Cousins have unique relationships in our family history research. When is a cousin more than a cousin? What kind of cousin are they? How do I figure out those specific relationships? With the rise in popularity of DNA testing and the resulting match lists, we need to know how we relate to individuals beyond saying, "This is my cousin."
A good resource for calculating cousin relationships can be found at FamilySearch's Cousin Chart.
To further understand the family dynamics as related to genealo
Researching the women in our family history can be a challenge. However, don’t leave them out! Our female ancestors often played significant roles in history, both in our families and in their communities.
Researching and writing about the women in our family history can be a daunting task. If you have hit a brick wall in the quest to find information about your female ancestors, the National Institute for Genealogical Studies has a course which covers strategies and key sources to assist you w
A few years ago it was my good fortune to be the winning bidder for an old photograph album for sale on eBay. Research showed that it featured Louis Gordon McIntyre and his wife Tryphena nee Hanney from around 1915 when they lived and worked on the Rangamati Tea Garden in Assam. Their story and some of their photos can be found here:
19120000. A Pitmans Shorthand text book with Winifred Bryant 56 Edric Road New Cross SE written inside the front cover. Date unknown. Nana was born in 1897. Until 1918 when the school leaving age was increased to 14, children could leave school at age 12. I have guessed that this book might date from about 1912ish.WFR%20Pitmans%20book.docx
18970000. Winifred Fanny May Bryant is born, believed in the New Cross area of London. I've no knowledge of the identity of her parents.
Cecelia "Granny Cil" Arrowood Barrett
(1835-1917)
Cecelia Arrowood Barrett or "Granny Cil" as she is known to her descendants, is a unique woman who is very well known in the local genealogical community as being a common progenitor for several of the modern family lines in the Towns County, Georgia area. Down through the years she has been the subject of many family conversations ranging from humorous anecdotes to controversies that made the self sensitive older women reach for their smelling sal
The following is a biography on my great great grandfather, William Godfrey "Fishing Bill" Barrett, put together from long going research done by two of my cousins and myself. Enjoy!
William Godfrey "Fishing Bill" Barrett
Here is a man that has reached something of a legendary status,at least within the genealogical circles of his descendants. Throughout the years virtually nothing was known of the man other than the few mentions of him from census records and the small handful of old family stori
Mary Agnes Frecker (Flood) on the right, 1928-1968, died of bronchiectasis (a lung problem caused by a childhood illness). Pictured above is my little brother, Danny in 1960, with Anna McManus Flood and Mary Flood Frecker (mother on right).
I’ve been building my family records at Ancestry after learning that my daughter will travel to Ireland in 2020. The topic of genealogy has taken over my thoughts.
As I built the ancestry files, I pulled family photos from our home computer.
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
Town and county histories often contain a great deal of genealogical data on its pioneers and early residents. As with family genealogies, search an online library catalog or digitized book website to see if a history has been written about the town where your ancestors resided.
via Pixabay.com
As you peruse these older town histories, be aware that they are known to contain errors, which can mean that the unsuspecting beginner then takes those errors and repeats them. The
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
We are off with a bang in the US: Vital Records, Understanding and Using The Records course! Module 1 jumps right into what is a vital record and how to find them. Contrary to what I thought from reading the introduction to the course, it appears that there are a whole slew of vital records, and not just birth and death. Good to know!
Connecticut State Department of Health, death certificate (1928), Nancy M. Taylor; State Vital Records Office, Hartford.
However, course author Leslie Brinkley Laws
Carrying Mayflower genealogies well into the seventh generation and beyond, are the transcriptions of the research of George Ernest Bowman, known as the Bowman Files, in the form of three volumes of multi-family works by Susan E. Roser, Mayflower Marriages and Mayflower Births & Deaths (2 vols.). Since these books contain many lines of all Mayflower passengers who left known descendants (with the exception of Moses Fletcher), it is possible to find out which Mayflower f
My grandfather's older brother, Johan August Larsson (27 Dec 1855 - 14 Jul 1929) was the first of his family to emigrate/travel to America. The emigration-church record shows his departure on 14 Jul 1887 from Gudhem, Skaraborg; his wife and first (2) children came with him but returned to Sweden within a short time (they are listed in 1890 Swedish census). Johan August also returned around 1895, there was another child born in Jan 1899 and family is listed in the 1900 census.
I am unable to det
Well, I just finished English: Occupations-Professions and Trades and took the final. Wow, that was all around awesome, but definitely not for the faint of heart. I think I need a couple days to recover so it is a good thing that I have a few days before the next one starts!
Anvil by Jeff Ratcliff. Courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
This course really makes me wish I knew more about my UK ancestors. Jumping the pond has not been easy for me. Well, if I am completely honest it’s been nearly impossi
The Pedigree Chart (or Ancestral Chart) will record your direct line ancestors’ information. In other words, you will record the dates and locations of births, marriages, deaths and burials from one father and mother to the next father and mother. While the potential is there for an endless number of ancestors, most of us in the beginning only have knowledge of two or three generations.
The Sosa-Stradonitz genealogical numbering system is ve
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
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 20th 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
Modules 4-8 of English: Occupations–Professions and Trades covers a wide variety of different occupations, laws and rules associated with them, plus lots of little bits of information that I think I digested. Once again, I stuffed information in my head and hoped that the sponge took it all in. In the future I see using this course as a great reference book when I track down English ancestors!
Passing Of Time by winnond/Courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Instead of doing an overview of the modules,
There is no better feeling than to open up a compiled family genealogy and actually FIND the ancestor for whom you have hit a brick wall. There he is—his parents, his grandparents, all the dates and places, right there waiting for you. Perhaps the book even contains his line all the way back to a Mayflower passenger —how ecstatic are you? How quickly do you enter all of this information into your genealogy program and gleefully shout to the world that you have finally found yo
