By Marge Bitetti In the United States there are over 300 religions practiced. Christianity is the largest religion practiced in the US composed mainly of Protestants, Catholics and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon). Many people choose religious practices of their parents or relatives. Many of our ancestors, when migrating…
By Janice Blackhurst Jesse Ginn was motivated to leave North Carolina for Georgia due to the lure of free land under Georgia’s headright and bounty land grant system. He and his family received 283 acres in 1793 and then 200 acres in Elbert County in 1795. Georgia was trying to encourage settlement by farmers in…
By Anne Sherman With only three months to Christmas and thoughts turn to the special gift we can give to friends and family, the catalogues selling personalised gifts nearly always included something along the lines of history of surnames or heraldry merchandise. These catalogues would have you believe that everyone with the same surnames descends…
By Jeanne Rollberg After commemorations of the September 11, 2001 attacks this week and after America’s birthday celebration on July 4, researchers about America are reminded: It’s time to re-dedicate ourselves to investigating history, our immigrant ancestors, and their families’ contributions to the United States. When we seek comprehensive information on forebears and the contextual…
By Caitlin Fischetti I have been fascinated with family history research for years, especially with my Italian roots. Most of my family is from Sant’Angelo dei Lombardi, a small town in the Avellino region of Italy. When my family migrated to the United States, they settled in Brooklyn. However, another branch of my family also migrated…
By Sharon Hall Have you ever thought about how many ancestors one person could possibly have? Mathematically speaking, taking one’s family tree out thirty generations would result in about a BILLION ancestors. Taking it out forty to fifty generations would result in approximately a TRILLION ancestors – more people than have EVER lived on…
By Ericka Grizzard Lineage societies such as Daughters/Sons of the American Revolution, The General Society of Mayflower Descendants, and many others serve as notable distinctions and sources of tremendous pride – the certified stamp on your family’s presence at certain points on the timeline of history. Today’s societies, while rooted in specific heritage, are largely…
By Ericka Grizzard Do you have a difficult time thinking about your ancestors beyond the abstract idea of the few facts that you can reel off about them? I know I do. There are certain ancestors that I feel a connection towards, but for many of them I honestly couldn’t tell you much about them…
By Laura Pinhey Over the past few months, this blog has addressed the fact that sometimes in family history research, sensitive issues crop up. For example, some of us may discover that we have ancestors who were convicted of crimes and sent to prison. We stumble upon death records that indicate suicide when we’d always…
By Laura Pinhey On the 1880 Federal Census record for my three-times great-grandfather there is a mark in the “Insane” column of the “Health” section. When I first saw the mark, I assumed it was a stray or a flaw in the microfilm. It seemed impossible to me that the census taker could have deliberately…