*This post may have affiliate links, which means I may receive commissions if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you). All opinions remain my own.  One of the last things anyone wants to discover in their genealogy research is a destroyed courthouse or that where their ancestors lived is a “burned county.” It can feel very disheartening and like you’ll never get answers or move back another generation on your family tree.  While researching in these areas is more challenging, it is possible to make progress on your family history. You’ll need t ..read more

*This post may have affiliate links, which means I may receive commissions if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you). All opinions remain my own. Websites like Ancestry and FamilySearch have made starting your family tree research easier than ever. We are fortunate to be in a time where we have so many genealogy records at our fingertips, right from the convenience of home.  But online databases don’t have everything. They can only get you so far in your research.  At a certain point, you’ll have found everything there is to find online, at least unt ..read more

*This post may have affiliate links, which means I may receive commissions if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you). All opinions remain my own.  When beginning genealogy research, starting at home is the best first step to take.  The very best clues about your family history may actually already be right inside your house, or the houses of other family members.  I remember discovering a box of old photos and papers when I was a kid, tucked away in a vintage sweater box. I was so fascinated by my grandfather’s funeral book and social security ..read more

*This post may have affiliate links, which means I may receive commissions if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you). All opinions remain my own. Stuck on a difficult ancestor? One of the first steps to take in trying to break through a genealogy brick wall is reviewing what you have.  The next great step to take is to evaluate the information you have. Once you’ve gathered everything you know together and reviewed it, you are ready to weigh pieces of evidence against each other. You know a lot more about genealogy research now, so you’re in a great posi ..read more

*This post may have affiliate links, which means I may receive commissions if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you). All opinions remain my own. Becoming a good genealogist takes time and moving beyond the “hatched, matched, and dispatched” method of collecting ancestors.  Now don’t get me wrong, I started my genealogy research journey as an ancestor collector.   But now I’m much more interested in uncovering more about my ancestors’ lives than adding more generations to my tree with only basic details.   Discovering our ancestors in records is ..read more

*This post may have affiliate links, which means I may receive commissions if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you). All opinions remain my own.  What do you do if your ancestors did not have a lot of money?  Poor ancestors did not generate many of the records we often look for in our genealogy research.  Destitute ancestors were less likely to own or sell land, so they may not have left any deeds or real property tax records.  They may not have left a will or probate because they had few assets to distribute.  They could have been i ..read more

*This post may have affiliate links, which means I may receive commissions if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you). All opinions remain my own. In this article General genealogy research books DNA books Irish genealogy books Scottish genealogy books Black genealogy books French Canadian genealogy books Genealogy fiction books Family history books for kids Hawaii genealogy books Mexican genealogy books Organization and preservation supplies I know I’m not the only one who is always on the lookout for helpful research books and tools to learn about new geneal ..read more

*This post may have affiliate links, which means I may receive commissions if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you). All opinions remain my own.  Over the course of our genealogy research, we’re going to trace some ancestors back to a new place, whether it’s a city, county, state, or country.  When that happens, I know I’m not the only one who wants to jump right in and start playing around with new record sets to see if I can find my ancestors in them.  But as tempting as it is to jump right in, it’ll pay off more in the long run to be strate ..read more

*This post may have affiliate links, which means I may receive commissions if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you). All opinions remain my own.  In the late 1800s through 1900s, thousands of laborers came to Hawaii to work in the growing sugarcane and pineapple plantation industries.   Many people today with roots in Hawaii have at least one ancestor who came to the islands to work on a plantation.   Records about plantation life in Hawaii, as well as personnel records and other documents, can give you more insight into what they experienced ..read more

 *This post may have affiliate links, which means I may receive commissions if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you). All opinions remain my own. You’ve probably used immigration records while working on your genealogy, but have you used emigration records?  Emigration records are a very useful, but underused resource for researching your ancestors that came to the United States (or other country). In this article, I’ll discuss immigration vs. emigration records, the genealogical details you can find in emigration papers, and some online and offlin ..read more