Collaboration and Brick Walls

Many of us tend to work on our genealogy research alone. It is an independent activity where we can lose ourselves for hours on end. In some cases, family members actually work together to solve a common research problem. It is these situations that can benefit us the most.

But what can we do if we do not have someone in our family that shares our passion? There are several different options available.

• Society Meetings & Conferences

Folks who attend these meetings and c

Headstones and Cemetery Indexes 

Your ancestor’s headstone can indicate both their date of birth and death. However, this information is only as accurate as the person providing the information to the stone carver. Always locate other sources to confirm the dates carved into the stone.  

If you have a death certificate and it states the name of a cemetery, Google the cemetery name. Then add the word “Index” to your search. Sometimes you will find that someone has transcribed a cemetery and uploade

Your Ancestor’s Locations 

It is extremely important to learn about the location(s) our ancestors lived. We need to be aware of when certain jurisdictions were formed, what records were kept and when, which jurisdictions were responsible for keeping specific records, and what records are currently accessible.

Keep in mind that jurisdictional boundaries may have changed over time, so it is important to keep track of what jurisdictions a location was a part of during the time the family resided ther

Women’s Clothing 1830 – 1890 

When researching the lives of our ancestors in photographs it’s hard not to notice all of the changes happening through time. Some changes were big while others were small and may go unrecognized.  Take for instance women's clothing during the 1800s. 

1830s – It was the ending of the “romantic” era, and women were wearing the hourglass silhouette, which consisted of very full sleeves, very wide necklines, a v-shaped bodice, and wide ankle-length skirts.  

1840s – The s

By Shannon Bennett, Student

How many of you knew that there were other types of US Census schedules?  If you did know, did you know how many different types there are? I knew about a couple of them but I had no idea that there were so many.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. thc 5a36898 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/thc.5a36898

Non-population schedules are great ways to gather more information about the family and the community you are researching. They can

Building a Basic Timeline 

More often than not, you will want to create a basic timeline for your problem ancestor. Start with information about all of the events in their life, including their birth and death dates, any marriages, birth and death of any children, the death of a spouse, and death of parents. You might also want to incorporate relevant information about the locations you are working with, for example, boundary changes.

You may choose not to indicate the source to begin with or you

By Shannon Bennett, Student

Many of my and my husband’s family come from England. Lots. Lots and lots. Did I say quite a few?  Well, needless to say I am intrigued by the records that are over there but at times I do not understand exactly what is being said. We sort of speak the same language.

Parliament (c) 2014 Shannon Combs-Bennett. Used with permission.

I am sure some of you can relate. Even here in the US our words have evolved over time. For example I had an ancestor who was a paperhanger. W

By Shannon Bennett, Student

Do you ever read something and feel your head getting full? That feeling of “oh no, this is a lot of stuff, how am I ever going to remember it all?” Well, that’s the feeling I have right now after finishing the next section of the English: Occupation-Professions and Trades course.

Vinters Hall. Wikimedia Commons. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:VintersHall_2.jpg

This last week I learned more than I ever knew about associations. What are associations you ask?  Well

Passenger List

We have William Bradford to thank for taking pen in hand and keeping records of the early years. He wrote down the names of the passengers and did a separate accounting of the increasings and decreasings of these passengers thirty years later. Unfortunately, one piece of information he did not record in his history was the name of the ship Mayflower. It is known only from a 1623 land division in which settlers were listed under the name of the ship in which they came, viz: “The Fal

Military Uniforms in Photographs 

To correctly identify military uniforms in photographs, it is necessary to read reference books and related websites about the particular branch of the military in its specific country during the correct historical time period. There are absolutely no rules about how a military designed its uniforms over time, although there are a few observations that can be made about military uniforms in general.  

A country did not always automatically give uniforms to its mil

Alright, down to the final modules before I take the exam. The last two modules covered birth records and other documents that a researcher could use in the place of vital records. Which, if you have ancestors particularly in southern states, you need all the alternative ideas on finding records you can find.

Letter from Anna Combs to pension officer, War of 1812 Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files. Used with the permission of Shannon Bennett

I did know a lot of the alternative resou

In English: Occupations - Professions and Trades, Module 2  we jumped right in and learned quite a bit about the apprentice system in England. Wow, that was a lot of interesting, new, and eye opening information for me. I think I will continue to process it for a while.

Library With Books by Serge Bertasius Photography/ Courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I knew from history books that the apprentice system was complicated and long running but I really didn’t understand all the nuances that were inv

When you think of an “institution” what comes to mind first? For me, it is prisons or asylums. But guess what, this word can cover a whole bunch of other places as well. Places which most of us had ancestors in attendance. Not to say all ancestors were black sheep, just that they had reasons to attend an established facility.

Historic American Buildings Survey, photo-copy of engraving by John Andrews, showing Dexter Asylum in 1869. - Dexter Asylum, Hope Street & Lloyd Avenue, Providence, Providen

Photographing the Recently Deceased

Post-mortem photography, photographing the recently deceased, may seem like a rather macabre Victorian era practice. Post-mortem photographs were still being made, though less frequently, during the early years of the 20^th century up through the present day.

Photography: Clues Pictures Hold, Editing, Digitizing and Various Projects

Recognizing post-mortem photographs is not always easy. In most cases, the deceased are photographed lying in bed or propped up on a

Women’s Clothing in Photographs: The 1900s 

What were women wearing in the decades of the 1900s? That answer is important as we look at family photographs. Here’s a few trends seen in the 20th century.  

Photography: Clues Pictures Hold, Editing, Digitizing and Various Projects

1900s – The styles of the late 1890s continued into this decade. The skirt developed a train, was full below the knee, and became more ornate with pleats and smocking at the hipline. Evening dresses revealed more body, somet

What does Genealogy mean?

A definition found in the dictionary states that “genealogy is the science of tracing your family back through the centuries.” Genealogies record the descent of an individual or a family from a certain ancestor.  It is the study of your pedigree.

Basic Questions

How do you learn more about a photograph? Here are some basic questions to help get started.

Photography: Clues Pictures Hold, Editing, Digitizing and Various Projects

WHO is in the photograph?

It would seem that this is a simple question to answer, but identifying people in photographs is not always that easy, especially if there are no other photographs of that person and no living person is around to make the identification. In that case, it may be necessary to rely on a name writ

Genealogical Publications 

Genealogical publications can be extremely helpful in your family history research. Genealogical and historical journals provide us with the latest research on a particular family as well as providing corrections of long-ago errors. Journal articles also teach us proper methodology in compiling a genealogy, documenting our research, and citing our sources.

via Canva.com

How do you find journal articles of interest? PERSI, short for the Periodical Source Index is the large

Vital records are the bread and butter, go-to source, for many genealogists. The volumes of information you can glean from their pages are treasure troves. Yes, many of my brick walls have tumbled once I laid my hands on those pieces of paper, but I never actually stopped to really study what they are. Have you?

In the US: Vital Records, Understanding and Using The Records course, we take an extensive look at birth, marriage,  and death records within the United States.

I was excited to read that

Are you a descendant of a Mayflower passenger?

Which Mayflower passengers left known descendants? The following are the heads of families who left descendants and the only families from whom descent has been proven:

There are many names missing in the above list, names of men who died the first winter leaving no family behind. Some entire families were wiped out – the Crakstons, Martins, Rigdales, Tillies, Tinkers and Turners. Did these families leave other children behind? Men or boys traveling