Getting to Know Hannah Lathrop Keith: Contacting Archives

This is a continuation of my previous two posts about my ancestor, Hannah Lathrop Keith. She lived for a short time and did not show up by name in census records or vital records. I had a few family sources about her, but I wanted to see what else I could find online. My firstContinue reading “Getting to Know Hannah Lathrop Keith: Contacting Archives”

Getting to Know Hannah Lathrop Keith: Family Sources

How do you find more information on your ancestors, besides just names and dates? Here’s how I did this with one of my ancestors, Hannah Lathrop Keith, using family sources.

Non-Traditional Family Trees: Adoption in FamilySearch

This tutorial is about adoption. In this case, adoption refers to when a child is raised by someone other than their parents, whether or not their last name was changed or any official adoption process was carried out in the court system. (In many cases, especially going back to the 19th century and before, officialContinue reading “Non-Traditional Family Trees: Adoption in FamilySearch”

Non-traditional Family Trees: Homosexual Relationships

Non-traditional family trees are increasingly common. No matter how unusual or un-traditional, genealogists should record all family events and relationships accurately. In this series, you will learn how to record these complex family situations clearly in your family tree. In this post, you will learn about recording homosexual relationships. Regardless of whether you believe thatContinue reading “Non-traditional Family Trees: Homosexual Relationships”

Non-Traditional Family Trees: Step Families on Ancestry

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 Ancestry”

Non-Traditional Family Trees: Step Families on FamilySearch

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”

My Ancestor’s Struggles with the Civil War Pension Office

As I write our series of tips about how to do Civil War genealogy, I think regularly about my own ancestors in the Civil War. My great great grandfather, Newell Elijah Gile, comes to my mind very often. He fought hard to receive an adequate pension for wounds he received during the conflict. I imagineContinue reading “My Ancestor’s Struggles with the Civil War Pension Office”

Protecting Your Privacy on GEDmatch

See also our blog post Protecting Your Privacy on Ancestry GEDmatch has been in the news a great deal lately. Last week, authorities in California announced the arrest of alleged serial burglar, rapist, and murderer known as the “Golden State Killer,” Joseph James DeAngelo, Jr. Officials on the case stated that investigators used GEDmatch toContinue reading “Protecting Your Privacy on GEDmatch”

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””