By Jayne McGarvey A small seemingly insignificant story that passed down the family to me was of my second great grandfather who well into late life would set off early of a morning to walk about 6 miles cross country to see his family on the other side of the high hills, and how, if…
By Marge Bitetti Early Migration Starting in the late 1870s and for the following hundred years, over 27 million people left Italy to settle across the sea in other countries and continents. California is home to over 1.4 million people with Italian ancestry. Other areas with large Italian populations include: New York, Chicago, Boston, New…
By Jeanne Rollberg One we’ve discovered basic birth/marriage/death facts about our ancestors, we often yearn for details about them to help us understand the context of their lives and their values. Thankfully, there are many lesser-used or overlooked resources that can help in our quest. The focus of the resources identified here will be in…
By Jeanne Rollberg Social and consumer-to-consumer media like Facebook, Pinterest, eBay, and Google are woven into the fabric of our everyday lives across the world. As you use social media and also pursue family history, are you aware of the many genealogy discoveries hidden in social media themselves, or for your own opportunity to share…
By Karen Grizzard The brick wall is the ultimate challenge for any researcher, professional or novice; and we all have a few walls that we try to scale from time to time. We just know that somehow, somewhere, there is a vital clue that will cause the whole wall to come crashing down. What do…
by Katarzyna Smalcerz, Your Roots in Poland Although this post is focused on Polish family history, many ideas in this blog post are very good reminders of basic steps to take in research in any location. The first stage of your Polish ancestors’ search begins as everywhere in the world – you should put in…
By Jayne McGarvey Do you sometimes look at your family tree and wonder why it can be so difficult to find out any information about your female ancestors? Once married they often simply disappear until a small death notice is discovered. On many occasions this only refers to them as “the wife of …”. Changes…
By Jamie Drake As discussed in the first part of this series, naturalization records were created by way of three forms; Intention, Petition, and Certificate. These were signed at various stages of the process and may or not not be available for the person you are researching. This system remained in place with relatively few…
By Jamie Drake Naturalization records can be a treasure trove of information for a researcher, provided they are there. Here is a quick breakdown of how naturalization records came about and evolved, where the records might be, and what information might be found on them. It is important to remember that the United States of…
By Nydia Hanna The surnames in Spanish families are tied to traditions of land, wealth, social status and religion. For a Spanish person, their whole name, including two surnames, correctly identifies them and their parents. This identity is deeply rooted in the histories of their ancestors and the names they carried. Spaniards believe that the…