What is a “conditional baptism”?
Consider the language of the following baptismal record from 1913 in Quebec Province, Canada:
“We, the undersigned parish priest, have received the abjuration from heresy of _____, Protestant, adult: also her profession of the Roman Catholic Faith. We have given conditional baptism and absolution.”
This individual was a Protestant being received into the [...]

In a day and age where Hollywood constantly rewards mediocrity with ridiculous TV shows that highlight ignorance (i.e. an incompetent and spoiled Jersey girl named Snooky (yes really, that is her name) or a teen that has found herself in the unfortunate circumstance of getting pregnant and landing a TV deal for it), it is [...]

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 [...]

For all those of you out there doing New York City research, you have no doubt probably found the online vital record indexes on sites like ItalianGen (www.italiangen.org) or GermanGen (www.germangenalogygroup.com) most valuable. I use these sites on a regular basis because I generally find references to such records as marriage, death, birth and naturalization fairly quickly. [...]

While doing some research yesterday someone pointed out this poem located in the preface to a U.S. Census Book. It was found in the newspaper The Portis Patriot, printed in Portis, Kansas, 20 April 1882. I got a giggle out of it and thought you might as well.
The Puzzled Census-Taker
by John G. Saxe
“Got any boys?” the [...]

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 [...]

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) is the main repository of genealogically relevant records for the six counties of Northern Ireland, and it also holds records pertinent to the whole historical province of Ulster (nine counties). The PRONI facility on Balmoral Avenue, Belfast, closed in September and is scheduled to reopen on 30 [...]

Sometimes it takes hours to find a little bit of information. Recently I was looking for a possible death of a child that possibly immigrated in 1884 to New York City. The name of the child was Boruch but may have been changed to a more English sounding name. The last name of this family [...]

Some forty-two million Americans identified themselves as descendants of German immigrants in the 2000 United States Census.  Second place, with about thirty-two million descendants, went to Ireland.  From the founding of Germantown in 1683 to today, millions of Germans have come to America.  How did they travel here and what kind of paper trail did [...]

I recently entered the genealogical world. Three months ago was my first time ever doing anything with genealogy work. The task can seem very large and hard. For those starting genealogy the key is to just jump in. Don’t get overwhelmed with everything. Start little by little. As you start to use all the different [...]