Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about finding records in archives. Maybe you have already exhausted all the online records and are ready to find those additional records that haven’t been digitized yet. In repositories like courthouses and archives, you may be able to find unique and relatively unknown records. Join us as we talk with Melissa Barker, the Archive Lady, about how to find records like manuscript collections, voting records, photographs, school...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about organizing your DNA matches by creating diagrams. Charting your DNA matches in a pedigree showing most recent common ancestor can help you visualize your DNA results like never before. We’ll talk about two online charting options, charting using Ancestry.com’s trees, and also an offline method. There are many more. Join us as we talk with Robin Wirthlin about how to chart your DNA matches! Links What...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about United States Homestead Records. Do you have anyone in your family who took advantage of the Homestead Law of 1862? It is estimated that 2 million individuals applied for up to 320 acres of free land and your ancestor might be among them. We talk about two applicants for 320 acres in New Mexico about 1906 and 1911 and the details we learned about their family...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about how land grants and patents were received from the federal government. Diana tells about the process for our ancestors who applied for a land patent in federal land states and the papers that were created in the process. She ordered the Land Entry Case File from the National Archives for Thomas B. Royston and tells all about each paper contained in the file and its genealogical...
The Research Like a Pro process created by Diana and Nicole is a brilliant method that has helped me break down some brick walls in my research. I have become a much better researcher by participating in their study group. The skills I have learned have helped me understand how to really analyze my existing research and then dig in and find elusive records that I had previously been unaware of in my attempts at...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about United States land records, specifically deeds. We talk about how to use the deed index and how important it is to learn how the index is organized. Whether it’s a direct, indirect, russell, or other index, you will want to know how to find your relative’s name in it. We also talk about our ancestor, Edward Raymond Kelsey, and how we found a deed for his...
In our podcast episode today, Diana and I discuss several reasons to research land. A land record may reveal the following: a family relationship, clues to past or present residence, associates, evidence of migration, and more. We also explain the differences between “state land states” and “federal land states” in the United States system of land distribution. We look at the metes and bounds system of land measurement as well as the grid system (township...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is an interview with Susan Modzelewski, a graduate of our Research Like a Pro study group. Susan is a member of the Pima County Genealogy Society, where she met Nicole. She has been doing family history for over 20 years. She said that at the beginning, “genealogy was fun, quick and easy. I thought researching my family was going to be a breeze. Then the research became...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about Scandinavian Research. We talk to Jenny Hansen, AG, who has been an accredited genealogy professional for 20 years. She tells us tips for researching relatives in the Scandinavian countries. We ask her all of our questions and learn more about researching our ancestors from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Her wealth of knowledge and experience is evident as she speaks. We’re so glad we got to talk...
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...
