Diana Elder

About Diana Elder

Diana Elder AGⓇ AGL is a professional genealogist, author, and speaker. She is accredited in the Gulf South region of the United States through the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen). Diana graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Elementary Education and has turned her passion for teaching to educating teens and adults in proven genealogy techniques. Diana is the author of Research Like a Pro: A Genealogists Guide and creator of the “Research Like a Pro” study group. She writes regular articles for FamilyLocket.com, the genealogy website created by her daughter, Nicole Dyer. She presents regularly at genealogy conferences, sharing the methods she uses every day to solve challenging genealogical problems.

A Day at the Alabama Department of Archives & History: Thomas B. Royston’s Tax Record

Apr 13, 2025

After exhausting online resources, genealogists often wonder what else can be found in a government archive. These important repositories house many collections important to researchers, such as government records, county records, manuscript collections, and more. In my recent visit to the Alabama Department of Archives & History, I discovered another record that shed light on the life of my ancestor, Thomas B. Royston. I had researched him extensively in both DeKalb and Chambers County Alabama...

Home Sweet Home: The House that Charles C. Creer Built

Mar 30, 2025

Ancestral homes are an important part of our family history. We can research the home’s architecture and records, such as city directories, taxes, maps, newspapers, and more. For this 52 Ancestor blog post theme of “Home Sweet Home,” I researched and wrote about the Spanish Fork home of my great-grandparents, Charles Cannon Creer and Mary Margaret Peterson. Charles built the home for his bride to move into upon their marriage on 23 March 1892, and...

“The Indigo Girl” – Eliza Lucas Pinckney and Her Contributions in 18th Century South Carolina

Mar 22, 2025

Reading historical fiction based on fact allows us to follow an engaging story and learn history simultaneously. The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd fulfills both possibilities. Who was Eliza Lucas Pinckney, the woman the novel is based on? She is credited with learning to grow the difficult crop of indigo in South Carolina in the early 1700s, which was a challenging task, especially for a woman in Colonial America. We’re reading The Indigo Girl for...

“Until Death Do Us Part… Or Five Weeks Later”: A Tale of Marital Woe in 1875 Dallas – Belle Carpenter vs John W Carpenter

Mar 16, 2025

Family history serendipity is real. Thanks to a kind fellow researcher, I recently discovered my ancestor’s divorce case that answers the question of what happened to Isabella Weatherford’s first husband, John W. Carpenter. I had her marriage on 3 January 1875, the birth of her first daughter, Clem, on 3 October 1875, and a second marriage to Robert Royston on 16 January 1877. With no death record, I assumed that perhaps John had died or...

AI and FamilySearch Full-Text Search: Working Together to Make Discoveries

Mar 9, 2025

Although we know there are likely more records of our ancestors somewhere, it is difficult to know precisely where to search when the known locations are exhausted. Full-text search by FamilySearch has been a game changer in this respect. Introduced at RootsTech 2024, I jumped on and started using it to discover more about my ancestor, Thomas Beverly Royston. I didn’t find anything new for him then, but during RootsTech 2025, I again did a...

Citing Digitized Records on FamilySearch

Mar 1, 2025

FamilySearch has billions of digitized records, many of which are indexed or available through the AI-assisted Full-Text search. When we find a record about our ancestor, we can attach it to their profile, download it to our files, or add a row to our research log. In each case, a precise source citation should be created to point back to the original record. One of the challenges with citing the source is that with the...

Texas Migration Patterns and DNA Connect Lucinda Wright Rinker to Her Father

Feb 22, 2025

Last week, we were fortunate to host Cathy Duncan for an enlightening webinar on her genealogical research combining Texas migration patterns and DNA analysis. Cathy, a member of our Research Like a Pro study group, shared her journey to connect Lucinda Wright Rinker to her father using a methodical approach that integrates traditional and genetic genealogy methods. This blog post summarizes the key insights from her presentation. This blog post was written by Claude Sonnet...

Separating Women of the Same Name: A Tale of Two Cleo Zinns

Feb 15, 2025

Merged identities are always difficult in our research, but it is even more so with women. In the U.S., women have a maiden name and could have several different married names. Ensuring that the correct facts and sources are attached to a woman can be tricky without thorough research. However, using a research log and timeline helps put together a profile for a woman that can separate her from others of the same name. The...

Florence (Creer) Kelsey and the Challenge of a First Job

Feb 9, 2025

Do you remember your first job outside the home? You may have flipped burgers, pumped gas, or babysat. Our ancestors also may have taken a job outside the home at some point. This would have brought challenges of answering to a boss, perhaps moving to a new location, and learning new skills. Learning about an ancestor’s first job can be a fun way to add context to their life. For this 52 ancestor post, I’m...

Effie Kelsey and BitterSweet: A Poem – Researching Material Culture

Feb 2, 2025

Have you inherited family heirlooms that are a mystery? We might inherit Grandma’s china or Grandpa’s stopwatch and know something about their use and importance. Other items might challenge us to research them in an effort to understand more about our ancestors. I recently took Gena Philbert Ortega’s institute course, “Material Culture” and am now inspired to use the physical objects I’ve inherited to further my knowledge and understanding of their past. At the end...

About Diana Elder

A Day at the Alabama Department of Archives & History: Thomas B. Royston’s Tax Record

“The Indigo Girl” – Eliza Lucas Pinckney and Her Contributions in 18th Century South Carolina

“Until Death Do Us Part… Or Five Weeks Later”: A Tale of Marital Woe in 1875 Dallas – Belle Carpenter vs John W Carpenter

AI and FamilySearch Full-Text Search: Working Together to Make Discoveries

Citing Digitized Records on FamilySearch

Texas Migration Patterns and DNA Connect Lucinda Wright Rinker to Her Father

Separating Women of the Same Name: A Tale of Two Cleo Zinns

Florence (Creer) Kelsey and the Challenge of a First Job

Effie Kelsey and BitterSweet: A Poem – Researching Material Culture

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