Among the most valuable tools a future genealogist will have is the ability to search databases which are natively digital, by which I mean the digital record is the original record. Digital records are created along with paper records these days, so whoever is using the record won’t have to read old-style or sloppy handwriting. [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

As I am sure you all have heard by now that Footnote.com is now Fold3.

Footnote has been such a great resource over the past few years for finding military records, some census records and a bunch of random genealogical goodies. I have used it many times in my personal research as well as for clients [...]

One of the most useful, but lesser known resources at Ancestry.com, is their vast collection of city directories.   City directories offer a small glimpse—a year-to-year census if you will—into your ancestor’s life.  I have used city directories to help me determine:

Where an ancestor is located in a census record
When an ancestor died
When an ancestor immigrated [...]

Sometimes people researching their family history seem to forget that there is more to their ancestors than a birth and death date. If we’re truly trying to get to know our forebears, those are among the most boring bits of information since they happen to everybody! We all descend from more fascinating people than we [...]

Genealogy-enthusiasts will oftentimes be approached by budding researchers and asked to give lessons, crash-courses, or a few tips on tracing family trees. While there’s no official guideline for research, the following brief outline can be very helpful in introducing newbies to genealogy. It goes over a few of the basic record-categories (census, immigration, and vital records) and discusses free websites to get [...]

Did you know you can use Google to search a specific website? This comes in handy when you happen to find a site, such as a USGenWeb county site, that is simply a collection of web pages. It may not be very helpful for searching databases that Google doesn’t reach, such as those on Ancestry.com [...]

I learned a very valuable family history research principle years ago, and I’ve seen its application more and more as I gain experience in genealogical research. It is a powerful tool for breaking through some brick walls.
Look in neighboring jurisdictions.
Like ourselves, our ancestors did not neatly compartmentalize themselves into cities and counties. They might live [...]

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 [...]