Last week I found a great bit of information on my great-great grandfather in a book digitized by Google. He was featured in a book about poets from South Dakota (and I came across this book with a simple Google search!). When I looked at the book, I was pleased to find that there were [...]

I recently ordered a birth certificate for a client’s ancestor who was believed to be born in Tennessee. After the usual wait time I received a certified record of “no record found.” Before simply accepting that the record was a lost cause, I took a few steps to determine the search parameters that the Tennessee [...]

Have you created or worked with an Ancestry.com Public Member Tree lately? I have recently started one myself by uploading a Gedcom. I’ve done extensive research on a few lines, and I wanted to be able to share the information with others.
The great thing about these trees is that you can link Ancestry.com records directly [...]

A couple of my friends have posed the question on Facebook recently: Why are some of the news outlets referring to Osama Bin Laden as “Usama?” It’s a legitimate question, and it has an answer that ties in nicely to genealogy.
In essence it boils down to transliteration. To transliterate means “to change (letters, words, etc.) [...]

Discount sites (like Groupon and LivingSocial) are all the rage lately. I’m signed up to receive email alerts for the coupons in my area, and in addition to all the discounts and coupons on products and services in my area, I’ve noticed a trend – there are a number of photo preservation companies competing for [...]

If you are anything like me, you pay  lot of attention to names you encounter in your research. Because I spend so much time researching, I frequently come across funny names-  whether those be amusing first and last name combinations (Yesterday I saw a baptismal record for a Hugh McGlue!) or entertaining sibling name combinations (like [...]

1. Where did you grow up?
Born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah!
2. What initially got you interested in family history?
An American Heritage class I took my freshman year of college. We were asked to write a paper on our first ancestor to come to the United States. I knew who was the first to [...]

Occasionally when discussing NBC’s “Who Do You Think You Are?” with other genealogy enthusiasts they express dismay that only celebrities are featured on the show. Usually these people find it ironic and maybe a little unfair that celebrities like Tim McGraw (who will be featured this Friday at 8/7 central), Steve Buscemi and Rosie O’Donnell [...]

With the holiday shopping season in full swing, I thought I’d suggest a few genealogy-related gifts that may make some of your friends and family members smile this year.

I would be remiss if I didn’t suggest that you purchase a gift certificate or a research session for a loved one from ProGenealogists. At this point [...]

One of my colleagues introduced me to the finding aids created by Stephen P. Morse. His website offers a number of tools that make searching various online databases easier. I frequently use his Ellis Island Gold Form when I’m having a hard time finding a passenger list, and I’ve recently discovered his handy tool to [...]