July 2011
1 post
The Best Way to Build High Quality Back Links to...
You need high quality back links to your website to gain the attention of the search engines. Without search engine attention, it is virtually impossible to get the type of traffic you need for your website to become successful. Let’s face it, people conduct millions of searches online every day from around the world. If your site is going to stand out and have a chance of being visited as a...
February 2011
1 post
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s Genealogy Tip—Looking for Massachusetts vital records and don’t have the time or ability to make in-person visits to all the town halls there to collect them? Try the Massachusetts Vital Records database on NEHGS.org (it’s $75 a year). They have birth, death, and marriage records from most Massachusetts counties from 1841 to 1915. You can actually view the original...
January 2011
7 posts
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s Genealogy Tip—A good source for old newspapers (some going back to the 1700s) is GenealogyBank.com. It’s always a good idea to look in old newspapers where your ancestors lived for mentions of them, as these mentions can sometimes be the only existing proof of a birth, death, or marriage. At the very least, they sometimes give very cool personal stories that bring your...
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s Genealogy Tip—Looking for a headstone for an ancestor who lived far away and aren’t able to make the trip to look for it in person? Try FindAGrave.com. This website has millions of listings for cemeteries and the people laid to rest in them from all over the world. Pictures of headstones, and even family infor…mation, are often included. Check it out. Your ancestor...
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s genealogy tip—State archives provide a treasure trove of information. Many counties eventually sent their very old records to central repositories like state archives. These may be the best (and sometimes only) places to find information on your pre-Civil War ancestors. Call first to find what records the archives have before visiting so you have a more productive trip.
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s genealogy tip—Here’s another good website for you. Footnote.com works in conjunction with the National Archives to make the vast records holdings of the archives available to the public online. It is a subscription site, but well worth the cost, especially if you have ancestors who fought in the Civil War. You can find their entire military records online at Footnote.com,...
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s Genealogy Tip—Looking for pictures of your ancestors? Photographs are like genealogical gold…and often just as hard to find. Try going to www.deadfred.com. This is an online database of old photographs submitted by people from all over the world. You just might find the face of your ancestor among them!
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s Genealogy Tip—Lots of family histories were published in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, when there was a resurgence of interest in genealogy. Check your local library, eBay, Amazon.com, and local LDS Family History Center to see if a history was written on your family. If there was, and it’s well documented, that can save you a lot of research!
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s Genealogy Tip—Looking for the maiden name of an elusive female ancestor? Try checking her husband’s will or the wills of any of her known relatives. If she outlived any adult children, check their wills, too. Her original surname may be mentioned in these documents. If she outlived her husband, check his obituary. You can also check the wills of her husband’s...
December 2010
9 posts
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s Genealogy Tip—Censuses are taken every 10 years in the USA, and have been since 1790. The 1890 census was mostly destroyed in a fire in 1921, however, but fragments of it remain. Census records are released to the public 72 years after a particular census is taken, so right now, only census records through 1930 are available. The 1940 census will become available on April 2,...
almostgood asked: Hey there,
So i'm actually going to England this summer (I have tons of ancestral roots there). And I was wondering if you had any tips? I mean, logic tells me to go to those locations. And some of them were quite prominent so I know of some points of interest. Anything else that might be good to know?
So i'm actually going to England this summer (I have tons of ancestral roots there). And I was wondering if you had any tips? I mean, logic tells me to go to those locations. And some of them were quite prominent so I know of some points of interest. Anything else that might be good to know?
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s Genealogy Tip—More census magic. The 1900 census tells the date that immigrants came to the USA and whether they are naturalized citizens. It also tells how many children a woman has had and how many of those children are still living. For couples who are married, it tells how long they have been married and whether it is their first, second, third, or more marriage. Pure...
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s Genealogy Tip—Only the census records from 1850 to the present have the names of everyone in the household available. From 1790 to 1840, only the heads of household were listed. You can still get a good idea of who was living in the household on these early census records, though, because they list how many males and females within certain age ranges were living there. You can...
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s Genealogy Tip—The census is your friend. Most people really start making new discoveries about their families in the census. Don’t just look for your relatives in obvious places, either. Look for them in surrounding towns, with other relatives, and even in orphanages and boarding houses. You never know what you’ll find in the census that will deepen the story of...
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s Genealogy Tip—Don’t forget to check any memorial parks in the towns in which your ancestors lived. These aren’t cemeteries, but places where statues, plaques, and bricks are placed to commemorate certain people, events, and landmarks. Your ancestor may be honored in one of these places and seeing the memorial may give you more personal information on him or her that...
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s Genealogy Tip—Genealogy can make a great Christmas gift, and help others in the family appreciate their heritage. Scrapbooks, old family recipe books, printed and framed family tree charts, memberships to genealogy websites or organizations, and framed photos of long gone ancestors are all perfect presents to place under the tree for your loved ones.
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s Genealogy Tip—Don’t forget to keep your genealogy research organized! For those of you with regular access to a computer, a good family tree program is all you need. Family Tree Maker is highly recommended. If you don’t have a computer or prefer to not use one, then invest in some pre-printed family tree chart…s and family group sheets to keep everything...
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s Genealogy Tip—Newspaper records are an excellent source of genealogical infomation, and can help fill in gaps in the family tree when no other records exist. You can find lots of old newspaper records online going back to the 1700s. Just type in your ancestor’s name to see if he or she shows up. GenealogyBank.com has a particularly good set of searchable old newspaper...
November 2010
13 posts
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s Genealogy Tip—Don’t neglect your local courthouse (or the courthouse where your ancestors lived). Some contain vital records, wills, probate, and court case files going back two centuries or more. Some only contain recent information. But you never know what you might find out about your ancestors if you don’t check!
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s Genealogy Tip—If your ancestor ever purchased land from the federal government or was a homesteader, you can get those land records from the National Records Administration in Washington, D.C. Find out if your ancestor is included in these records by going to the online index at http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/beta/search/default.aspx
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s Genealogy Tip—Don’t forget to check with your local historical society for information on your family. You may be surprised at what you’ll find in their article repositories. Because most of these repositories are so little used, you may come across a gem that no genealogist has discovered before!
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s Genealogy Tip—Use land records. Available at the county level, land records show you where your ancestor lived, when he lived there, when he bought or sold land, and who he bought from or sold to. This information can help you establish important relationships between people. However, if your ancestor bought land from the federal government or filed a homestead claim, these...
Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s Genealogy Tip—If your ancestor applied for a pension based on his military service, you can find all kinds of detailed personal information in the files. It’s not uncommon for relatives, or the ancestor himself, to write letters explaining personal circumstances that make a pension necessary. These letters, when they exist, are included in the pension file.
You can find...
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s Genealogy Tip—Use old newspapers. Many newspapers now have their historic archives available online. Finding an issue from your ancestor’s town during the time he lived there can produce a wide variety of genealogical gems, from obituaries and wedding announcements to business advertisements and even complete stories about any incidents your ancestor was involved in.
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Try looking for your ancestors in records you may not have considered. Here’s a good example—U.S. Military Records. The U.S. government keeps detailed records on every person who has served in every war the U.S. has fought from the Revolution onward. These records contain valuable genealogical information, such as dates of service, unit or regiment, battles fought and injuries...
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s Genealogy Tip—To take your family back even further into the past, look for vital records such as wills, probate records, birth and death certificates, marriage licenses and land records, all of which are usually found in county courthouses or state vital record departments. You may find the names of relatives you never knew about listed in these records!
almostgood asked: I've been waiting for a tumblr such as yours to start! Looking forward to more tips :)
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s Genealogy Tip—Use the U.S. Federal census records to help take you back even further. Once you’ve exhausted all of the family information you can glean from relatives, look into the census to find the parents, grandparents, and more of your earliest known ancestors. Census records are available in many librari…es, at LDS family history centers, and on Ancestry.com.
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s Genealogy Tip—Start with who you know. Think of the earliest ancestor you know. Is it your parents, your grandparents, your great-grandparents? Begin your ancestor search with them, using what you know about them to find their parents, their grandparents, etc., as far back as you can go. Even if YOU are the on…ly ancestor you know, then start with yourself. Every...
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s Genealogy Tip—Get organized! You have a lot of different branches on your family tree. It helps to keep track of them all if you organize your research into different three-ring binders, with each binder made for keeping information on one particular branch. Be sure to label each binder on the front and side to keep track of your branches easily.
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Today's Genealogy Tip
Today’s genealogy tip—Start your genealogy journey by talking to the oldest relatives in your family. Ask them abou their childhoods and get the names of relatives they knew back then. Don’t interrupt them. Just let them talk, and try to get it all audio recorded. This is the best place from which to begin learning about your family history.
