Savannah, Ga., early Negro life, Savannah, Georgia : Launey & Goebel Photographers. Dealers in Photo Stocks. 141 & 143 Broughton St., Savannah, Georgia, [between 1867 and 1890] – Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2015650291/Are you interested in helping descendants of enslaved individuals build their family tree? Do you have slaveholders in your family history and you’d like to participate in the growing movement to build a database? Today I’ll give you two ideas of what to do...
One year ago I posted my goal for 2016: to become an Accredited Genealogist. Luckily I gave myself a caveat that if I didn’t get it done in 2016, there was always 2017. Well, it’s officially 2017, and I do need the extra time to meet this goal. What did I learn last year? Where am I in the process? Why would you want to explore accreditation? Good questions that I’ll try to answer. January...
Do you have a strategy for researching or do you just start clicking around and hope for the best? One of the characteristics of an excellent genealogist is planning. Taking a few minutes to analyze a pedigree or document and come up with a research plan can turn an hour of research from ho-hum to productive. Today I’m going to share what I learned about research planning in session 2 of my Accreditation Study Group for...
Summer is coming to a close. Among the vacations, picnics, and other fun did you get a chance to do any family history? You may have done more than you thought. Did you reunite with extended family at a reunion? Maybe visit some ancestor graves or historic sites? How about attend a family history or genealogy conference? If you’re ready to get back on track with your research, then I have just the thing for...
Are you sure you’ve found all of the clues in the census records for your family? After you look at the names, ages, and birthplaces, do you pay attention to the rest of the questions and answers? Census records are one of the most valuable tools for a researcher, not only for the information reported, but for the clues to other records. I recently revisited the 1910 census looking for clues on my great, great...
Do you research in the same state over and over? Do you ever find great information on the web that you’d like to save but don’t know what to do with it? Do you have stacks of papers you’ve printed out for future reference, but you can’t find them now? If you answered yes to any of those questions, maybe it’s time you created your own research guide. A research guide is a collection of...
Here are my picks for genealogy and family history news and interesting articles this week. I’m trying to make my list shorter but there are so many good articles out there! News Ancestry Acquires Adpay, Inc. at Utah Business – Adpay, the owner of Memoriams.com (an obituary input network), was acquired by Ancestry to go along with Ancestry’s Newspapers.com in strengthening newspapers’ presence in their communities. MyHeritage is Adding Free DNA Matching at the MyHeritage Blog – People...
Are you a visual learner? When you’re sorting out your family history research do you often resort to drawing little diagrams on paper to help you make sense of what have and don’t have? When faced with a difficult research problem, I have often done the drawing thing, only to have to erase, redraw, and waste a lot of time in the process. I recently decided to try mind mapping a research project just to...
Have you ever wondered why you are asked to type a reason statement every time you change information or add a source to the FamilySearch (FS) Family Tree? Are you a genealogist frustrated with the collaborative aspect of FS Family Tree because others can change your information? If so, read on. I teach a beginner’s class during Sunday School in my LDS ward with people from all parts of the genealogy world: teens and adults...
Mother’s Day is coming up and I’m sure we’re all thinking about what to get Mom! After writing my post about 10 Easy Mother’s Day Gifts Using Old Family Photos, I found four links to more Mother’s Day gift ideas, including questions to ask your Mom if you’d like to write about her life for Mother’s Day. Three of the articles I read this week talked about the memories that come from a grandmother’s apron....
