How did I find the family name and history of my six-times grandmother who died three hundred years ago? The legal documents of her time reveal only her married name. I credit three Ps—patience, persistence, and plenty of luck, with my success.
Ann (ca. 1630—1702), the wife of Thomas Pattison (ca.
What do you do when you discover that for forty years of your great-grandparents’ married lives they lived in a place 1,200 miles away from your own home?
First, do as much research as you can from home. Be sure you search for history and information of that area in your local library. Then check online resources including Ancestry.com and the library catalog at FamilySearch.
As I have researched family history over the past few years, I have discovered three things that make the research process both interesting and rewarding: 1) solving a difficult problem, 2) locating new information about ancestors that no one knew was available, and 3) meeting new people who share a common interest in family history.
Every family historian, from beginner to advanced, will benefit from a thorough review of birth records.
Every recreational activity, whether it is a sport such as golf or a hobby such as genealogy, has certain fundamental elements that must be understood and practiced. Without mastering these fundamentals, an individual cannot expect to have much success with the activity.
Serendipity played a key role in the resolution of this award-winning writer’s search for her British family.
The e-mail didn’t look like anything special. It certainly didn’t look like the end of a thirty-year quest. The morning after Thanksgiving I sat down at my computer to clear out my Inbox and came to an e-mail with a subject line that read: Phyllis Bat es.
By chance, this family’s favorite vacation spot turned into a research mecca for the family’s history.
My husband, John, really loves Colorado, especially the area of Leadville. Leadville, located at 10,200 feet above sea level, is the highest incorporated city in the United States and was a booming mining camp in the 1880s.
Prepare for a productive research experience on the road with these great tips from a professional genealogist.
Every family historian dreams of traveling to his or her ancestral homeland. Searching the indexes, records, and compilations online or at your local family history center just doesn’t carry the same weight as onsite research in an old courthouse or cemetery.
Learn about the latest family history publications.
Planting Your Family Tree Online: How to Create Your Own Family History Web Site
By Cyndi Howells. National Genealogical Society, 2003. 259 pages, softcover, $19.99. Order at www.ngsgenealogy.org.
Even before your ancestors said, “I do,” marriage records had already been created for the happy union. Finding those records is now up to you.
Imagine a beautiful spring day. The sun is shining and the faint scent of jasmine is in the breeze. The string quartet interrupts its soft backgr ound music to play the bride’s processional.
Who would imagine that the confusion in your family research is the result of the deliberate white lies of your ancestor?
Hard as it may be to believe, our ancestors weren’t always truthful about the information they supplied to clerks, enumerators, and other record makers.
