Who among us doesn’t have a few mystery photos stashed away in a closet or old scrapbook somewhere? And how many of us have winced to find some family’s treasured photos for sale in an antique store or flea market? As more of us immerse ourselves in family history, it’s not surprising that we are discovering stashes of these photos in our own possession.
Your family’s ethnicity can play a vital role in discovering their whereabouts and activities once they landed on U.S. shores.
Many family historians long for simple research methods and straightforward processes that conclusively identify their ancestors from among the individuals in any g iven collection of records.
In a recent beginning class on family history, we held a two-hour session discussing where students can go to find genealogical information. They left the class with the assignment to gather information on their own, and will were to return two weeks later to a follow-up class in which we would discuss the information they had discovered.
The saddle bags he sat on bulged with deals in the making. His cookpot simmered with bits of rabbit, squirrel, and schemes that promised to be tasty. Behind him, his fiddle dangled from the saddle that straddled a pinto he had probably swiped from the Osage in one of his fabled coups.
It had to be him.
Audio recordings of family history conference lectures are a boon to the community, but they are underutilized by most of us.
Genealogy conferences are some of the best ways to develop skills as a family historian. International experts provide educational lectures on a variety of genealogical topics at these conventions.
Relying on family information provided via the Internet can be hazardous until you take the proper precautions.
As most of us know, the Internet started as a Defense Department project that would let researchers on government projects quickly share their research findings. It proved its value when it was extended to the scholarly community generally through university and college networks.
Sources for Irish Family History: A Listing of Books and Articles on the History of Irish Families
Compiled by James G. Ryan. Flyleaf Press, 2001. 180 pages. Softcover. $33. To order, visit www.flyleaf.ie
When the subject of genealogy comes up, I’m one of the few who cannot produce an Irish line. In the past, this has not troubled me because I know how difficult Irish research can be.
Do you have a hero in your family? Recently, as I was having lunch with Dr. Rudy Vecoli, professor of history at the University of Minnesota, and Beau Sharbrough, president of GENTECH, the conversation turned to the events of September 11th and the heroes whose actions have come to light since that tragic day. We agreed that much of what those heroes did will be preserved and published.
Visit a living history museum for a day and get a real sense of what life was like for your nineteenth-century ancestors.
A splash of water has grayed the cement floor under the drinking fountain of the Kline Creek Farm visitors center in Winfield, Illinois. The fountain doesn’t leak; like the rest of the building, it’s only three months old.
It was a hot June day in Iowa. I was driving toward eastern Nebraska, anticipating that I would arrive at my parents’ home shortly after lunch. I circled around the north part of Omaha on I-680 and became stalled in gridlock. Seeing a break in the traffic near an exit sign, I eased off the interstate and was eventually on my way west out of the Omaha city limits.