In Episode #344 of Research Like a Pro, Nicole and Diana discuss Colonial American Research. Diana explains the difficulties of finding the original immigrant for ancestors who immigrated during the colonial years. Nicole suggests learning from historians who have studied immigration patterns and developing a hypothesis based on what is known about ancestors and their groups. They introduce the book “The Peopling of British North America: An Introduction” by Bernard Bailyn as a resource for...
Nicole and Diana interview Rebecca Shamblin, genealogist, speaker, author, and blogger, about turning your family tree into a book. Rebecca gives an overview of her two books, “Leaving a Legacy: Turn Your Family Tree into a Family Book” and “Building a Legacy: A Guide to Combining Ancestry.com and Family Tree Maker.” The hosts and Rebecca discuss the five phases of creating a family history book: planning, researching, writing, printing, and distribution. They talk about choosing...
In this episode, Nicole and Diana discuss Joseph Lee Robinson and the Book of Covenants. Joseph Lee Robinson was Nicole’s husband’s 4th-great-grandfather, who joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1836. He wrote an autobiography in 1883, where he described his conversion and testimony. The hosts explain the religious fervor in the United States during that time, known as the Second Great Awakening. They discuss Joseph’s conversion experience, his brother Ebenezer’s role...
In today’s episode of Research Like a Pro, Diana and Nicole discuss the value of negative evidence in genealogy research. They explore the case of Henderson Weatherford, who was long assumed to be the son of William Weatherford. However, a careful examination of William’s probate records reveals that Henderson is not listed among the heirs. Additionally, tax records show that Henderson disappeared from the tax rolls between 1861 and 1862, and his property was subsequently...
In this episode of Research Like a Pro, Nicole and Diana discuss using AI to analyze tax records. Tax research involves a lot of data, and once you’ve extracted the data, analyzing it can be a challenge. Diana explains how she exported data from Airtable into a CSV file, and Nicole explains how she used Claude AI to create a table from the data. Diana provides an example of how she used the AI analysis...
In Episode #339 of Research Like a Pro, Nicole and Diana discuss customizing an Airtable research log for tax research. Tax records are invaluable for genealogy research because they were taken annually, filling in the gaps between federal censuses. The challenge is finding a good way to track and analyze the data. Airtable is a favorite research log tool, and by adding a linked table to the log, researchers can tame tax data and make...
In this episode of Research Like a Pro, Nicole and Diana discuss the challenges of using city directories in genealogical research. Nicole shares her experience with the Trinidad, Colorado, city directory, where she encountered indexing errors due to the directory’s unique formatting. The directory included the post office location after each person’s name, which the indexing process misinterpreted as a middle name. This led to difficulties in finding her research subject using the search function....
In this episode of the Research Like a Pro Genealogy podcast, Diana and Nicole discuss the advancements in handwritten text recognition by large language models (LLMs), specifically Claude 3.5 Sonnet. Nicole shares her experience testing Claude’s transcription abilities with an 1829 North Carolina deed. She is impressed with the accuracy, noting that Claude even outperformed her manual transcription in some instances. Diana and Nicole then provide listeners with valuable tips for transcribing handwritten text using...
In this episode of Research Like a Pro Genealogy podcast, Diana and Nicole continue their series on researching in England without parish records. They are joined by Jessica Morgan. Jessica is a genealogist specializing in British family research. The hosts and Jessica discuss using probate records to find family members, focusing on the differences between pre- and post-1858 records. They explain the court hierarchy in England and how to determine which court would have handled...
In this episode of Research Like a Pro, Nicole and Diana interview Jessica Morgan, an Accredited Genealogist specializing in U.K. research. They discuss strategies for researching English ancestry when traditional parish records of baptisms, marriages, and burials are unavailable. Jessica highlights the value of parish chest records, which contain documents like settlement papers, bastardy bonds, and apprenticeship indentures. These records can reveal an ancestor’s origins, family relationships, and even their occupation. The hosts and guest...
