Recording your information

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.

Genealogical Numbering Systems

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

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

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,

Your Mayflower Find

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

I chose Locating Places in Germany  as my second German course from the National Institute for Genealogical Studies  and I am happy I did. This course is packed with information to help you track down where in Germany your ancestor came from and how to locate the records for that location.

Thumb Tack On Map - Berlin by Mister GC/ Courtesy of Freedigitalphotos.net

Module 1 explains some of the pitfalls when trying to identify where in Germany your ancestor came from. It is easy to make a bad assump

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

Men’s Clothing, 1900-1950 

What trends existed in men’s clothing during the 20th century? Knowing what clothing was popular in which decade can help you pinpoint when that family photograph was taken and who possibly is pictured. Some trends by the decade include:  

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

1900s – The frock coat from the previous decades was being pretty much replaced by the sack coat, especially when it came to daywear.  A man might wear plaid tr

What a wonderful course!  Really, once again I am surprised by exactly how much I didn’t know about a simple, basic topic. The U.S. Federal Census is a staple for researchers in the states, but it is also complicated and at times detailed. Unless the family history researcher takes the time to dig deeper it will never give up all of its secrets to them. I would almost say it could be a trial in patience and perseverance.

Woman taking census of another woman at door of house. Library of Congress.

Before you start your family history research

What can be better than researching your family history?! While it is a fulfilling pursuit it is also a lot of work. You should expect to run into some problems along the way. It’s important though, that you not create your own frustrations by making mistakes in the initial stages of your research.

A couple of don’ts

• Don’t make any assumptions.
• Don’t believe anything you are told unless it can be confirmed by documentation.

Beware of stories suggesting ro

So why would a native German take the German Records courses offered at the National Institute for Genealogical Studies? Most of the research I have done in the past 23 years has been in American records not German. I mistakenly thought that German family history research was pretty much impossible for those living in the United States. Although I was born in Germany, I came to the US when I was only six years old so I don't have a good working knowledge of German geography or history. I do not

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

Grandma Great Great Great unknown.  When I was young Grandad could name her. We did not write in the album. When older he could only remember she was a Grandma on his side and some history about her.  Mom did write data finally down in the album in  1958.  I sent copies of unlabled pictures to Hoffman/Huffman Reunion in  Iowa.  I have not known of a reunion in Greene Co. Pa ever. Though a small group of us got together in September 1993. 

Waynesburg, PA was the place and I stayed with Helen Durbi

I love maps. Really, maps are a fantastic research tool, and even more important when you are using census records. Think about it, why do you think that would be the case?  I can think of several reasons; hopefully mine and yours match.

Map of the United States of America. Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov/item/98685348/

Boundaries in the U.S. shifted, changed, and morphed over the years into what we know today. During western expansion, borders could be re-written almost overnight. Think a

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

In modules 5 and 6 of Skills: Transcribing, Abstracting & Extracting we learned about extractions.  It is a similar concept to an abstraction but not exactly the same. Trust me, I am sure you have used them both, but you may not have realized the distinction between the two.

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

Similar to an abstraction, an extraction looks at only a specific part of the document you are reading.  Items

Everyone's Research is Different

One of the most frequently asked genealogy questions is “How far back can I go?” This is a very difficult question to answer. Everyone’s research is different. Accessibility and the availability of documents as well as the possible destruction of records means that the answer to the above question might be different even for the same person tracing two different families on their tree.

There are so many factors involved. Some will deal with your own family’s histor

    Mixed Results and Exciting Ideas.

   Thanks to Kenneth on Facebook and his crazy letter of 5 things not to do to excel in Genealogy, I am going to expound     on his fun.

   Needless to say, as an instructor in Genealogy I have been tempted to make similiar comments to my blog readers. 

   On Facebook they have many areas for various topics and Genealogy, Just Ask. really gets some interesting twists.

   It has been so long since I was a Beginner, almost forget how lost you feel when you are sta

Nothing like jumping in and seeing if you sink or swim. There is no goofing off and easing into the subject matter with this course. You are into the meat of the subject from page one, which is great!  Don’t get me wrong, I am happy to start off strong. There is just a lot, and I mean a lot, of information.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. cph 3c34542 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c34542

These first two modules cover the U.S. Census from 1790-1940.