Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is an interview with Scandinavian research expert, Torhild Shirley, AG. Torhild is a native of Norway. We discuss the challenges of genealogical research in Scandinavia, focusing on a case study from Sweden. In the case, Torhild aims to uniquely identify a person named Rasmus Gudmundsson, born around 1719 in Malmöhus, Sweden, using Swedish tax and church records. We discuss challenges from the patronymic naming system and the use...
In this episode of Research Like a Pro, Nicole Dyer and Diana Elder speak with Sam Howes, an archivist at Bates College in Maine. They discuss his work managing the official records of the college, including administrative documents, student records, yearbooks, and special collections. Sam explains what types of materials college archives typically maintain, like trustee meeting minutes, presidential records, alumni newsletters, student government documents, and more. He notes that confidentiality restrictions can limit access...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about our ancestor, Selina (Beddoes) Kelsey. Selina lived until age 97, and was regularly featured in Utah newspapers due to being one of the last pioneers to arrive in Utah by wagon (before the railroad). Selina was only 4 years old when she crossed from Nebraska to Salt Lake City by covered wagon. Diana organized the newspaper clippings into a timeline in Airtable to keep track of...
Which Rasmus Gudmundsson is ours? Separating Identity using Swedish Tax and Church Records Previously, in this four-part series on Scandinavian research, we discussed patronymics and naming traditions common in Scandinavian genealogy. We also identified two research objectives as we are trying to uniquely identify Rasmus Gudmundsson, born in Malmöhus, Sweden, around 1719. We did locality research for Kågeröd and Norra Vram parishes and had a brief introduction to household examinations, church, probate, tax, and moving...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about Diana’s visit to the South Carolina Department of Archives and History to learn more about William Keaton, our ancestor. William Keaton received a land grant in the late 1700s in Pendleton District, which became Anderson County. Diana shares what she learned in her visit to the archives and we discuss the land grant. Transcript Nicole (1s): This is Research Like a Pro episode 282, finding William...
Which Rasmus Gudmundsson is ours? Separating Identity using Swedish Tax and Church Records In part one of this four-part series on Scandinavian research, we discussed patronymics and naming traditions common in Scandinavian genealogy. We also identified two research objectives as we are trying to uniquely identify Rasmus Gudmundsson, born in Malmöhus, Sweden, around 1719. In part two, we did locality research for Kågeröd and Norra Vram parishes and had a brief introduction to household examinations,...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about civil marriage records and where to find them. We discuss examples from the U.S. and England and give a tutorial for how to make citations for marriage records from a bound volume at the county courthouse viewed as images online. Transcript Nicole (1s): This is Research Like a Pro episode 281 Civil Marriage Records Welcome to research Like a Pro a genealogy podcast about taking your...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about our distant ancestor, Thomas Royston, who settled in Gloucester County, Virginia. Thomas was granted thousands of acres in the late 1600s, and Diana got to visit Gloucester County and see where he probably lived. Join us as we discuss the historical context and records that make up the story of Thomas Royston’s life. We discuss challenges like record loss and review Virginia’s colonial history, focusing on...
If you’re curious about how artificial intelligence (AI) might help you become more efficient, consider experimenting with citations. The large language models (LLMs) that have become popular in the last year might prove useful in this area. I’ve been using ChatGPT to experiment with AI in the last month as a student in the National Genealogical Society (NGS) course, Empowering Genealogists with Artificial Intelligence taught by Steve Little. Steve has a great blog here: https://aigenealogyinsights.com/....
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about how to unmerge profiles on the FamilySearch Family Tree. When there are many people of the same name who lived in an area, it’s common for the profiles to get accidentally merged. When you notice an issue where multiple people have been merged into one person, there are several steps to follow to unmerge the people while preserving the original profiles. Transcript Nicole (1s): This is...
