An evergreen tree up the hill in the neighborhood where I grew up was decorated with hundreds of lights every year for Christmas. For decades it has been a landmark in town during the holidays, visible from a distance. It can be found on a map-painting of the city which hung in City Hall.
Last week, [...]

The sources to which you can turn for genealogical information vary depending on the location and time period you are researching. For instance, if you are looking for your 18th-century relatives in the old country, you will certainly turn to parish records as a critical source of information – you won’t be able to count [...]

I just read on Dick Eastman’s site that Walton County, Georgia’s Besse Cooper is the World’s Oldest Person at 115 years old. I was curious about Besse. Who was she? What led to her longevity, her ancestry, her lifestyle, occupation? What could I find out about her online? What an amazing life she’s led so [...]

7 things I learned from my dad:
“If you can’t say something nice don’t say anything at all.” My dad didn’t like hearing gossip or hearing someone speak unkindly about others. I think there must have been someone in his childhood who spent a lot of time gossiping and he ended up having a big distaste [...]

Most people know more about their family history than they think they do. I often run into clients who assure me that the minimal information they’ve provided is ALL they know. Usually after a brief review of their information, I come up with several questions that I think they can probably answer. They usually can.
I [...]

This morning I did something that I’ve never done before. I printed an Application for License to Marry from the Salt Lake Couty Clerk’s website and filled out my half, the bride’s half, of the form. I am getting married soon, you see, and my fiancé and I are getting our marriage license today.
As I carefully printed [...]

As a genealogist, I see records everyday of births, marriages, deaths, and of other significant events in the lives of the people I research. Yet, it was not until recently that I started thinking about how significant of an event death can and perhaps even should be.
I had not thought about it much before, because I [...]

In the hustle and bustle of the holiday, my birthday is sometimes over-looked. I guess it’s my fault for deciding to be born six weeks early, on Christmas Eve. Fortunately, there is one tradition that is never forgotten. Every year for my birthday dinner, we have Chowder. I grew up in Maine and am a [...]

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 [...]

When I was very young, Thanksgiving meant lots of food, visits with grandparents, dressing up like a Pilgrim, and making hand turkeys with multi-colored construction paper at school. Things were certainly simpler as a child. I enjoy those fond Thanksgiving memories.
As I’ve grown and as life has become more complicated, Thanksgiving means quite a bit more. I started [...]