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

This next section, Modules 3 and 4,  of the course Skills: Transcribing, Abstracting & Extracting  was a close-up look at creating an abstract. For those of you who do not know what an abstract is, the instructor defines it as “an abbreviation of the original content in a document.” Simply put, it is the bones of the document with all the superfluous information taken away.

Image courtesy of stockimages/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The instructor provided tips throughout the module to help you with your

Family Albums, Friends and Neighbors

Obviously, knowing where a photograph came from is always helpful. Because of social media and genealogy websites, you may have access to family photographs posted by a family member or even a friend of the family. That person’s photograph collection may include more pictures of the same ancestor taken at different times or with other relatives.

Family albums are repositories of photographs of friends, neighbors, and relatives by marriage. It is possible that a

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

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.

Well, this course didn't dally around; it jumped straight into the nuts and bolts of creating a good transcription. While several of the courses I previously wrote about did touch on the basics of transcription, Modules 1 and 2 of Skills: Transcribing, Abstracting & Extracting  provides an intense introduction to the process.

Students in typing class in school. Ashwood Plantations, South Carolina. Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/fsa2000032060/PP/resource/

Yes, I have already

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

175 years ago today Inspector Charles MAY along with Sergeants Thomas SMITHERS and Hugh McGREGOR resigned from the Metropolitan Police Force in London and began their 5 month journey to Hong Kong in order to establish the Hong Kong Police Force.  As the senior officer Charles has found his way into the history books but Thomas and Hugh barely get a mention.  As a personal tribute to these two officers I have today published pen pictures of their lives on my Hong Kong Police Ancestors Blog. 

Hong

            Echoes of our Ancestors     

              20-23 May 2020

          SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH

       Presented by National Genealogical Society

            Family HIstory Conference

       HAVING HAD SUCH A GREAT TIME IN GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, hoping to be there.

20th Anniversary Special

We're celebrating our 20^th Anniversary!  What better way to do that, then to bring back those 1999 registration fees of only $50.00 per course.

You can register for as many courses as you wish.  That's right, there is NO limit.  Heck, you could even register for a 40 course package and save $850. 

This is a limited time offer starting TODAY and ending at 6AM EST this Sunday, 6 October 2019.

Simply enter the following coupon code to take advantage of this limited offer:  1999

Local News 

Over the years, local news found in hometown newspapers has run the gambit, from the very serious to news that isn’t necessarily hard-core journalism.

Some of the articles you might find relevant to your genealogy includes: 

• Family News - Newspapers of the 1800s feature more family news in them than what we find today, with the exception of smaller city newspapers. These articles provide insight into the character and sometimes even interactions between family members.

• Voter Lists and Ta

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

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

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

How do I get my grades? 

Within six weeks of the course end date, your grade will appear in your student Briefcase. Click My Briefcase to access your grades for all the courses you have taken.  

The National Institute for Genealogical Studies instructors use a standard scale to grade exams and assignments: 

A+ 

A 

A- 

B+ 

B 

B- 

C+ 

C 

C- 

D+ 

D 

D- 

F 

If you would like a paper confirmation of your grade and credits, please request this after your course completion date. A $5.00 fee is required for all hard c

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

Your Genealogy Business

Tracking money is not just mindless busywork. It has a purpose. Keeping track of money as it flows in and out of your business is a process that is key to providing you with the necessary information on how your business is doing which leads to better decision making. Managing your financial resources will involve the following aspects of money management:

• accounting/bookkeeping/budgeting
• profit/loss
• cash flow
• tax reporting
• break-even analysis
• credit and collections

For a small s

How do I register for a course?  

Simply click Subscribe and complete the form. Make sure all information is complete and accurate then click the Submit button. You will receive a message confirming receipt of your registration.  

When your course registration fee is received, your student Briefcase will be activated.  You will receive an email confirming your course registration and the start date for your courses.  

You may register for as many courses as your wish. Your Student Login (email addr

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