By Tina Sansone Genealogy has become very important to a lot of people; they want to know more about who their ancestors are. Most African American researchers can get most of their ancestors to 1870 but then they start hitting brick walls. Here are some tips (in no particular order) on trying to get beyond…
By Jayne McGarvey The issue of to read or not to read family letters and diaries seems to be the hot topic for this year. Most of us will have been taught as children never to read other people’s mail or diaries. That it is an invasion of privacy. Simple. At least while the owner…
By Bonnie Samuel Your ancestors lived in and were a part of a community. They may have purchased land, attended school, voted, celebrated life events, gone to war, owned a local business, advertised in the local paper, attended church, or broke the law! And there could be a record of any one of those everyday…
By Rachel Silverman Family history research is about finding the clues people have left behind and following the path where they lead. But what happens when a research path ultimately comes up empty? This is what genealogists call a negative search result, but don’t be fooled by the name; this kind of information is just…
By Anne Sherman The Census Population Act of 1800 established a national census for England, Scotland and Wales every ten years starting in 1801. This census was only a count of accommodation, people and occupations. The 1841 census was a complete change and asked for more detailed information rather than just numbers. Each district was…
By Jill Moore Have you utilized muster rolls in your Revolutionary War research before? Volunteer genealogists for the Friends of the Fishkill Supply Depot have been scouring muster rolls to aid their quest in identifying the unknown number of soldiers who are buried on the grounds of what once was a major supply hub for…
By Anne Sherman Family historians, who have used actual parish registers rather than online indexes, may be aware that in some cases registers may be missing or damaged, preventing records being found. What researchers may not be aware of is how unreliable parish records can be. During my time as a genealogist and a transcriber…
By Nikki Paine I was born in 1962 in London and placed with my adoption family six weeks later. I was told I was adopted when I was 5 and my adoptive mother was pregnant with her second natural child. As I got older I began to think more about my birth parents, picturing them…
By Sharon Hall Insane and Idiotic Family Search refers to the 1880 census as the “mother lode of questions pertaining to physical condition, criminal status, and poverty.” Why is that? The 1880 Census also included the “Supplemental Schedules for the Defective, Dependent, and Delinquent Classes”, sometimes simply referred to as the “Defective Schedules”. The normal…
By Marge Bitetti Locating family roots in California can be complex due to the blending of so many different ethnic cultures. A recent article in the Los Angeles Times noted that in the city of Los Angeles alone there are close to 200 different languages or derivatives of languages spoken. California’s current population is almost…