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”
Tag Archives: Genealogy
Researching Civil War Ancestors, Part II: What Was Your Ancestor’s Military Unit?
This is Part II of a series on finding and researching your Civil War ancestors. See “Part I: Did Any of Your Ancestors Fight?” here. Once you have set aside ancestors of yours who are likely to have fought in the Civil War, the next step is to discover their military unit. When you haveContinue reading “Researching Civil War Ancestors, Part II: What Was Your Ancestor’s Military Unit?”
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”
Researching Civil War Ancestors, Part I: Did Any of Your Ancestors Fight?
(This post is the first in a multi-part series that will outline how to research your Civil War ancestors.) No war in US history caused more American deaths than the Civil War. Hardly a family survived it without being touched by it in a profound and painful way. I have a number of ancestors whoContinue reading “Researching Civil War Ancestors, Part I: Did Any of Your Ancestors Fight?”
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”
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.
Caroline Gile’s Scrapbook
This is my great-great grandmother, Caroline Jane Webber Gile, as a new mother with her first child, as an old widow with her grandson, and a scrapbook with poems and jokes she collected from newspapers, no doubt to help her smile and carry on in her widowhood and old age. She experienced much tragedy inContinue reading “Caroline Gile’s Scrapbook”