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.

Back to the Basics with Immigration Records: Part 3 1820-1906

Oct 15, 2023

If your ancestor emigrated to the United States after 1820, there is a good chance there may be a record detailing the ship, date of arrival, port of departure, fellow passengers, and more. The challenge comes in uniquely identifying our ancestors among those of the same name. Record availability in the 19th and 20th centuries is fairly good, so we can research the ancestors thoroughly, looking for important clues. In part 1 of this series,...

Back to the Basics with Immigration Records: Part 2 – Colonial Era

Oct 8, 2023

Knowing the history of U.S. immigration and the types of immigration records created when our ancestors arrived is key when considering finding their origins. Did they arrive as part of one of the original colonies or emigrate during the 19th or 20th century? Each era varies in record availability. In part 1 of this series, we looked at getting started with the research by examining the ancestor’s records in the United States for clues to...

Back to the Basics with Immigration Records: Part 1 – Getting Started

Sep 29, 2023

Have you encountered the challenge of finding immigration records for your ancestors? In our United States research, we may discover our ancestor’s home country and wonder how to find the original ship passenger lists or other immigration records. Whether they hailed from the British Isles, Europe, Scandinavia, or any other country, we hope for that exact date and place of entry. Difficulties come with the multitude of locations they could have entered the U.S. –...

The American Farmer in the Eighteenth Century Review: A Social and Cultural History – Fall Book Selection

Sep 24, 2023

Do you have any farmers in your family history? Maybe a better question is, were any of your ancestors not farmers? With the draw of new land in the United States bringing many people from Europe, there’s a good chance that if your ancestors are American, someone farmed. Noted historian Richard L. Bushman’s latest book, The American Farmer in the Eighteenth Century: A Social and Cultural History, provides valuable insights into the day-to-day world of...

Back to the Basics with Naturalization Records: Part 3

Sep 17, 2023

If you have an ancestor who became a United States citizen in the 20th century, you will have a rich source of information about their origins, emigration, residence, family, and more. The changes made to the naturalization process in 1906 by the U.S. Congress resulted in standardized forms that requested detailed information and specific requirements for citizenship. Before 1906, little identifying information was included in the naturalization forms. In part 1 of this series, we...

Nancy E. (Briscoe) Frazier, 1847-1924: The Disaster of the Civil War in the Ozarks

Sep 3, 2023

When we think of the American Civil War and the havoc it wrought upon the southern states and the nation as a whole, how often do we consider the women left behind? The soldier who fought may have military records stating specifics, but we seldom have any account of the soldier’s mother, sisters, or wife. In that case, we need to research the soldier and then dig into the historical accounts that can shed light...

Connecting the Past to Your Posterity Through Heirlooms

Aug 26, 2023

Do you have a large collection of heirlooms that you’ve inherited? Have you considered a plan for passing those on to your posterity? Heirlooms have a great potential to connect our children and grandchildren to their ancestors. There is something special about trying on the dress your grandmother wore for her wedding or serving dessert out of your great-grandmother’s compote. Add a story to the object or experience, and the heirloom becomes even more memorable....

Exploring New Tools at Living DNA: Chromosome Browser and Matchbox

Aug 18, 2023

If you have tested your DNA at Living DNA or uploaded a kit there, you may have wondered how to use the site best. With a much smaller pool of DNA test-takers, you probably don’t have many close matches, and without family trees, it has been difficult to identify common family lines. Two new tools released recently, however, give us more options for discovering and grouping our matches – the chromosome browser and the matchbox,...

Resolving Conflicts on the FamilySearch Family Tree: What To Do When Things Don’t Agree

Aug 12, 2023

What do you do when you’re researching an ancestor on the FamilySearch Family Tree and you run into conflicting information for a date, place, or even identity? You have a few choices: ignore the conflicts hoping someone else will figure it out, randomly choose what information to use, or do more research and resolve the conflict. I ran into this challenge when researching my second great-grandmother, Harriet (Huggett) Kelsey. I recently wrote about Harriet’s early...

About Diana Elder

Back to the Basics with Immigration Records: Part 3 1820-1906

Back to the Basics with Immigration Records: Part 2 – Colonial Era

Back to the Basics with Immigration Records: Part 1 – Getting Started

The American Farmer in the Eighteenth Century Review: A Social and Cultural History – Fall Book Selection

Back to the Basics with Naturalization Records: Part 3

Connecting the Past to Your Posterity Through Heirlooms

Exploring New Tools at Living DNA: Chromosome Browser and Matchbox

Resolving Conflicts on the FamilySearch Family Tree: What To Do When Things Don’t Agree

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