Category: Genealogy

At some point in our research, we all want to find out about our immigrant ancestors. All of us who live in North or South America have had ancestors that at one time or another migrated to this section of the world. Even our Native American came by various means from Asia. Some of them came across the land bridge through Alaska and now some are saying that their ancestors came by boat from the South Pacific Islands. We are discovering that there were Europeans in North America prior to…

Now I don’t mean “let’s go courting” in the way you are thinking because this is certainly not a romantic trip. We are going to a court house to do some research, but it can provide lasting joy if you find the results you need. The information at the court house could provide some of those missing links and help you get over the brick walls. Before you head to the courthouse, you will need to do some planning. You need to make sure the court house has the records…

We have all selected information from some book or source, especially when we are first beginning genealogy, only later to find out that it was wrong. It is so easy to find a source and take the information from it. All too often we do not verify the source or the information, and if we put this in print somewhere, we keep the error going forever. Generations will take our efforts as correct and it just keeps going. There are a number of sources to keep your eyes peeled for…

How many of us have had an opportunity to sit down with an older member of the family and get the straight information about our ancestors? How many times with this situation have we walked away feeling frustrated that we did not receive all of the answers that we wanted from that conversation? The real problem, in most cases, is that we walked into the situation unprepared and with mixed agendas. Frequently, we ask the wrong questions. We want to lead the conversation and not follow where it is going.…

In our genealogy research methods, we make many mistakes. Some of these we overcome and some of them linger throughout our efforts. If we can head them off in the beginning, we will be better off in the end. Here are a few that we have all been guilty of doing at some point in our efforts. 1. TAKING ONE SOURCE AND OVERWORKING IT – In the beginning most of us have relied on the census totally and consider this to be “gospel”. As we progress, we learn to use…

Trying to find the family name of a female in the early records presents quite a challenge. The females name is not always given in most of the records including the marriage records. This is where the rubber hits the road for researchers. How do you locate this illusive name? You may or may not have the marriage record, and if you do, sometimes the last name is not given. There are records beyond the marriage records that might have the name you are searching. You will notice in the…