Research Strategies
The following articles are about Research Strategies
Building a Case With Your Genealogy
There have been times in my research when an answer hasn't been found immediately. Over the years, I have learned... Read More
Seven Ways to be a Lucky Genealogist
Certainly the old adage of "knowledge is power" rings true when it comes to tracing elusive ancestors, but it's just... Read More
Five Ways to Find Your Female Ancestors
Tracing female ancestors is often one of the brick wall problems many genealogists face. With missing maiden names, lack of... Read More
Directory Assistance: Discovering Ancestors in City Directories
We often learn about our American ancestors in ten-year intervals from the federal census. To that timeline we add milestones... Read More
Keeping Track on the Road to Proof
Sigh. A few months or years from now, some dimwit is going to read my genealogy notes. That dimwit will... Read More
Researching Poor Ancestors
Providing relief to those in need is not a modern concept. All through history, records reflect the providing of assistance... Read More
New Views of Your Ancestors in Spreadsheets and Maps
As a genealogist, do you always know exactly what information you have, or do not have, for each person within... Read More
Researching Black Sheep Ancestors
Do you hear that rattling? That's the skeleton in your ancestral closet. While some people may feel embarrassed by an... Read More
Six More Ways to Find Your Family History Muse
Is finally writing that family history one of your goals or resolutions for 2013? For many genealogists, getting started is... Read More
Ancestors on the Job
An ancestor's occupation can be one of the most telling details of their lives. Jobs hint at training, daily workload,... Read More
Solving the Paradox of Research Planning
Genealogy starts simple for most of us. We interview relatives, we look up dates in known records Read More
Taking the Roll: 19th Century School Censuses
When doing 19th century research, we often look at Federal census records, deeds, and tax records, but many researchers don't... Read More
Why We Don't Write, and How We Can
I've done it, and you have too. After a wonderful day of discoveries on line or at the library or... Read More
Getting The Most When Hiring A Professional Genealogist
Why would anyone who loves research hire a genealogist to help find their own family? Most of us would as... Read More
Making Heritage Happen: Planning a Fantastic Family History Research Trip
While the Internet has made genealogical data available to us without leaving home, many researchers still dream of visiting the... Read More
The (Not So) Private Lives of Our Ancestors
With all the news about privacy, identity theft, and the role of access to vital records, have you ever considered... Read More
Getting Creative: Using Genealogy to Teach Writing Skills
As genealogists, we tend to have several passions in common: We love our family's history and we want to share... Read More
Noble Family Histories Demystified: The German and Austrian Example
Discovering that you descend from nobility is not always a genealogical goldmine. Making such a connection will not automatically have... Read More
Writing The Story Of Stories
My maternal grandmother was a natural storyteller. From the time I was born she filled my ears with stories.... Read More
Fitting Genealogy Into Your Busy Life: Ten Tips To Maximize Your Research Time
Genealogy is a time-consuming activity. We can get lost for hours in microfilm, online databases (1940 census, anyone?), and... Read More
What Life Was Like In The Living Of It
The historian, Will Durant, once indicated that a definition of "history" could be "human activity through time." The truth... Read More
Athletic Ancestors? Relive Their Glory Days
There's a star athlete in every clan, if you believe what you hear at family reunions. Grandpa played wide... Read More
What You Should Know About Copyright And Genealogy
[Note: the author is not an attorney and the information contained in this article should not be construed as... Read More
Tips for Removing Stubborn Genealogy Research Blockers
Brick walls are an inevitable part of a genealogist's research life. In the simplest terms, brickwalls are often defined as... Read More
Tales From The Courthouse
Court records are a form of postmodern literature - they drop us into the middle of stories with no known... Read More
Case Study Excerpts: Expect The Unexpected
As a beginning genealogy researcher, my only expectation was to learn about my family. I began searching my paternal... Read More
Where Do I Find...? Identifying Place Names and Their Possible Significance
One problem many genealogists will encounter is being unable to find records when they cannot identify a place associated... Read More
Reborn Records!
How do you find alternate records for those destroyed by fires, floods, storms, earthquakes or wars? Can Civil War era... Read More
Genealogy Research vs. Privacy Restrictions
As family historians we know the importance of vital records - birth, death, marriages, and divorces. These life events, recorded... Read More
The Stories Your House Could Tell: Researching The History Of Your House
If you live in or have recently purchased an older or historic house, you might be curious about the history... Read More
Climbing The Spiral Staircase: Learning Genealogy
As genealogists, we have all spent time learning which records to trust and which not to trust. We might start... Read More
10 Genealogy New Year�s Resolutions for 2012 You Can Keep!
The end of one year and the beginning of another is often a time for reflection. Most people ponder... Read More
Brick Wall Breakthrough: Follow The Breadcrumbs On & Offline
When I first started exploring my family history, I was insatiable - I couldn't find enough family records. When... Read More
Howell To Reed Difficult Handrighting
Three words in the title to this article, "howell", "reed" and "handrighting", are intentionally misspelled to call my readers'... Read More
Getting To The Good Stuff: Locating The Richest Genealogical Resources
Beginning genealogists often make the mistake of plugging the names of their ancestors into online databases, looking for any type... Read More
Become A Searchologist: How To Conduct Better Searches That Yield Results
Beginning genealogists are introduced to research by typing a surname or a full name into a genealogy website and... Read More
Borders: Just A Line On a Map
More often than not, whether you had a family living near a county or stateborder, there is a good chance... Read More
Where Is Your Proof?
So you have all the evidence, but now you need to organize your findings in a way so that... Read More
How To Collaborate With Other Genealogists
A sense of connectedness is what many of us in the field of genealogy experience once we get started... Read More
Dusting The Ash Pile: Creating Ancestor Profiles From Burned Counties
When conducting research many genealogists encounter burned counties which can make it difficult to locate ancestors. Burned counties are counties... Read More
Indirect Evidence To The Rescue
How I wish I could talk with my wife's great-great-great grandfather Samuel Wesley Boren (1828-1897) for a few minutes.... Read More
Digging Up Bones: Locating Cemeteries And Identifying People In Them
Most people who have done any significant amount of genealogy research will have visited at least one cemetery. Such... Read More
Postage Stamp Genealogy
What can you buy for 44� in today's economy? Not a cup of coffee or a soda or even a... Read More
The Importance Of Using Original Records
Most people have been taught in school to find information primarily in a published source, be it a newspaper, magazine,... Read More
Where is That? Strategies for Finding Your Ancestral Town or Village
Many genealogists eventually hope to "cross the pond" to find out more about their ancestral origins. In order to successfully make that jump, there are two key pieces of information you will need. Read More
Getting A Genealogical Education
When you first begin researching your family history everything is exciting; with all the instant matches on genealogy subscription sites and finding new cousins with the same interest in your ancestors... Read More
Diseases, Disasters & Distress: Bad For Your Ancestors, Good For Your Genealogical Research
Wouldn't it be nice if all the branches on our family trees were filled with bright shiny leaves that... Read More
Genealogical Societies: They Do Your Genealogy Good
Just as humans were not meant to lead solitary lives, it is also true that genealogists can't function without some... Read More
What Is Forensic Genealogy?
Who? What? When? Where? Are these the words of a genealogist researching his family tree or a forensic scientist solving... Read More
A Trip To Bountiful Genealogy Research
As you progress from beginning genealogist to the intermediate level, you realize that not all research can be done... Read More
Tips To Help You Find Seemingly "Lost" Ancestors
So, for one reason or another, you have "lost" your ancestor - now what? What you do depends on some of the possible reasons that they are "lost" and the time period and locale(s) involved. Here are a few tricks and tips to help you find an ancestor that appears to be "lost". Read More
Family Reunion Sense and Sensibility
Every other year, my husband's family gathers for a reunion. It's the glue that keeps the family together. They've been doing this since the 1950s. For the planners it's an exhausting two-year process that culminates in a week long hug fest that welcomes generations of cousins from around the globe. Read More
Five Strategies For Finding Forgotten Females
Every genealogist has at least one. I'm talking about the "Lost Lizzie" or "Elusive Edna" whose maiden name is left blank in your family tree. Indeed researching female ancestors can be one of the most challenging tasks in genealogy, but yet one of the most important to help trace family lines to the previous generations. Read More
Volunteer Projects Help Family Historians
Picture this...you're just starting your quest for information on your family. What you might not know is that there are many valuable free resources that can help you begin your search. I've listed several volunteer driven websites below that are dedicated to making family history resources free to everyone. I encourage you to use these tools and help out by becoming a volunteer! Read More
Mobile Ancestors: Why They Moved And How To Find Them
Our ancestors moved - A LOT! Though there were families who remained in the same town or nearby for generations, there were also a lot of people who moved. And, many of those people might have made a few stops along the way to their ultimate destination, only staying a few years here and there. Read More
Planning A Genealogy Research Trip
You have scoured bookshelves and archives at your local genealogy library, ordered periodicals and books through inter-library loans, and borrowed the Family History Library microfilms that hint to your ancestor's comings and goings. Read More
Reversing Gears: How To Find Living Relatives
Building your family tree begins with yourself and your parents, and progresses generation-by-generation into the past. At some point every family history researcher, novice or experienced, hits a roadblock in that process. Read More
Fear Of Citing
Fear of the unknown whether it is flying or citing sources can be paralyzing, so much so that many genealogy researchers avoid using source citations altogether. May be it seems too much like school or perhaps they think it unnecessary. Read More
Source Citation: A Genealogist's Best Friend
Have you heard the saying that "Diamonds are a girl's best friend?" Well, source citations should be considered a genealogist's... Read More
Finding Ancestors with Common Names
Common names present a problem for every genealogical researcher, regardless of their level of experience. For researchers with less experience... Read More
"You'll See It When You Believe It"! Your Outlook Can Result in Research Success
You've heard the skeptical announcement, "I'll believe it when I see it!" Such a critical attitude is understandable when the... Read More
You Found Them Where? Getting Around Misspelled Names.
Continuing your genealogy research despite misspellings can be quite a challenge. Years ago our ancestors' names were commonly misspelled. Maybe... Read More
Medieval Genealogy for the Medievally-Challenged (Like Me)
Many genealogical breakthroughs necessitate a re-education for the researcher. Suddenly you are in a new geographic location, dealing with a... Read More
Adoption Research: The Agony of the Search; the Thrill of Success
Adoption research can be exhilarating. With the secrecy surrounding many adoptions, it can be frustrating. It sometimes seems that you... Read More
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