What types of cemetery records are available to shed light on your ancestor’s life? Have you considered searching for more than the headstone? A cemetery record can contain important genealogical information such as birth and death details, family relationships, and more. If we’re going to discover all we can about our ancestors, we need to be aware of the variety of cemetery records and what can be found in them. In Back to the Basics:...
In our podcast episode today, Diana and I discuss why you might want to go back to research that you did in the past and check it again. There are three specific reasons why we suggest doing this, which we talk about in this episode. Hint hint – you’ll discover more things as more records become available and online! Links 3 Reasons to Revisit Your Research – blog post by Diana How to Research Like...
In our podcast episode today, Diana and I discuss the last element of research planning – making a prioritized list. During this part of research planning, you choose what to search first. Many people wonder how to know which record is the best to search first. We answer that question in today’s podcast. Links Research Like a Pro eCourse – on sale beginning May 8! $99. Sale ends May 22. How to Research Like a...
Today’s podcast episode is all about why you need to start creating research plans for every project, and how to do it. There are fives steps: Create a document with objective at top, compile a summary of known facts, write a hypothesis, make a list of sources to search, then finalize a prioritized strategy. We will talk about the need to be flexible as we follow our research plans, since plans change once you find...
Have you explored probate records in the search for your family? Or do they sound too difficult to tackle? With the digitization of microfilm on FamilySearch and indexes available on Ancestry, probate records are much easier to access than in the past. With an estimated 25% of the United States population leaving a will and an estimated 50% mentioned in a will, why wouldn’t you check out these valuable records? When should you turn to probate records?...
What are you missing in your research in the United States census records? Have you really analyzed all of the information? Do you know why the census was taken and how? In conjunction with our Research Like a Pro series, I’ll be sharing several posts on basic record types. The more we learn about the records that we use for finding and documenting our ancestors, the better genealogists we’ll be. Finding your ancestor in every...
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...
What are you giving your dad this Father’s Day? Here are some ideas that won’t take long but can be made meaningful by including a little family history. This post contains affiliate links. If you click the link and make a purchase, we receive a small commission but it doesn’t change the price of the item. Thanks! Custom Bottle labels Use an old photo of Dad or another family photo to customize his...