In our latest podcast episode, #47, we talk about creating a shared Google Photo file where you can upload your historical family photos and share them with other family members who can also upload photos to the same file. There are a few wonderful things about this project one being that you can download and … Continue reading Historical Family Photos Shared easily with Google Photos
THRULINES™ TO REPLACE DNA CIRCLES, JULY 1 Ancestry will retire DNA Circles on July 1 replacing Circles with Thrulines™. Thrulines offers a more complete overview for kinship analysis between members and their DNA matches. Members can now see how many DNA matches they have from each ancestral grandparent, through each branch, or line, stemming from … Continue reading ANCESTRY CONTINUES TO IMPROVE ANALYSES TOOLS
Ancestry is rolling out a new Personal Profile and you have to try it! The new profile page incorporates your linked trees, DNA summary, location, photo, age range, and interests. Best of all – you can control how much data is public. To switch to the new Personal Profile, click on your profile and … Continue reading TURN ON THE BETA!
In episode #39, we challenge you to find an old photograph not necessarily of your own family and do some research from that photo. Amy found a couple of interesting photos in a shop she visited in Tallahassee, FL. One, in particular, leads her down a road with a very interesting story. This is Addie … Continue reading Photo Challenge
In our recent podcast, Episode #37, we had the pleasure of interviewing author Nathan Dylan Goodwin. Nathan writes our favorite genealogy mystery novels, the Forensic Genealogist series featuring Morton Ferrier. We had such fun learning how Nathan comes up with ideas and does the research for his books. We go a little insight to his … Continue reading An Interview with author Nathan Dylan Goodwin
In episode #36, we had the pleasure of interviewing Kenyatta D. Berry about her new book, The Family Tree Toolkit, a Comprehensive Guide to Uncovering Your Ancestry and Researching Genealogy. Kenyatta was in Tampa for a few TV tapings and a visit to our local genealogical society and was gracious enough to spend some time with … Continue reading An Interview with Kenyatta D. Berry
Here are a few takeaways from our podcast on German Reseach. Do as much research at home before jetting off to Germany, I think that is a given but some of us are eager for a transatlantic vacay of sorts. Know what town or region your ancestors were from. It is very difficult to … Continue reading German Research
Can brothers and sisters of your ancestor help you knock down those brick walls? Absolutely! We all have those brick walls where our direct ancestor has very little to tell in terms of leaving documents behind. They do not have a birth or death certificate, they left no will. We can only find them in … Continue reading Sibling Research
Every genealogist loves the pursuit of evidence. We happily spend hours checking court records, walking a cemetery and reviewing source materials in a library, however not many genealogists enjoy the hours spent writing reports, cataloging documents, citing sources and storing that evidence. Let’s be honest, most of us have at least one pile of … Continue reading WHAT TO DO WITH RESEARCH RESULTS
Back in April Amy and I headed up to Columbus, Ohio in search of answers to some of our most confounding genealogical questions. In the course of five days, we hit 10 counties, discovered a winery, ate delicious food and ended up exhausted. We decided four days of hard research was probably the sweet spot, take … Continue reading Genealogy Research Trip Tips
Timelines are an invaluable tool for genealogists and family historians. They help us solve problems and see what is missing in our research. There are quite a few webinars and blogs on timelines and how to create them so I am not going to do that here. I am going to share with you what … Continue reading Timelines
That is my question for the month. Yes, I know it has been a while since I asked a question but truly I have been doing some research. As our most recent podcast is about getting ready for a research trip and since Amy and I have planned one, I thought I better do a … Continue reading Am I Ready for My Research Trip?
While on a vacation to not so sunny California, my mother and I went through some photos she had from France. Many we knew the people but there were a few that we did not. This one above is one of those photos. We were lucky in the fact that someone had written information on … Continue reading French Photographs
A visual history of your family is invaluable and so easy to share. There does not have to be a lot of writing, just a few facts. Put a page together and share it with your family members.
This week I thought I would ask a question about someone in my SIL's tree. Remember the advice to stay focused? Well, I had a difficult time following my own advice to stay on track and stay focused on the question at hand. Step away from the research. After a brief break to refocus I … Continue reading Down the Rabbit Hole and how a question was answered
Here is a twist on getting the information you have on an ancestor out there and in print for others in your family to see. Most of us compile a report with our genealogy software, I use RootsMagic, and while we as family historians like all the details, most family members do not. Have … Continue reading Make it Visual
Follow my blog with Bloglovin (the above photo is not the cemetery in my story but how I imagine it too look if it had headstones) Looking for the cemetery in Forks of Coal, WV where my great grandfather Millard Stephens is buried has been a fascinating journey. It started when I asked the question … Continue reading A Hunting We Will Go, Cemetery Hunting that is
A simple enough question and yet because I wanted to not only answer it but put it all on Google Earth Pro and make a quick movie out of it, it took waaaaayyyyy longer. This is actually a fun project to do and you can do it for one person or for a family. It … Continue reading Where did Millard Stephens live?
This year we are starting a challenge for ourselves and our followers. Ok, mostly for me so I can make some headway on my research in a timely fashion. The challenge is to answer a question a week or a month (depending on how much research it will take). My first question of the … Continue reading Ask and you shall recieve…maybe
Newspapers are a wonderful resource to use in your genealogical pursuits. They are filled with not only birth, marriage, and death notices but also social comings and goings as well as crimes committed. You might also find ads for your ancestors business or farm and agricultural reports. Our latest podcast, episode #26, goes into … Continue reading Extra! Extra! Read all about it!
