Family traditions extend well beyond the “holiday season.” Now is the perfect time to create some new family traditions for 2004 and beyond.
Every year for Thanksgiving, each member of Debbie and Stas Mintowt’s family writes a short speech about what he or she has been thankful for during the past twelve months.
Family historians can’t mask their identity online if they want to tap into the wealth of information available.
Genealogists approach the Internet in a schizophrenic manner. Their trusting, giving side wants to share their contact information with every potential cousin on the Internet in hopes of furthering their research.
Whether or not your ancestors could read and write, you’ll learn a thing or two about them through the “signatures” they left on old documents.
It is an exciting moment to look at an ancestor’s original signature on a document.
Ask the “w” questions and see where they’ll take you in the quest for your roots.
Thorough family history research depends on the ability to find and evaluate all the evidence available to document a particular ancestor and his or her family.
Have you ever noticed that it’s often the cups and saucers that are missing in old sets of china? I have come to believe that there could be a message in those missing pieces. Maybe our ancestors who cherished these delicate cups understood something we haven’t quite figured out.
Jumping to conclusions in your family research will undoubtedly lead you down the wrong path. Consider the examples described here.
In searching for valid documentation, even experienced family historians risk making conclusions, based on certain irrefutable facts, that appear to be true but are not.
Not long ago, I was asked to answer some questions about family history on a radio show. As expected, the first question was, “How many people are actually interested in family history, and more importantly, why?” Previous interviews had taught me that media people want hard numbers, so I had come prepared.
You can find a wealth of information in even the most poorly kept old cemeteries as long as you pay careful attention to their many clues. Those clues come through gravestones and monuments, through their records, even through the placement of graves in relation to each other.
So where should you begin your German research? Begin first by reading a brief history of Germany and by studying maps to get a perspective on boundary changes over time.
Many Americans trace their roots back to Germany but face the challenge of finding an ancestor’s place of origin.
The most rewarding research for two family historians was to honor an unsung hero who died far from home.
In 21 February 1945, an American fighter plane crashed down in the English countryside. Over the past five years, the little village of North Stifford in Essex had been no stranger to German, English, and American planes flying overhead. But this time a plane had fallen from the sky.