Roots & Branches

Archives.com is thrilled to announce the release of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) birth, marriage and death record collections! These three collections total nearly 4.6 million records. Archives.com, in partnership with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Archives, digitized and indexed approximately one thousand rolls of microfilmed records from churches now affiliated with the ELCA. These records have never before been online. Read More »

Next Thursday (March 21) is the start of RootsTech, an awesome genealogy and technology conference in Salt Lake City. The Archives team can't wait to be there! Three days of great classes, a vibrant exhibit hall, special events, and lots of genealogists and technologists to talk with - it's going to be an exciting three days! Read More »

There's always something to learn in genealogy. That's part of the fun! Archives wants to help you learn more about how to find your ancestors, so we have started weekly livestream presentations! These free videos are held every Wednesday at... Read More »

Back in school, there was usually one student who had the same question every time the teacher assigned a paper: "Does spelling count?" (This same student was always relieved when the answer was "no.") This student might make a good genealogist, because when it comes to names in older records, spelling doesn't count.

Have you disregarded a record because the name has a different spelling? You should look at that record again. You might have had the right person all along. Read More »

Looking for ancestors in California, Florida, Ohio, or Texas? Looking for places of burial across the United States? Archives.com has recently added six new vital record collections, plus a national collection of tombstone records. These seven collection total more than 51 million records.

Recently Added Collections include California County Marriage Index, Florida Marriage Collection, Florida Death Index,... Read More »

March is Women's History Month and Archives.com encourages you to celebrate by thinking about the women in your family tree. What were their triumphs? What were their hardships? Were they women ahead of their times? Were they women who worked... Read More »

Winter months are long and, for those in the north, grey. There are days when you want to pretend you're a bear and hibernate until spring. Winter can affect how you look at things - even your genealogy! If you're feeling lethargic about your family history, here are five tips to get you going again

1. Pick a Different Family. You can get into a rut when you're looking for the same people all the time. Read More »

Does your family have one of those too-good-to-be-true stories? You know the kind: Great-great-great-great Grandpa stowed away in a wine barrel to come to America. Great-great Grandpa was present when Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant. Unfortunately, they're often not true or, at least, not completely true.
Family stories sometimes have a way of growing over the years, but they often have a kernel of truth to them. The trick is knowing which part is the kernel! Here are three things to look at in order to ferret out the truth. Read More »

Today marks the 51st anniversary of John Glenn's historic orbit around the Earth. NASA has denied encountering any alien beings on his (or any other) mission, yet sometimes in our genealogy, we are convinced that our ancestors must have come from outer space. Here are some ways to bring your family tree back to Earth. Read More »

We're used to thinking of people having a genealogy. People have parents and some people have children. The same is true of counties in the United States. A county usually has another county it was formed from and some counties have had other counties split off from it. This can have a huge impact on your research.
Counties were formed as populations grew and moved. For example, when Indiana became a state on 11 December 1816, there were 15 counties. Today, there are 92. The creation of the counties followed the growth and migration of the population. Read More »