Non-traditional family trees are not uncommon. Although many of us wish for a traditional family, divorce, death, out-of-wedlock births and other circumstances happen to many families. No matter how you feel about what happened or how you feel about the people involved in these events, they belong in your family tree. Your step family genealogyContinue reading “Non-Traditional Family Trees: Step Families on FamilySearch”
Author Archives: Mary Koeven
Family History Lessons from Disney’s “Coco”
Spoiler Warning: The following post contains spoilers from the Disney movie Coco. If you have not watched the movie yet, please do yourself a favor and watch it before scrolling down and reading this post! I absolutely loved the movie Coco because it is all about family history. There are many things we can learnContinue reading “Family History Lessons from Disney’s “Coco””
What to do When You Hit a Brick Wall
Do you have a “brick wall” in your family tree? You’ve been able to trace most of your family lines pretty far back in time, but there is that one line that you just can’t figure out. You have an empty spot on your family tree. You are just itching to fill it in, butContinue reading “What to do When You Hit a Brick Wall”
Genealogy Links: Closet Skeletons and Untold Stories
I often run into interesting articles and videos on genealogy research while perusing the web. I like to share them with you here on the blog from time to time. For more links, check my Pinterest and Youtube pages.
The Record Exists! Part II: Families, Collectors, and Everything Else
(This post is the second in a series about the different places you can find records. See Part I here.) In my last post in this series I discussed some of the more obvious and easy to find records that contain genealogical information. In this post we will dig a little bit deeper, looking atContinue reading “The Record Exists! Part II: Families, Collectors, and Everything Else”
The Record Exists! Part I: The Internet and Repositories
(This post is the first in a multi-part series about the different places you can find records.) I teach an online genealogy class for BYU-Idaho. I grade a lot of genealogy research papers. One thing that new students often write in their research papers is the phrase, “all the records were searched, but nothing wasContinue reading “The Record Exists! Part I: The Internet and Repositories”
Healing Through Stories
I have ancestors on both sides of my family tree who fought against each other in the American Civil War. My Dad’s family was from the South, my mom’s family was from the North. My ancestors fought against each other in this gruesome, brutal war. Stories about wars often paint one side as heroes andContinue reading “Healing Through Stories”
5 Tips for Using Online Family Tree Sites
The existence of online family tree sharing sites such as Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org has made family history research easier than it has ever been before. I wrote a post earlier about how sharing your family tree online can help you find your ancestors. Online family tree sharing sites have helped many people make amazing discoveriesContinue reading “5 Tips for Using Online Family Tree Sites”
When Your Family History Connects with History
First flight, 120 feet in 12 seconds, 10:35 a.m.; Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Source: Library of Congress On this day in 1903, the Wright brothers successfully flew an airplane for the first time in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The following year, after repairing their airplane, they conducted flight tests in Huffman Prairie, just outside theirContinue reading “When Your Family History Connects with History”
Mary’s Links for August
Today is my first in a series of monthly posts that will list several interesting genealogy-related links I have found recently. I hope you enjoy! Want more genealogy links? Take a look at my Pinterest Boards.