for research information, they can help you turn up quite a few research clues. For example, this article from the FamilySearch Wiki and this Ancestry Academy video describe how to find online newspapers, the types of research info you can find in them, and search strategies for finding the information you need. For more, check out Goal F4 in the United States page.
2022-06-09 What About the Orphans? If you have one or more orphans in your family tree, you may be looking at a potential brick wall in your research. Fortunately there is help available, such as this three-part video series from RootsTech. It covers a wide variety of topics for locating orphans and orphanages, including the records and strategies you need for success in your searches. To learn more about researching orphans, see Goal F1 in the United States page.
2022-06-08 Sharing Your Family History: The things that touch your heart about your family history will often touch the hearts of your living relatives. Sharing family history stories and tree information with them is a good way to get started. This article by Kimberly Powell offers five basic ways to help others see what you have found, from CDs and DVDs to printed charts and more. For additional ideas on sharing family history and collaborating with others, check out Goal 3 in Project 6: Help.
2022-06-07 The Advantages of Church Records : In many cases, church records can open up new possibilities for information and even new branches in your family tree. In this article by Price Genealogy, you'll learn how church records often include names of witnesses or relatives of ancestors, as well as dates to help you pinpoint events that occurred in your ancestors' lives. It also describes how church records have been used in various parts of the U.S. over time. See also Goal F1 in the United States page.
2022-06-06 Relationships in U.S. Census Records: As you browse through census records online, you'll need to decide whether and how the people listed are related to your ancestor. As explained in this Ancestry video, relationships in the records could be stated or implied, or you could infer the relationship from the information provided. The video also offers additional tips for evaluating relationships in census records. To learn more, check out Goal C1 in the United States page.
2022-06-03 FAQs for DNA Testing: A popular and often effective way to break through family history barriers is DNA testing. If you're somewhat new to DNA concepts or testing, this brief Findmypast article highlights frequently asked questions, including essential terms, fundamentals of testing, and how DNA testing can help you identify additional people in your family tree. To learn more about DNA basics, see Goal 1 in Project 8: DNA.
2022-06-02 Does That Record Even Exist? In research, few things can be as frustrating as devoting time and energy to searching for a record that actually does not exist, because the type of record was not created for that time or place. In this Archives.com video you'll learn about vital records for different locations, the effect of changing place names, and more, including case studies for Ohio and Pennsylvania that demonstrate record problems and solutions. For more about using U.S. vital records in research, see Goal B1 in the United States page.
2022-06-01 Historical Context for Your Ancestors: Names, dates and places are the the backbone of genealogy, but there is so much more to an ancestor's story. Understanding the historical context of ancestors' lives helps you see their lives in perspective, and it often leads you to more research clues. Watch the Somewhere in Time video from RootsTech for tips, or use the Info button (in Choice B) to quickly find video topics such as county histories, journals, manuscript collections, and more.
2022-05-31 Getting Started with England Research: Three keys to English research are 1) understanding the types of records available; 2) knowing where to find the records; and 3) extracting the information you need for your research. You can get a good start with these tasks in Goal 1 of the England country page. Choice A features articles and videos from Ancestry, the BYU Family History Library, and Legacy Tree, as well as a timeline of events to help correlate records with historical events in England.
2022-05-30 U.S. Military Records: Many of us in the United States have ancestors who may have served in the armed forces. To learn more about U.S. military records and how they can be used in your family history research, check out Goal E1 in the United States page. Choice A has links to articles about essential records, tips for interviewing military veterans, and a brief introductory video by James Tanner to get you started in your research. See also Goal E2 to learn how to do research in each of the major U.S. conflicts.
2022-05-27 Three Types of Evidence: As you work with records in your research, you'll discover three types of genealogical evidence: direct (directly answers a question), indirect (shows a pattern or connection), and negative (information that should be there but isn't). In this Ancestry video, Crista Cowan explains "direct" at 2:55, "indirect" at 3:50, and "negative" at 6:00, and there is a detailed case study on negative evidence at 12:30. For more on evidence types, see Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-05-26 Cleaning, Storing, and Displaying Old Photographs: The chances are good that you or other family members have a collection of old family photos somewhere in your home. Are those photos being properly preserved so that future generations can enjoy the originals? After scanning them, check out the tips in this article for cleaning, storing and displaying old photos, including best materials to use, labeling tips, and more. For additional tips on preserving your old photographs, see Goal 1 in Project 2: Memories.
2022-05-25 Town of Origin: Before you can effectively search the records of another country, you need to know the name of the city, town, or parish your immigrant ancestor came from. The first step is locating the immigrant in the United States. Clues about an ancestors' town of origin may be found in diaries, family and local histories, church records, obituaries, marriage records, death records, tombstones, passports (particularly since the 1860s), passenger lists (particularly those after 1883), and applications for naturalization. For more information, see United States, Goal D1.
2022-05-24 After Your DNA Test ... If you are considering a DNA test for family history, it's good to know what to expect from the results and what steps to take to interpret them. This article from the Collecting Cousins site has a good overview, including DNA basics and terms, websites with free resources, help groups for DNA research, and more. For additional tips on different types of DNA tests and the information they provide, check out Goal 2 in Project 8: DNA.
2022-05-23 England Census: Census records were gathered in England every 10 years, from 1841 to 1911. Additionally, the 1939 Register was taken shortly before World War II. These records can be great resources for tracing your recent English ancestry. In the England country page, check out Goal 4 for helpful tips and strategies for using census records in your research. You'll also find QUIKLinks to records for each of the census collections online, and a section on using electoral roll records.
2022-05-20 The Trainer's Corner: The Family History Guide has some great resources for those who present, teach, or mentor others in family history. One of these resources is the Trainer's Corner, found in the Trainers menu. The sections on this page include A) Delivering the Class, B) Involving the Learners, C) 30 Instructor Tips, D) Course Evaluations, and E) The 5 "In's" of Instruction. Check them out and feel free to share the links with others.
2022-05-19 Free Resources for English Ancestry: Many of us have ancestral roots going back to England. The "Who Do You Think You Are Magazine" site highlights what it considers the best 25 free genealogy websites for doing genealogy research in the U.K. You can find additional resources as well as research strategies in Goal 1 of the England country page.
2022-05-18 5 Things to Do with Each Record: When you find a record for an ancestor, the typical thing to do is to write down all the genealogical clues in it. But what other activities should be on your checklist? This brief Ancestry video describes five things to do with each record you find, to keep your research on track and moving forward. Learn more about record information, including access links for the above video, in Goal 1 of the United States page (scroll down to Record Information).
2022-05-17 Record Finder: How do you know which types of records to work on first in your research, and which are not as essential? The Record Finder from FamilySearch can be a valuable tool: it lists record types by categories and suggests when it's best to use each type. The Record Finder is included in most country pages in The Family History Guide, as the list of essential records will vary by country. Check out the United States example (Record Selection Table).
2022-05-16 Wheel of Family Fortune:
One of the fun and engaging activities listed in The Family History Guide is the Wheel of Family Fortune, from the BYU Family History Technology Lab. Play it like the TV show, but solve the puzzles for ancestors in your part of the Family Tree. There is a Rules link in the upper right after you sign in to FamilySearch and begin the game. Check out the Family History Activities page for more ideas.
2022-05-13 U.S. Church Records: Church records can be a great resource for your genealogy research. In The Family History Guide, Goal F1 in the United States page has what you need to get started. Of special interest is the Research Guide published by the Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness site. In addition to an overview, it discusses types of church records, how to locate them, and suggestions for searching the records.
2022-05-12 Research Help:
Need help with research in a particular country, state, province, or English county? Check out the Get Help Goals that are typically the last in each research project. They have links to Facebook groups, forums, genealogy societies and more, to help you collaborate and get your research questions answered. For example, here's the link for the Get Help Goal in the Germany country page.
2022-05-11 Research Clues, at Home: Usually we think of finding research clues in online record collections, or in libraries or archives that we may visit. But there may be valuable pieces of evidence right under our own roof. How to Find Research Clues in Your Family Mementos explains how to locate your missing information in letters, postcards and more, and how to organize it all for best use. See more ideas for gathering photos and documents in Goal 1 of Project 2: Memories.
2022-05-10 Researching the Wrong Person?: One of the most unsettling feelings in genealogy might be when you realize you have probably been researching the wrong ancestor. What do you do, and how do you avoid this problem in the first place? In this Family Locket blog article, Nicole Dyer shares a personal research dilemma and how she solved it by focusing on three essential research objectives, in the correct order. You can learn more about creating research objectives and plans in Goal 3 of Project 4: Discover.
2022-05-09 Your DNA Toolbox: If you have taken a DNA test, you should know there are quite a few free tools you can use to help you use and organize your test results and DNA matches. Examples include GEDMatch, DNA Painter, DNA Match Labeling and more. This blog article by The DNA Geek gives a nice overview of popular DNA tools and what they can do for you. For more information on using DNA tools in your research, check out Goal 6 in Project 8: DNA.
2022-05-06 Using Census Enumeration District Maps: What happens when you find an ancestor in the U.S. census, but the town or city name is left blank? You can likely find the missing information by studying maps for census enumeration districts (the areas that census takers covered). This article from Family Locket gets you started with the background and tips you need, and there are two additional articles in the series. See Goal C1 in the United States page for more tips on using census records.
2022-05-05 Case Study: Brick Walls and DNA: It can be frustrating to encounter a dead end or "brick wall" in your family tree. This case study from the Genealogy Research Journal details an interesting story of how the author solved a 30-year brick wall of an ancestor in San Francisco in the early 1900's. Using Ancestry DNA test results, she contacted matches and combed through city directories to find a surprising conclusion. For more on solving brick wall puzzles, see Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-05-04 Research with School Yearbooks: One of the best resources for capturing memories and information from school days is through yearbooks. Many of these have now been digitized for easier access. The Ancestor Hunt website has a great collection of resources for finding school yearbooks, including links to yearbooks from each U.S. state and tips for using yearbook information in your genealogy research. You can find additional info on yearbooks and research in Goal F1 of the United States page.
2022-05-03 A Guide to Vital Records: The Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness website has a series of free research guides available for download. One of them is for United States vital records. It includes background information on birth, marriage, divorce, and death certificates and how to order them. It also discusses how other types of records, such as census, church, cemetery, and court, can supplement vital records and provide additional research clues. For more tips on working with vital records, see Goal B1 in the United States page.
2022-05-02 Where Was My Ancestor Buried? Even with great online tools like Find A Grave and BillionGraves, finding your ancestor's burial location may sometimes be a challenge. The Ancestral Findings site has some helpful tips for locating unknown or alternate burial locations in these articles: Tricks for Finding the Unknown Burial Location of an Ancestor and Alternative Locations for Burial Places for Your Ancestors. Learn more about cemetery records in Goal B6 of the United States page.
2022-04-29 Finding Your Swiss Ancestors: What tools and resources are available for tracing your ancestry in Switzerland? In this RootsTech 2022 video you'll learn how to get started with Swiss research, including surname resources, place names and maps, immigration and church records, and more. To continue on with Swiss research, check out the Goals in the Switzerland country page in The Family History Guide.
2022-04-28 Genealogies and Trees: The FamilySearch tree is a single, shared and global tree. You might not be aware that FamilySearch also has a Genealogies collection of many others, including trees for entire communities, oral genealogies, and partner trees, to assist you with your research. Check out this RootsTech video for details, and learn more about the FamilySearch Genealogies page in Goal 5 of Project 4: Discover.
2022-04-27 BYU Library Subject Guides: The Brigham Young University Library has handy subject guides on just about every topic you can think of—including family history, of course. Inside the family history subject guide are tabs for beginning and advanced research, family history activities, family history activities, etc., with several links to The Family History Guide. Watch for an upcoming blog post with more about these family history subject guides.
2022-04-26 Forming a Research Strategy: One of the often-overlooked keys to successful genealogy research is having a good strategy to work with. In Project 4: Discover, Goal 3, The Family History Guide has a brief introductory video by James Tanner to get you started, and the Strategies section in Choice A has additional resources such as A Guide to Research from the FamilySearch Wiki. Be sure to check out the links to other articles and videos included in the Choice.
2022-04-25 Citing Online Sources: Properly citing the online sources you use helps others understand the components of your research, and it helps you stay on track. Diana Elder from Family Locket introduced an excellent three-part series on the topic at RootsTech 2021. Watch the videos for Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 to learn the principles of source citation and see helpful examples of how they can be used. For more on source citations in research, see Goal 9 in FamilySearch Project 1 (Resources section).
2022-04-22 Marriages in the News: A helpful but often underused way to find marriage-related information is in newspapers. This RootsTech 2022 video provides tips for searching online newspapers to find weddings, engagements, bridal showers, elopements, divorces, and anniversaries, using additional keywords besides just the name and "marriage" in the search. For more tips on finding marriage information, check out Goal B4 in the United States page.
2022-04-21 Same Person, Different Names: Usually we when we see different names in records, they of course belong to different people. But sometimes those different names are actually for the same person, which can make for challenging research. This article by Olive Tree Genealogy describes scenarios where a person may be using different names, and how you can accurately put the pieces together. For more information on dealing with names and conflicting information in research, see Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-04-20 Tips and Tricks: The BYU Family History Library recently posted a new YouTube video titled "The Family History Guide: Tips and Tricks." This video gives you an inside look at some useful features and tips for using them, such as shared and hybrid topics, hidden gems, resource stars, info buttons, and a lot more. Also watch for an upcoming article on The Family History Guide blog site for additional details about the video.
2022-04-19 Jurisdictions and Boundaries: Two of the most important things to know about a genealogical record are who created it (the jurisdiction) and where it was created (county, state, or country boundaries). The Understanding Boundaries and Jurisdictions video from RootsTech 2022 gives a solid background on these topics, including administrative divisions, place names, and terms to know for your research. Also check out Goal A2 in the United States page for more tips.
2022-04-18 Ladies and Land: The U.S. Homestead Act helped to encourage the population to move west and obtain their own property from the government. An often overlooked aspect is the role that women played. In this RootsTech video you'll learn the details of the Homestead Act and see records and examples of women obtaining land and thriving on the frontier. To learn more about doing research with the U.S. Homestead Act, see Goal F2 in the United States page.
2022-04-15 Taking Advantage of Tax Records: Death and taxes are a certainty, but chances are most of us are more familiar with death records than with tax records. You may be surprised to learn that early U.S. tax records can place an ancestor in a specific location and time, confirm land ownership, provide birth, marriage, and death dates, track migration, and more. Get more tips on using tax records in your research in Goal F2 of the United States page.
2022-04-14 10 Tips to Find Immigrant Ancestors: One of the most exciting parts of genealogy research is finding an immigrant ancestor and extending that person's line in your tree. You can get help with your quest with 10 Tips to Help You Trace Your Immigrant Ancestor, by Findmypast. It explains how to use immigration and census records, naturalization records, passport applications and more to find the information you need about your immigrant ancestors. To learn more about immigration research, see Goal D1 in the United States page.
2022-04-13 Tips for Searching Common Surnames: If you have a John or Mary Smith, or a Thomas or Ann Jones in your family tree, how do you know it's the right person? This article by Amy Johnson Crow and this one by James Tanner provide some helpful tips for sorting through identical names and seeing additional clues in records, including locations, friends and neighbors, and search radius. See Goal 6 in Project 4: Discover for additional online search tips.
2022-04-12 What's in Cemetery Records? You can photograph tombstones and search Find A Grave, but there's more information to find by using cemetery office records. This Family Locket article shows examples of what you can find in cemetery records, and it offers several tips for finding these records for your research. For more tips on conducting cemetery research, see Goal B6 of the United States page.
2022-04-11 Using Original Records: Sometimes it's easier to find ancestor information in published sources, such as newspapers, obituaries, directories, etc. However, these secondary sources may be omitting important information or in some cases getting the facts wrong. This Archives.com article explains the importance of using primary records whenever possible, such as certificates, deeds, etc. Learn more about original records in Goal A1 of the United States page.
2022-04-08 Using England Census Records: If you are looking for an English ancestor after 1840, the England censuses can be very useful. In this recent RootsTech video you'll get a brief overview of the history of the census, see how the census questions changed over the years, and follow a case study for using census records. Learn more about the England census in Goal 4 of the England country page, including a QRB (Quick Research Basics) video.
2022-04-07 Lost County Records: In your research you may eventually see a situation where the county records you are looking for have been burned or otherwise destroyed. What are your alternatives? This RootsTech video provides some helpful case studies for working around destroyed records at the county level. For more tips on dealing with limited or missing records in research, check out the Records Information topic in Goal 1 of the United States page.
2022-04-06 30 Family History Interview Questions: The time you spend interviewing older relatives is precious, so you'll want to make the best use of it to gather the information you need. Findmypast provides a good starter list of questions you can use, including categories such as Basics, Life and Times, Family Relationships, and Dig Deeper. More interview questions and tips for conducting successful interviews are available in Goal 3 of Project 2: Memories.
2022-04-05 The FreeREG Project: One of the best resources for British Isles research is parish registers. FreeREG is an ongoing project where volunteers transcribe parish registers for England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and Northern Ireland and make them available online. This RootsTech video explains what FreeREG is and how to get started with it. You can learn more about parish registers in Goal 6 of the England country page, or in corresponding church and cemetery Goals for the other counties.
2022-04-04 Handling Conflicts in Information: Occasionally you may run into records that don't agree with each other, in terms of the important information that's recorded on them. What should you do in that case? This article from Legacy Tree has two solid tips to help you make the best choices with conflicting information, by zeroing in on the sources you are using. To learn more about handling conflicting information in your research, see Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-04-01 Happy 1950 U.S. Census Day: The long-awaited day has arrived, for the release of records from the 1950 U.S. census. FamilySearch has an interesting summary page for learning about the background of the census, and Ancestry has an entry in its Card Catalog but no records yet as of this morning. Stay tuned for the flood of records to come, and enjoy the upcoming search for your ancestors in the 1950 Census!
2022-03-31 Location, Location, Location: Working with U.S. census records from 1900-1930 on Ancestry can yield some good results, but it's helpful to know the role that locations play in your search results. This two-minute Ancestry Academy video walks you through using census records and how to effectively use locations in your ancestor searches, especially with the census. For more tips on using the U.S. census in your research, check out Goal C1 in the United States page.
2022-03-30 Tips for Old Photos: Who is that in the old photograph you just found, and what research clues might you be missing? If you're looking for a great collection of tips for analyzing photos, check out this Findmypast blog article. It covers topics such as finding photos, identifying dates and people, finding more information, and caring for old photographs. For more info on using photos in your research, refer to Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-03-29 Exploring School Records: One of the commonly overlooked sources for research is education records. These Findmypast articles - How School Records Can Help You With Your Genealogy Research and How to Find Incredible Old School Photos in Our Family History Records - are full of examples of available school records and tips and guidelines for using them in research. For additional links to help with school record research, check out Goal F1 in the United States page.
2022-03-28 Keeping Track of Your Information: As you gather data from your research, how do you keep it all organized so you can find what you need more easily? This video from RootsTech 2021 has some practical tips and guidelines, including strategies for pedigree charts, paper copies and digital files, research extracts, and more. You can find additional ways to organize your research data in Goal 1 of Project 4: Discover.
2022-03-25 Finding Family Bibles: A family bible may contain valuable information about births, names of family members, marriages, deaths and more. These details were often preserved in family bibles before courthouse recording was available. The Yancey Family Genealogy site has an extensive listing for family bibles online, arranged alphabetically and by location. For more info on using family bibles in your research, see Goal B2 in the United States page (scroll down a bit).
2022-03-24 New Home Page and Get Started: Today we are introducing a new look for the Home page of The Family History Guide. The top menu is the same, but the page is more concise, and the main link on the page points to a new Get Started page. That page has a series of tiles to help those who are new to the site or new to family history find what they need more easily. Check out the new look to these pages in The Family History Guide, and look for a blog post on Monday with additional details about these developments.
2022-03-23 Home, Swede Home Learning about the background of your research country can help you understand your ancestors and how they lived. A good case in point is this video from RootsTech 2022, titled Home Swede Home. You'll learn history and culture of Sweden, as well as places to look for important records to use in your research. To get more tips and resources for your Swedish research, see the Sweden country page in The Family History Guide.
2022-03-22 Who Do You Resemble? Have you wondered which of your ancestors you look most like? Using FamilySearch's Compare-a-Face tool, you can upload your photo and have it analyzed and compared with faces of your ancestors for similarities. A photo list of ancestors is returned, starting with the highest percentage matches. You can also click Learn More to see Memories for any ancestor in the list, as well as your relationship to that person. Check out additional fun family history activities in The Family History Guide.
2022-03-21 Finding Social Security Info for Research: From Genealogy.com: "For many people born in the nineteenth century before formal birth registration was required, Social Security records can provide valuable vital facts about birthplace and date, death date, or parents' names." This article dives into the background of Social Security and discusses ways you can use SS IDs and the Social Security Death Index to further your U.S. research. Also check out Goal B5 in the United States page.
2022-03-18 Solving Research Problems with Swim Lanes: As research problems get more complicated, there's a growing amount of information you need to process. A novel but effective solution shown in this video is to capture and organize source information in free canvas software, such as Miro, and use "swim lanes" to see how your sources intersect, agree, or contradict. For more tips and ideas on thinking out of the box with research challenges, see Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-03-17 Luck of the Irish: Church and Cemetery Records: Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone! A great place to start or continue your research for Irish ancestors is with church and cemetery records. In Goal 5 of the Ireland Country page you'll find links to great resources, such as research articles and videos, parish records, Irish Catholic records, headstones and cemetery records, and more. Check out the rest of the Ireland Country page for more ideas and resources.
2022-03-16 Using Network Graphs for DNA Research: Once you have taken a DNA test, there is an interesting and effective way to show the results visually. Family Locket's How to Make a DNA Network Graph and How to Interpret a DNA Network Graph get you started using the free Gephi visualization tool to build pictures of your DNA match data and see connections between match clusters for research. For more tips on DNA tools, check out the DNA Research Tools Goal.
2022-03-15 Tips for Ancestry Hints: One of the most recognized icons in genealogy is the shaky leaf on your Ancestry tree indicating there is a record hint for an ancestor. But how reliable are the hints, and what else do you need to know about them? This article by genealogy expert Amy Johnson Crow gives you an inside look at Ancestry hints and how to use them for best results. You can learn more about working with these hints in Goal 5 of Ancestry Project 2: Family Tree.
2022-03-14 Subway Maps: A New Timeline Concept: If you've been to a large city such as New York or San Francisco, you know how useful public transit maps can be. At RootsTech 2022, Goldie May developer Richard Miller introduced a "subway maps" approach for creating research timelines. These subway maps help you connect dots and colored lines on a grid to visually represent the locations and events across the lives of your ancestors. For more tips and techniques for using timelines in research, see Goal A4 in the United States page.
2022-03-10 What Are the Records You Need?: If you were to put together a list of important record types to look for, what would it contain? You can find a good example on the Genealogy One-on-One site. It's helpful for both new and experienced researchers, with links to over 30 essential record types and pages with descriptions and tips for using them. To learn more about the types of records you'll need for your research, visit Goal A1 in the United States page.
2022-03-09 Obituaries for Each County: Published obituaries can be a great resource for family history, as they often include information about the extended family of the deceased person. On the Newspaperobituaries.net site you can search for obituary sources county by county, in each of the 50 U.S. states. To learn more about using obituaries in your research, check out Goal B5 in the United States page, or Goal 3, Choice D in any of the U.S. state pages.
2022-03-08 Finding Ancestors in the U.S. Census: Ancestry Academy has quite a few short, helpful videos on doing family history research. One of them is How to Find Your Ancestor in the U.S. Census, hosted by Anne Mitchell. She guides you through examples of searching various Ancestry collections, including county censuses, to locate your ancestors. For more tips on U.S. census research, see Goal C1 in the United States page.
2022-03-07 Finding Local Histories: One of the best ways to bring your ancestors' stories to life is to learn about the history of where they lived. With today's technology you can do that both visually and textually. This FamilySearch article describes three websites that can be go-to resources for learning about and exploring local histories. To learn more about local history and genealogy, see Goal A4 in the United States page.
2022-03-04 The Family History Guide in the Expo Hall: RootsTech Connect 2022 is now in its second day, and there is still a lot to see and do online. Check out the virtual booth for The Family History Guide Association— there are 21 great videos to watch, plus free download resources. Also, The Family History Guide will be featured on the RootsTech Main Stage at 11:15 a.m. Mountain Time on Saturday, March 5. Don't miss it, and enjoy RootsTech!
2022-03-03 TreeFind and The Family History Guide: TreeFind is a handy tool from the BYU Family History Technology Labs that helps you explore FamilySearch Family Tree. You can run customized searches for ancestors, such as those with data problems, duplicates, end-of-line ancestors, or even ancestors who lived during the Revolutionary War, and much more. The Family History Guide now has a page for Tree Find: you can see its link in the FamilySearch menu, under Project 4: Discover. Check it out!
2022-03-02 Using Keywords in Ancestry Searches: Ancestry.com has a huge number of useful record collections from around the world. If your searches are not turning up the results you need, this tip from the Genealogy Research Journal might help. It explains how using the Keyword box can make a difference, especially with searches in online newspaper collections and city and town directories. Check out additional tips for successful Ancestry searches in Goal 6 of Project 4: Research.
2022-03-01 It's on the List! Researching your ancestors can sometimes be like opening a firehose of information. How do you remember what needs to be done and what you've already handled? "How Genealogy Checklists Will Improve Your Research" is a great place to learn about getting started with checklists. It includes links to a variety of fre checklist templates, and it has tips for how to create your own custom lists. You can learn more about using lists in your research in Goal 1 of Project 4: Discover.
2022-02-28 Coming to "Terms" with Genealogy: Genealogy has its own vocabulary, and it can sometimes sound like a foreign language to those new to it (indeed, many of its words are international). Here are three glossaries to help clear up the mysteries: a basic one (it's just one page long); an intermediate one (from New Zealand); and a more advanced one (quite a few peculiar words). For more lists of genealogy terms and acronyms, see the Beginner's page in The Family History Guide (scroll down to the end).
2022-02-25 Mind Mapping: A Visual Approach to Research: If you are a visual learner, seeing a picture of the research problem you are trying to solve would be very helpful. You can do that with a technique known as "mind mapping," as explained in this Family Locket article. It describes a free website that gets you started, with tutorials to guide you. The result is your own custom view of the people, places, and relationships you're working on. For additional creative ways to look at your genealogy, see Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-02-24 Helping Others Avoid Incorrect Family Tree Changes: The FamilySearch Help Center has an article titled "How can I prevent other people from making inaccurate changes to Family Tree?" Avoiding errors is the first step to prevention, and the article has useful collaboration tips, including sourcing, notes, reason statements, and discussions, to keep Family Tree information as accurate as possible for all who are working on it. For more info on accuracy in research, see Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-02-23 The Immigrant Ancestors Site: Between 1821 and 1924, about fifty-five million Europeans emigrated, many of them to the United States. Brigham Young University hosts a helpful website for tracking ancestor migrations, called Immigrant Ancestors. Here you can search passenger records from Ireland, Germany, Italy, and England, and other countries by archive or by ancestor name. For additional information on passenger lists for immigrants, see Goal D2 in the United States page.
2022-02-22 Types of Marriage Records: With today's date being 2-22-22, naturally our Tip of the Day would be about marriage records! In this Thoughtco article by Kimberly Powell you'll learn about an interesting variety of records, such as marriage banns, contracts, certificates, consent affidavits, and more, all of which may provide clues for your ancestor research. See Goal B4 in the United States page for more tips on using marriage records.
2022-02-21 Online Historical Photo Databases: If you are wondering where you can find photos online that capture the times and places of your ancestors, you are in luck. This FamilyTree article by Maureen Taylor (the Photo Detective), connects you with 22 online databases of historical photos, from Brigham Young University and the British Library to the University of Washington and the National Library of Australia. To learn more about using photos in your research, check out Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-02-18 About Migration Patterns: Why did your ancestors move from place to place, and why did they choose a location to settle? According to this article by genealogist James Tanner, the answers to these questions can open up insights for finding new information in your research. He also poses questions you can ask about your own family situation to get you started in the thought process. For more tips on understanding ancestor migration, see Goal F1 in the United States page.
2022-02-17 Finding What You Need in The Family History Guide: The Search feature in The Family History Guide is simple and powerful, yet sometimes overlooked. In the upper left of each page on the site, you can click the magnifying glass, type the item you want, and press Enter. This does a Google search within The Family History Guide (not to external sites). You'll get a list of links, and the first one or two are usually what you're looking for. Click a link in the results box to go directly to the item you want in The Family History Guide. Give it a try!
2022-02-16 Exploring FamilySearch with TreeFind: The BYU Family History Technology Lab has created an interesting tool for searching your part of the FamilySearch tree, called TreeFind. It can produce a list of direct-line ancestors, ancestors missing a parent, ancestors tied to important U.S. or world history events, and more. It can also save search results to a spreadsheet and location info to a downloadable .kml file for Google Earth.
2022-02-15 Understanding Birth and Death Records: For birth and death records in the United States, there are three common questions you may have: what information do these records contain; when did they become available; and where are they found? This article on the RootsWeb Wiki answers these questions and gives a helpful overview of U.S. birth and death records. To learn more about vital records in the U.S., including birth, death, and marriage, see Goal B1 in the United States page.
2022-02-14 Timelines from Census Records: Creating a research timeline from one or more census records can be a good way to find genealogy clues. In Ancestry's Timelines that Produce Answers, you'll learn how to get started with census timelines and discover additional information you may not have seen, including links to migration and historical events. For more tips and guidelines on creating and using timelines for research, check out Goal A4 in the United States page.
2022-02-11 Are You Making These Genealogy Mistakes?: Mistakes in family history are made not only by beginners; we can all fall into habits or errors that slow down our research progress. This article by expert genealogist Amy Johnson Crow outlines some typical genealogy mistakes, such as going faster than you should in the research process, and what you can do to avoid or resolve these errors. For more tips on avoiding genealogy mistakes, see Goal 7 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-02-10 Breathing Life into Ancestor Stories: What makes the difference between a dry narrative about an ancestor, and a story that keeps us engaged to the end? Check out Breathe Life Into Your Ancestor's Story by Betty Malesky. This article has some great ideas for how to weave the community and notable events into what you write, as well as where to look for resources to add the compelling details you need. For more tips and ideas on writing effective ancestor stories, see Goal 9 in Project 2: Memories.
2022-02-09 Early U.S. Census Records: Census records in the U.S. from 1790-1840 listed only the heads of households by name, with tick marks for children. Are these records still worth searching? Check out Early Census Research on the BYU Family History Library YouTube channel and this article by Ancestral Findings for some practical tips on locating children and other information from early census records. Learn more about these records in Goal C2 of the United States page.
2022-02-08 Exploring Historical Images: FamilySearch has a large number of records that are online but have not yet been indexed. You can search for and browse these unindexed records using the Explore Historical Images feature. This gives you a head start in finding records you may be interested in that do not show up yet in the indexed record collections. Search options are available for dates and event type, but not for names. For more information on using the Explore Historical Images feature, see Goal 5 in Project 4: Discover.
2022-02-07 Using Airtable for Research Logs: Spreadsheets are a common tool for research logs, but there is another option. Airtable is a hybrid software tool that combines features of spreadsheets and databases, in an easy-to-use format. This Family Locket article gets you started with Airtable, with examples for FNA and FAN (Friends and Neighbors) research logs, as well as a link to user-contributed templates. Learn more about using software for your research logs in Goal 1 of Project 4: Discover.
2022-02-04 New England Town Guides: If you are doing research in the New England states and want to get a closer look at the places where your ancestors lived, the American Ancestors site has some great resources. For example, check out the Massachusetts Town Guide (requires a free account), which has links to vital records as well as town profiles. The profiles include links to historical documents, dates of origin, and parent counties. For more information on New England research, see Goal A3 in the United States page.
2022-02-03 A Closer Look at Reading Maps: What information about your ancestors is hiding in plain sight? There may be quite a lot, according to this three-part series of articles in Ancestral Findings. You'll learn about essential types of maps, and how overlays, boundaries, and map features can help you pinpoint ancestor locations and open up new clues for your research. Learn more about using historical maps in the United States page, Goal A2.
2022-02-02 Cousin Research: To put a different perspective on your family tree research, you can search for cousins, which includes whole families (grandchildren, siblings, etc.). This course guide by FamilySearch gets you started with cousin research, including which lines to choose and how to find the records you need. Another good resource is this handout from the Riverton FamilySearch Library. For more ideas and tips, check out Project 3: Descendants.
2022-02-01 Etiquette, Ethics, and Legalities: Although most of us have a pretty good sense of being kind and fair in our genealogy pursuits, we may need occasional reminders of how to avoid potential problems. This article on the RootsWeb Wiki does a good job of explaining basic rules of etiquette in working with others (especially with staff at archives and libraries), how to avoid ethics problems in research, and understanding legal issues such as copyright, plagiarism, and the Privacy Act.
2022-01-31 Adoption: Tips for Finding Birth Families: A quick Google search tells you that about 2% of the adult American population today are adopted. If your family history research leads you to someone who may have been adopted, this article by Kimberly Powell will help you get started with locating birth parents. It includes tips for working with adoptive parents as well as agencies who can help in your search. For more ideas on adoption research, see Goal B3 in the United States page.
2022-01-28 The Genealogical Proof Standard Explained: The Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS) is a foundational part of family history, but it's still a bit of a mystery to many researchers. Fortunately there is an excellent article by Marc McDermott in Genealogy Explained, to take you through each step of the GPS. The article also includes a handy flowchart, How to Conduct Research using the GPS, that helps you visualize each part of the process and how it all fits together. See also Goal 8 in FamilySearch Project 1.
2022-01-27 Family Tree and the Genealogical Proof Standard: One of the benefits of working on the FamilySearch Family Tree is that it's a collaborative effort. However, that's also one of the challenges, as sometimes sources are lacking for ancestors, or changes are made without proper evidence. This Family Locket article does a deep dive into how to use the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS) to guide the changes you make in Family Tree. See Goal 8 in FamilySearch Project 1 for more about the GPS.
2022-01-26 German Archives and Libraries: If you are researching ancestors in Germany, you'll find a lot of useful information in online archives and libraries. In his video Intro to German Archives, Miles Meyer reviews top archive resources for German research and how to find and use them, with practical examples from his own findings included. In The Family History Guide, check out Goal 2 in the Germany country page for more tips on libraries and archives.
2022-01-24 Finding Details for Ancestor Stories: From FamilySearch: "Stories add depth to the family narrative and breathe life into your family tree." So, what makes for a good story, and how do you find the details you will need? This blog article provides some insights on what to include in stories, as well as helpful tips for places to find interesting details. For more tips on writing engaging stories for ancestors, see Goal 8 in Project 2: Memories.
2022-01-21 Tips for Searching the SSDI: The United States SSDI (Social Security Death Index) is a great resource for finding information on ancestors who died after 1962. In her article Searching the Social Security Death Index, author Kimberly Powell discusses the search fields you can use, how to improve searches in the SSDI, and more. For additional information on using the SSDI in your research, see Goal B5 in the United States page.
2022-01-20 More Countries for Research: The All Countries page has links for over 50 country pages for research. If your country of interest is not in the list, you can either click a region (in parentheses) or click the More Countries link below the list. This gets you access to over 150 additional countries, with links to articles and other resources. The regions included are Africa, Asia, Central America, Caribbean, Europe, Pacific, and South America.
2022-01-18 Beginning World War II Research: Finding ancestors who served in the U.S. military in World War II can be challenging, partly due to a loss of records because of a 1973 fire in the National Archives in St. Louis. A good place to get started is with this Amy Johnson Crow YouTube interview, which explains how to track enlisted soldiers and find their records. To learn more about World War II research, see Goal E2 in the United States page.
2022-01-17 Finding Early Immigrants: The U.S. government didn't require arriving ships to keep passenger lists until about 1820. If you have ancestors who may have immigrated before then, there are still places you can check, as noted in this article in Family Tree Magazine. Resources include ship and cargo records from Boston and Philadelphia, records of ancestor court cases, etc. For more about early colonial research, see Goal D3 in the United States page.
2022-01-14 Family History Reunions: Thought about holding a family history reunion? It can be a fun and meaningful event, where family members get the chance to mingle, enjoy activities, and share family history information with each other. This article by Genealogy Explained provides a list of tips so you can plan ahead for a successful event, such as invitations, location, food, and more. To learn more about family history reunions, check out Goal 3 in Project 6: Help.
2022-01-13 Church Records Basics: Family Locket founder Diana Elder states, "... church records can be a substitute for vital records. They can also help establish an ancestor's status in the community, reveal associates, and point to previous or subsequent residences." Learn about the basics of church record research in this article, which also discusses the value of church records and the types of religious records that were created in the U.S. For more about church records, see Goal F1 in the United States page.
2022-01-12 Print Friendly: If you need to print excerpts from web pages in The Family History Guide, the Print icon is your friend. It's in the top header area of each web page. When you click it, you can remove any section of the web page that you don't want printed, including graphics, and you can Undo any removals to get the print content back again. You can also scale text or images, and print to paper or to PDF. Give it a try! (If you need to reference larger sections of The Family History Guide, please link to them.)
2022-01-11 Tips for Interviewing Relatives: So you've been thinking about interviewing a few of your relatives, to capture important family memories for generations to come. How do you get started? The Legacy Tree article titled 9 Tips for Interviewing Relatives has some great ideas for preparing and carrying out your interviews, including open-ended questions, balance of conversation, and more. To go further with family history interviews, see Goal 3 in Project 2: Memories.
2022-01-10 England 1921 Census: The 1921 Census for England and Wales is now available online at Findmypast.com. In 1921, there were 38,000 census enumerators who visited over 8 million households and gathered information on more than 38 million people in all parts of England and Wales. This 1921 Census is especially important for researchers, as the 1931 Census was destroyed by fire, and the 1941 Census was never taken because of World War II. To learn more about England census records, see Goal 4 in the England country page.
2022-01-07 Storing Your Antique Documents: As Author Laurie L. Dove writes in How to Properly Store Antique Documents, "The issue isn't whether you have important papers to pass down -- it's how many you have in the first place." Knowing how to care for your essential documents and photos can insure their survival for generations, and the above-mentioned article provides some practical insights on how to do that. For more ideas on protecting and preserving photos and documents, see Goal 1 in Project 2: Memories.
2022-01-06 Youth Activities Sheets for Latter-day Saints: We've added a new page, at the bottom of the Youth menu in The Family History Guide. On this page you'll find activities sheets you can use for planning and carrying out family history activities for Latter-day Saint youth, from scavenger hunts to a family history boot camp, and more. The sheets have links to downloadable materials to personalize the activities and make them come to life. For more activities ideas, see the Latter-day Saints Youth page.
2022-01-05 Discovering Irish Placenames: One of the interesting challenges of doing Irish research is understanding the names for places where ancestor events occurred. Fortunately, the Logainm.ie website can help. On that site you can search for placenames, download a glossary and maps of place types, find historical maps and illustrations, browse places by Irish county, and more. For additional help with Irish names, see Goal 1 in the Ireland country page.
2022-01-04 Get Started, with the Get Started Page: Happy New Year! 2022 can be a great year for family history, and a good way to discover what you'd like to do is with the Get Started page. If you're new to family history, you can find a path to pursue for the year. If you're new to The Family History Guide, you can see at a glance what's inside the site, including learning tools for research in practically any country of interest. It's also a great place to map out some plans for your family history learning in 2022.