​When you clip something from a newspaper on Newspapers.com, are you looking to see whether anyone else has clipped the same item? There are a couple of reasons why you might want to…   When you clip something on Newspapers.com, it saves it and makes a little notation that looks like this: ( ​​This is one I clipped a couple of weeks ago. (You can see my Newspapers.com “handle.”)  The clipping is an obituary for Byron Swineford of Olivesburg, Richland County, Ohio.   But if anyone looks at the thing I clipped on that newspaper page on Newspapers.com and hovers their cursor over ..read more

"Splash!" board game, Sierra Pacific Venture.s My granddaughter came to visit a few weeks ago.  We played endless games of Splash! – basically the old card game of Spoons, only with squeaky rubber dolphins instead of kitchen cutlery.  She wanted to collect all the dolphins, though sometimes she would generously share one or two with me.  And after each game, Grandma had to “shovel” the cards. (That skill I learned around my own childhood card games, “bridges,” is a source of continuing amusement to the next generation.) Why is Splash! with my granddaughter fodder for my gene ..read more

Detail of Nebraska map - Galbraith, Frank H, and United States Railway Mail Service. Galbraith's railway mail service maps, Nebraska. Chicago, 1897, 1897. Map. https://www.loc.gov/item/98688512/. Today when I was trying to find a 1900-1910 railroad map of Nebraska, I ran across the one of the most charming maps I’ve ever seen. In the late 19th century, Frank Galbraith, a railway mail clerk, created a set of mnemonic maps to aid railway clerks studying for Civil Service examinations.   These clerks had to be able to sort mail for distribution to post offices across the US.  Th ..read more

Undated newspaper clipping sent by my father's cousin Thelma VanAlstyne with Kircher and Springer family papers ​I had the most wonderful experience yesterday at the Virtual Genealogical Association’s conference.  I’ve been fortunate in the last five years or so to be selected to present at conferences and to genealogy societies about my favorite topic.  I’ve gotten to meet some very nice people.  I’ve learned more about my own family as I’ve tried to come up with examples to demonstrate a technique or website.  I’ve made a little bit of money to spend on my genealogical ad ..read more

"Latest Models of Motor Cars are Fast Arriving," San Francisco Call, 29 August 1909, p. 35 If you’re anything like me, you want to know simply everything about your ancestors.  I have fantasies about getting to heaven and being able to talk with my great-great grandmother about the color of the wallpaper in the upstairs back bedroom in her house!  And recently I found a resource containing an unusual list. City directories are great for locating where our ancestors were between census years.  We can search directories by name to plot year by year where our ancestors were liv ..read more

The assignment for my ProGen group this month is to transcribe and abstract a document, and create a research plan to try to answer a self-created research question arising from information contained in the document.  Suggested document types for this assignment include wills and deeds. As a ProGen mentor, I’ve decided I will do the same or similar tasks as my mentees are doing.  I transcribed three deeds from Westmoreland County.  Interestingly, out of 24 participants in my ProGen groups, only three chose deeds, and all the rest worked on wills.  I’m looking forward to m ..read more

“Deaths on the Plains the Season,” Sacramento Daily Union, 2 Nov 1852, p. 2, col. 5; (cdnc.ucr.edu : accessed 7 July 2020).  I recently stumbled upon a random newspaper article, “Deaths on the Plains this Season.”[1]  Other than the title, the article provides little in the way of detail about why, or how, or from where came the list of names of 250 people who perished as they journeyed to a new life in the west.   Nearly all the names are associated with a death date, such as “C.S. Carter, June 5.”  Some, like “John Holeman, June 5, age 19” are accompanied by a bit ..read more

Map of Blair County Pennsylvania With Municipal and Township Labels - from Wikimedia Commons ProGen is a study group to encourage professional and aspiring genealogists.[1]  Each month, participants read sections of Professional Genealogy: Preparation, Practice and Standards[2] and Genealogy Standards.[3]  In conjunction with the readings, they write up an assignment, and review the work of their fellow students, offering constructive comments.  Each month, students meet online in an hour-long discussion about the readings or assignment.  The strength of the program is the ..read more

František Dvořák - Mother with a Child, Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/ : accessed 21 Feb 2020) I ran across a newspaper item this morning while looking for my family.  I don’t have any reason to believe the article specifically refers to anyone I know, but the tale is timeless…   A new-born babe was left on the door-step of a house in Boston, with this touching note: - ‘To the tender mercies of this cold and wicked world this little infant is committed. – Whoever receives it, cares for it, and adopts it, may yet live to bless the day that thus their kindness has be ..read more

Cassius Moore Coolidge, "I'm a bad dog! What kind of a dog are you?" - This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID cph.3g05965 A lot of genealogists read the good stuff, scholarly journals such as the National Genealogical Society Quarterly and The New England Historical and Genealogical Register.  They are both great publications, and you’ll see many examples of well-written case studies and compiled genealogies.  In them you will see example after example of precise, efficient citations.  The artic ..read more