Do you have females in your family tree who have few records and have left even fewer clues to their origins? You may have a maiden name and an estimated birth year, but there may not be any marriage record. Perhaps birthplaces conflict with one census naming one state and another census naming a different state. How do you tackle this type of brick-wall research? When faced with a tough challenge, one proven methodology is...
Reading historical fiction can provides ideas on how to add historical context to our work. Researching the world of our ancestors allows us to write with more authenticity when telling their stories. Kristen Hannah’s recent novel, The Four Winds, takes us on a journey to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s in Texas and the hardships “Okies” encountered when fleeing the unforgiving land for California. My ancestors followed this same migration in the 1930s, so...
Do you have several research logs, reports, and other research tools for your ancestors that represent months or years of research? Do you ever forget that you’ve created a tool such as a timeline only to recreate it? I set up an Airtable base to track my research projects, and today am sharing my thought process. You can do something similar for your research. I’ve published my base under the title Track Your Ancestral Research...
You may have heard the terms endogamy, pedigree collapse, or multiple relationships as you’ve been learning how to use DNA with genealogy. What does your match list look like if you have any of these scenarios? What do your cluster results look like? How do you work with those DNA matches? What does this mean for your research and analysis? This article will help you understand each term and give you examples to digest. I’ll...
FamilySearch is adding new digital images every second from around the world. These images are being dropped immediately into FamilySearch but are not indexed and not added to the FamilySearch Catalog. If you’re not aware of this next place to search, you may be missing out on a valuable resource. In this article, I’ll walk you through FamilySearch Images and give you some tips on navigating the site. Accessing Images You can find the Images...
Do any of your ancestral lines go back to the southern colonies of Georgia, Virginia, or the Carolinas? You may have wondered if it is even possible to research families in these difficult localities and times. Often all we need is a new perspective on the research – something that I gained in abundance in my recent course at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR), which was coordinated by J. Mark Lowe. I’ll...
Excellent writing doesn’t just happen – we write, edit, and rewrite until the finished product meets our standard. As genealogists, we write research reports, ancestor stories, proof arguments, and much more. Several tips can help us write clearly and concisely and make it more likely that we’ll engage our readers. Tip 1: Write We all get writer’s block; when that happens, the best solution is to start writing. Don’t worry about wordsmithing the perfect introduction....
What is the value of taking an immersive DNA course from an expert in the field? New perspectives, information, and practical applications to genetic genealogy. I completed the Advanced DNA Evidence course coordinated by Blaine Bettinger as part of the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh. The course exceeded my expectations, and I took copious notes on the latest and greatest advances in DNA as it relates to proving and confirming our ancestors. I highly recommend...
When writing family stories, how often do you research the location and history surrounding events that influenced our ancestors? As family historians, we can learn much about the importance of this type of research by reading historical fiction. The Girls in the Stilt House provides an excellent example of using place and time to bring to life the Natchez Trace as the setting for the story. In this blog post, Author Kelly Mustian shares some...
Five years ago I was thrilled to be awarded the Accredited Genealogist credential for the Gulf South U.S. region through ICAPGen (The International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists). Although it would be nice if that was a lifetime achievement, to stay fresh with research skills in this ever-changing genealogy world, AGs are required to renew their credential every five years. What does that entail? I’ll share the various elements in this blog post,...
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