Category: Country Research

Update: Countries Page and Province Links

We’ve made a few changes in the main Countries page, as well as in a number of individual country pages, to make things a bit easier to navigate and find information. Here’s a rundown of the changes that were made: Vertical Layout The main Countries page is still grouped by region, but within each region the countries are listed vertically...

Fathers of their Countries

In honor of Father’s Day, and to highlight our countries theme this week, here is a list of “Fathers of their Nations,” adapted from Wikipedia. The left column in the table lists the “fathers” with links to biographical info, and the right column has links to the corresponding country pages in The Family History Guide. Note: Wikipedia entries that specify...

Honoring the Fallen on Memorial Day

While the first commemorative Memorial Day events weren’t held in the United States until the late 19th century, the practice of honoring those who have fallen in battle dates back thousands of years. I enjoyed researching Memorial Day this week. Here is an article I found interesting about 8 things you may not know about Memorial Day. It began as Decoration Day in...

The Next 5 Steps to Improving Your Family History Experience

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by James Tanner in his Genealogy’s Star site and is used with the author’s permission. If you are wondering about the first 5 steps, see “5 Steps to Improving Your Family History Experience.” Here are the first 5 steps: Focus on the places Learn about the places Identify the types of records that...

5 Steps to Improving Your Family History Experience

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by James Tanner on the Genealogy’s Star blog site and used with the author’s permission.   When you are working on researching your family history, you can easily get sidetracked by failing to focus on the fundamentals of historical research. Sometimes finding an obvious match for your ancestor will send you off on...

A DNA Test May Not Automatically Overcome a Brick Wall Situation

Editor’s Note: This article was previously posted on the Genealogy’s Star blog site by James Tanner and is used with the author’s permission. The term “brick wall” as used in the genealogical sense refers to an end-of-line situation where the next generation ancestor or even some other relative cannot be easily found. Of course, this could be the researcher’s parent...

New from the FamilySearch Learning Center

FamilySearch has added quite a few training videos in the past few months to their Learning Center. We have gone through the list and selected over 50 new videos to link from The Family History Guide. As you would imagine, we have placed them on our site with “just-in-time” learning in mind—you find them where you need them. Below is...

Introducing the Countries Knowledgebase

In a recent blog post we announced the first Knowledgebase for The Family History Guide. It covers general and United States-specific research, and as we mentioned, it is a work in progress. There are currently about 60 entries, with many more to come. You can access this Knowledgebase from any of the Partner menus (FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, or Findmypast) or...

The Value of Church Records in Family History

One of the most rewarding things about doing family history research is the things you can actually discover from all kinds of records.  The facts recorded in birth, marriage, and death records on one family can really paint a picture of what life was like for those who have gone before.  Some call it “putting the flesh on the bones” when we can acquire information that goes beyond names,...

The Benefits of Discovery in Traveling to Your Ancestors’ Homelands

If you haven’t ever traveled to do genealogy and your family history I would highly recommend it.  My husband and I have traveled quite a bit in the last 10 years. We have had a yearning deep within us to go and see the places where our ancestors lived.  We have had marvelous experiences both in and out of The United States. The trips...