In our podcast episode today, Diana and I discuss three reasons why you should download personal genealogy software to manage your family tree. Are you only using an online family tree? You may be missing out on powerful features. Links 14 Day Mini Research Like a Pro Challenge Family Tree Software Programs compatible With FamilySearch – PowerPoint presentation free download – feel free to share the presentation with your class or group. 3 Reasons to...
Have you been wanting to try the research like a pro process, but are feeling overwhelmed with all that you have to do? Maybe you have done the process once, or started the process, but got busy and didn’t finish. Diana and I have been brainstorming a new way for everyone to practice the research like a pro process in a simple, easy to follow format. We thought a daily challenge might work! So if...
Have you used tax records in your genealogy research before? What are these records, how do you find them, and what good are they? I recently used tax records to establish three generations of a family in early Maryland and today I’m going to show you how I did it. If you’re stuck in your research, perhaps a study of the tax records is just what you need. Why Search Tax Records As genealogists, we...
In our podcast episode today, Diana and I discuss how to analyze a census record, and the example of George W. Dillard in the 1850 Census. We go through the steps of making an abstract of all the census information, asking questions about the information on the census, making a hypothesis, then making a list of records to search that could answer the questions. We also discuss the non-population schedules and then what to do...
Have you made New Year’s resolutions in the past and come February 1st, they are discarded and forgotten? Maybe you know there’s a better way to research your family but you’re stuck in the same routine. Is your pile of paper getting deeper and deeper? Don’t worry – I’ve been there and I’m going to give you some ideas on how you can start now to make some changes that will make a difference in...
In our podcast episode today, Diana and I discuss U.S. Federal Census Records from 1790-1940. We talk about what you might find in a census record, where you can access them, the instructions given to the enumerators, which questions were asked on each census, and more. We also talk about books and resources to help you learn more. Don’t forget to download our free Census Cheat Sheet packed with all the information we talked about...
In our podcast episode today, Diana and I discuss three case studies about probate records. In our last episode, we talked all about how to find probate records and what are in them. This episode is about how to probate files to answer a research question. It’s amazing how many clues are hiding in these records! We discuss three projects – Diana’s research about Thomas B. Royston, Nicole’s client project about John Johnson, and Diana’s...
Have you ever been researching and run into two men of the same name? How do you know which was your ancestor? If you choose the wrong individual, you could end up tracing an entirely wrong line of ancestors. I encounter this scenario often in my research and have some tricks up my sleeve to share. My recent research subject was named Edward Sullivan, born March of 1852 in West Virginia. The son of Irish...
In our podcast episode today, Diana and I discuss one of our favorite record types for proving identity and parentage: probate records. These records are key in identifying relationships between children and their fathers in 18-19th century United States research. Probate records include wills, inventories, sales slips, receipts, debt payments, summons, petitions, and all kinds of records that reveal information about a family. Don’t miss the important information about how to find probate records for...
Have you heard the term “negative evidence” and wondered what that meant in your genealogy research? Is this the same as negative results when searching a database? This question comes up often with those working through the Research Like a Pro process, so let’s take a look at those two negatives and figure out what the difference is and how to effectively use them in our genealogy. Negative Searches It’s inevitable. We’re going to do...