It was exciting to work on the Tim McGraw episode of “Who Do You Think You Are?”. A lot of hard work went into determining which stories could be used from the research conducted by ProGenealogists (a Division of Ancestry.com), Ancestry.com, ShedMedia, and some local researchers. Southern States work is not easy and numerous records [...]

A close loved one of mine recently passed away. At the time of the death a treasure trove of documents pertaining to the family was created though the estate was very small. There are more death records than the modern death certificate provided by a county or state government agency:

The assisted living facility, nursing home, [...]

Some of the oldest existing vital records for Southern States research are marriage records. Laws and customs regarding marriage records and vital statistics for many of the states of the Mid-South region have roots in the Commonwealth of Virginia or North Carolina. Bordering areas of North Carolina and Virginia both influenced each other. West Virginia [...]

I recently worked with a case where a client wanted to know about his father. He was 85 years old. His parents married when his father was in the service but were divorced shortly after. He never knew his father and wanted to know what happened to him. Through research we were able identify his [...]

Citation and documentation is extremely important in validating work completed by a genealogist. Paraphrasing Dick Eastman, ‘genealogy that is not documented is a myth.’ Citing sources often will show the strengths and weaknesses of a work to the researcher. New insights appear, and many times mistakes and errors are avoided.
An important part of doing family [...]

I’m new at ProGenealogists® so I have an outsider’s perspective, although I have been a professional researcher for several years, and an adjunct professor at Salt Lake Community College teaching genealogy courses. Customer service and client care have always been important to me.
When I decided to join ProGenealogists® many aspects of the company appealed to [...]

One overlooked genealogical treasure when researching modern ancestors is modern day pension benefits. Recently, I was put in a position to place my mother, who had lived with me many years, in an assisted living facility. My husband had sustained an injury that needed my additional care and attention.
As I went about arranging my mother’s situation, [...]