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June 27, 2021

As Genealogists, What Should We Do about Place Names?

Note: This article was published previously on the Genealogy’s Star blog site.   For some time now, FamilySearch.org has been encouraging users to “standardize” place names. This effort has been moderately successful and is continuing to evolve. The suggested standard place names rely on a large database of worldwide names. More recently, FamilySearch has been adding a time-frame to the suggested standard...

Records/Research
June 7, 2021

What Are the Locations of Events in Your Ancestors’ Lives?

Note: This article was published previously in the Genealogy’s Star blog site.     The most important element in accurate genealogical research is determining an accurate and specific location for an event in an ancestor’s life. Here is an example of a place that is not specific enough to be useful for research copied from the FamilySearch.org Family Tree. This entry is...

Records/Research
May 31, 2021

Find Your Military Ancestors with The Family History Guide

Today is Memorial Day in the United States, where military veterans are remembered and honored. No matter what country you are from, chances are good that you have one or more ancestors who completed military service. Finding out more about their lives can be a source of inspiration and connection. The Family History Guide can help you discover more about...

Records/Research/U.S. Research
May 24, 2021

What is in a name? Taking Your Genealogical Research to a Higher Level

Note: This article appeared previously in the Genealogy’s Star blog site.     My Great-great-grandfather’s name was David Thomas b. 1820, d. 1888. He was born in Wales. Sometime, probably after he died, he “acquired” a middle name and became “David Nathan Thomas.” Here is a photo of his grave marker with his name as “David N. Thomas.” However, every...

Ancestry/Country Research/Records/Research
April 19, 2021

Expanding the Scope of Your Genealogical Research

Note: This article by James Tanner was published previously on the Genealogy’s Star blog site and is used with the author’s permission.   One of the most common genealogical research issues I am asked to help with involves help with finding the date of one particular event in an ancestor’s or relative’s life. Most commonly, the goal is to find...

Records/Research/U.S. Research
January 11, 2021

Finding Your Ancestors in Private Sources

Note: This article by James Tanner was published previously in the Genealogy’s Star blog site and is used with the author’s permission.   To some people, this pile of old suitcases and trunks would be a nightmare. To a seasoned genealogist, this is a dream come true. I don’t think we talk enough about relying on the records that may...

Memories/Records
November 29, 2020

Finding Your Ancestors Using Land and Property Records

Note: This article by James Tanner was published previously on the Genealogy’s Star blog site and is used with the author’s permission.   For genealogical research, there are two main components of land and property records: maps and documents. Using both, when they are available, is a great benefit to research. This is especially true because often the documents, especially...

Records/Research/U.S. Research
October 18, 2020

Going through Town Records

When you think of doing local family history, you probably think of records held at the county level. This is especially true for many of the Midwestern and Western states, where records are kept in county and state archives. However, in other parts of the United States, such as the New England area, local records were originally kept at the...

Records/Research/U.S. Research
October 5, 2020

Genealogists! Free Yourselves from the Paper Prison

Note: This article by James Tanner was previously published on the Genealogy’s Start blog site and is used with the author’s permission.   Regardless of how tech-savvy genealogists may be,  collectively, we seem to acquire huge piles of paper. We can scan the documents, letters, certificates, photos, and other important paper-based items but we feel duty-bound to keep everything. Granted,...

Country Research/Records/Research
September 6, 2020

Discovering History in Geography

A crucial part of genealogical research is knowing the history of the location where your ancestors grew up. As a student majoring in family history at Brigham Young University, one of the many requirements that I have to accomplish in order to graduate is to take several history courses. The first few courses cover a brief overview of U.S. and...

Country Research/Records/Research
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