When is the last time your immersed yourself in the history of a research locality? You might know the records well and have a basic understanding of the history and geography, but reading a full length book is an excellent way to bolster your genealogy knowledge. As a southern United States researcher I often come across land records that state something like “land obtained by the Creek Session of 1832.” I had a vague understanding...
Do you need a better way to locate the research helps you’ve accumulated through the years? Are you drowning in paper? Do you have stacks of handouts from genealogy conferences and classes? What are you doing with that blog post or online article you know you’ll need in the future? Solve your organizational problems by creating your own genealogy reference center using the popular tool Evernote. I started using Evernote three years ago, transferring research...
Are you an adoptee looking for your biological parents? Maybe you’re helping an adoptee or you have someone in your family tree who was adopted. In each case, you might have tested with the various DNA companies and have a slew of results but you’re stymied with what to do next. I’m currently helping my adopted sister, Nancy, locate her biological father. Years ago I helped her find her bio mother using traditional genealogy sleuthing....
Would you like to try a research tool that has the ability to clarify your findings and make connections? Creating a table might be just the key to wrapping your brain around a difficult research problem. I use tables in every research project. Evidence analysis, census enumerations, and other records take shape when put into a table. Organizing the data by individual, date, and place can make all of the difference in understanding the...
Should children take DNA tests? Thought leaders and genetic genealogy experts say yes. In keynote speeches and interviews at RootsTech 2018, Cece Moore, Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Living DNA co-founders David Nicholson and Hannah Morden, reveal their thoughts about the booming DNA industry and how it can benefit children. Overcoming Prejudice LivingDNA is making great strides in the industry, especially in pinning down ethnic origins to specific regions within the British Isles. Yet...
On Saturday, our local genealogy society (PCGS) learned about the power of DNA from genetic genealogist Cece Moore. Cece painted a vivid picture of autosomal DNA inheritance – that our DNA is literally made up of small pieces of our ancestors. We carry bits of them in our cells and this information can be used to help us solve long standing genealogy brick walls. Cece said that after testing with Ancestry DNA, we should sort our...
Have you ever saved a web address, commonly known as the URL, only to discover later that the web page no longer exists? What about a website that you had used many times and now can’t locate? This can be annoying in normal life. In genealogical research it can be catastrophic. Losing access to a website that included crucial information about your family is a worst case scenario, especially if you didn’t record the information....
Today at RootsTech I’ll be teaching about Confederate soldiers and how to learn about them with online collections and articles. The online syllabus with links to collections is available here: Sources to Research Confederate Soldiers Online – RootsTech syllabus with additional resources After the class today, I will also share the slides from the presentation. I started researching my Confederate soldiers when I taught my children about Memorial Day last year. My 7-year-old son wanted...
Presenting “Source Citations, the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Diana presented two classes today at RootsTech, and we are sharing her presentation slides as PDF files for you to download and view for future reference: Source Citations Getting Organized One Paper at a Time We hope these are helpful for you! It was fantastic to meet so many of you today. If you are interested in purchasing our book that launched this week on...
Are you ready for RootsTech 2018? You might be here in Utah ready to attend in person or participating from the comfort of your home. Either way, you can share in the excitement. Find a way to connect and feel a sense of belonging in this wonderful world of family history. To help those of you at home connect and feel that sense of belonging, RootsTech will be live streaming the keynote speakers and several...
