North American Genealogy
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Traditional Family Foods
Family traditions and their origin can serve as a solid anchor in turbulent times. Asking about their sources helps keep them alive, as well as provide insight into the character and values of your ancestors.
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Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief
Finding information through professional organizations. Your ancestors may have been members of a profession that required that they be registered through a state bureau or professional organization.
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Criminals in Our Past
Prior to the American Revolution, many of the early settlers were criminals sentenced to exile or servitude in the New World. Other sources included deserters from military units and ships.
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The Deserters - Hessian Mercenaries
A number of the early settlers that arrived in the Colonies did so as mercenaries hired by King George to fight the rebelious bunch. And some of them never went home!
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Be a Pest, But Be Nice!
Being a genealogist often means being a pest! But you want to be nice about it. There are many advantages to being both!
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Postmarked
We read the letters with care, gleaning out the bits and pieces of information they contain. But don't overlook the information you may find on the outside of the envelope!
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Crossing the Border
Most of our families didn't originate on the North American Continent. They crossed the borders of the US and Canada. In the last 100 years or so, that has been tracked carefully and recorded. Changing one's citizenship can also result in a record on file in the archives or courthouses.
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Pioneer History Societies
The value of pioneer and history society records. Sources where these can be found and general overview of the societies.
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Prioritizing Your Efforts
You've finally managed to free up a couple of hours to devote to your hobby. How do you decide what to do with it? Ideas and suggestions for organizing and prioritizing your efforts.
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Formalizing Your Family Organization
Families are pretty informal groups most of the time, with little concern about legalities. But it may be worth considering a formal organization for your family organization to prumulgate the continued research and information
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Holding a Family Reunion
Holding a family reunion can go a long way toward getting new data for your family tree! And the chance to bond with others tracking down those lose ends can be invaluable!
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Getting Organized - Part 2 - Family Tree Software
You are getting organzied and want to put your family tree information onto the computer. The next series of articles will give you some things to look for whan selecting a software packages and provides a quick overview of a some of the packages.
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Identifying Photos
Identifying Photos can be a challenge, particularly if you don't know the dates they were taken. This article provides some sources that can help you identify the time frames.
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Spreading the Word
While we have talked about many different items over the last two years, here are some examples and ideas that may work for you. The more people that know what you are looking for, the more sets of eyes that can help!
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Give Me Land, Lots of Land!
Many of us hold title to a piece of land, sometimes we even inherited it. That title follows a string of documents back through history to the original grant of land from the government to an individual. Land Patents can be a help in learning more about your ancestors!
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The Littlest Angel Box
Do you have a Littlest Angel box squirreled away in the attic or a closet? In addition to the facts and things you will find in there, you may find that the trigger some good conversations with other family members.
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Triggering Memories
Need some help triggering those memories at the family gathering? Here is a game that will help the family think about past events and bring those happenings to the surface!
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Sharing What You Know
Sharing your family history with others is always a challenge. This articles provides some of the reasons to go with electronic publishing using HTML. The flexibility and volume of material that can be made available are the most compelling!
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Genealogy in Fiction and Fantasy
A look at the lighter side of the family tree. This article points out the use of genealogy in literature.
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Genealogy For Children
Getting your children interested in genealogy can provide a wide number of benefits. Here are some suggestions that will make the family and history come alive for the kids.
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Protecting the Records of Our Past
As a genealogist, we often become the archivists of the family, ferreting out important papers and filing them away. But as we know, many of these documents are fragile. This article provides some keys to protecting and preserving the roots of our family.
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The Genealogy Roadshow
You're making that quick research trip. What do you take with you to make sure you have what you need? Here are some tips to get you thinking!
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Caveat Genealogist!
Many of us have a driving desire to connect to our ancestors and are willing to spend money to complete those connections. But not all of the offers to help are legitimate opportunities. Here are some things to look for.
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Genealogy on the Web - The GenWeb
The United States Genealogy Web is a volunteer organization that maintains web sites for every county in the United States. Things to look for in using this valuable resource. Similar systems have been set up for use throughout the world.
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Getting Organized - Part 1 - Knowing What You Know
You've been thinking about it, but you're not sure where to start. How do you start documenting all the information you know about your family? Here are suggestions to get you started. This first article will help you get organized.
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Location, Location, Location!
Genealogy, like Real Estate, is heavily dependent on the location where things occurred. This underlines the importance of determining the locations where things occurred.
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Making Sense of the Census (Revised)
About the Census, the resources on the web and help in understanding what they say. Includes starting places to look on the web as well links to forms for recording what you find.
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Just What Does *&@#(^%[} Mean?
You have finally determined what city in the Ural valleys your ancestor was born in. You quickly find a web site about the site, but get a bunch of )(&^%)^) characters! What's going on?
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Our Heroes
Where your ancestors American heroes? Brave Canadians? Here are a selection of resources that can help you find out, both on and off the internet.
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Get Me to the Church On Time!
Finding church records that add to your knowledge of history. By combining many of the sources discussed in earlier articles, you can often find more information then you would have expected!
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Rah, Rah, Sis Koom Bah! Alma Maters
Did your ancestors attend one of the world's institutions of higher learning? Some suggestions for obtaining information on your ancestors who may have attended the colleges, universities and other schools.
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Do You Have a Griot?
The griot of the African cultures provide a technique for passing down histories and lineages for those with their roots in that country. Oral history provides a valuable source of information, but more than just that, it provides a connection that is not always available through the written work.
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The Writings of the Working World
Many of our ancestors were very literate individuals, using a vocabulary larger than we find today on a regular basis. And they wrote journals, diaries, letters and other documentation. Here is some help for things to look for and starting places for the search.
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Answering The Call
North America was settled by large numbers of God fearing people. To meet this need, large numbers of pastors and rabbis filled the churches and temples. Web resources to find church records for members of the clergy.
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Family Bonding Time!
The family time together over the holidays is perfect for swapping stories and information. Make it more effective by planning up front and being prepared for the opportunity! A few ideas to make your short time together of the holidays more productive.
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For Sale To The Highest Bidder
The recent proliferation of online sales make an amazing number of things available on the Internet. So what items can you purchase online? Where can you find them?
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Searching Out Surname Meanings
Searching for the meaning of a surname can often provide clues as to the origin of the family, occupations or locations. Find the meaning of your name and you may learn more than you expected!
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Don't Under Estimate Search Engines!
Don't underestimate the value of using the common web search engines to find family history and current family members! Some popular search engines and learning how to use them.
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Taking Strength From the Past
One can draw strength from learning about the past. It can provide examples of courage and perseverance that can help us through the present.
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Published Family Histories
Often, family members have privately printed family histories. These can be a valuable source of info, others can be a real waste of money!
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Family Organizations
The value of finding Family Associations and how they can go a long way toward filling in both history and details on individuals.
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Vanity or Subscription Histories
Vanity Histories, a good source of information on who and what part your family may have played in a community.
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What You Can Learn in a Cemetery!
While names and dates are seen as the information available in a graveyard, there is a great deal more that can be found out from the final resting places.
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The Sisterhoods
What was your great grandmother doing while great grandpa was at the lodge? She could have been at the lodge also! Or perhaps she was planning a protest for the women's right to vote. Or even at the local tavern, with an ax!
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Fraternally Yours, Part 3
This article provides links into the sites of many fraternal organizations or the history of that organization.
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Family Picnics - Jogging Those Memories!
Take advantage of the Family Picnic to add to your Family History.
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Fraternally Yours, Part 2
Part Two of the article on Fraternal Organizations
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Fraternally Yours, Part 1
We are a society of joiners. Chances are that at least one of your eight great grandparents belonged to a fraternal organization. People like companionship of others with similar experiences and values. You can learn much about a person by knowing about the organizations they belonged to.
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A World War in Two Theaters, and Beyond
The world come unglued again, but not just in Germany, Asia becomes a hot bed also. Once again Canada and the United States serve as centers of industry and agriculture feeding into this global conflict. What where your grandparents doing?
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The War to End All Wars
The turn of the century was soon followed by World War I. The United States became a true world power due to their production capabilities and the man power provided to end this conflict.
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The Blue and the Gray
Finding information about your Civil War relatives on the World Wide Web. Direction to a number of key websites to investigate and other itmes that might lead you to information on the Civil War ancestors in your family tree.
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Those Other Little Conflicts
The Revolution and the Civil Wars have often been depicted in movies and are often written about. But in between these two events came a number of other key conflicts. The War of 1812 and the Blackhawk War being two. Here are some starting points for finding genealogical history in this era. Your ancestor was too young to have fought with Washington, and too old for the Civil War. Could he have been in the War of 1812?
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Finding that Revolutionary Blood
The American Revolution conjures up visions of muzzleloaders, clouds of smoke and homespun clad colonists up against red clad soldiers. The heroism of these early Americans as they endured hardships and horrendous battles leads us to desire to show that we have this noble blood coursing through our veins. Starting points to find that line!
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Atten-Hut!
Your Family legend says that your 4Great Grandfather was in the Revolution, and 2Great Grandpa was in the Civil War. Was he? This is the first in a series of articles about military records and resources.
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Where is that Gold?
How, and where, to find the wealth of information hidden in a newspaper.
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Mining for Gold in the Newsprint
You've gotten five years worth of the microfiche, or the actual papers, now what do you do? Tips on how to cover a lot of newsprint in a short period of time.
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Ink on Their Fingers
Newspapers were the primary source of information in the past. As a results, many interesting things can be found there, if you can find the papers!
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Putting Flesh on the Bones
Making those names and dates become real persons in our minds.
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