Tag: research

Finding Value in Land Records

Land records might seem not to have any value to genealogical research, especially with the emphasis on vital and census records for most upcoming genealogists. However, they can be extremely helpful in locating where a family may have lived, especially when census and vital records are not available in that area for one reason or another. One reason is that...

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...

Freedom on the Move: How Runaway Ads Contribute to African-American Family History

With the events going on at this time, many people are looking back in history to reflect on the difficult journey to freedom for minorities in the United States, particularly the black population. Anyone who has taken a U. S. History course should be aware of the horrific institution of slavery and its overall impact on not just U.S. society,...

Searching for Clues: When Census and Vital Records Are Not Enough

Growing up as a kid, I loved watching movies about finding lost treasure. The hero usually hears of a legend, finds an ancient artifact or treasure map, and has to follow its clues while fighting off the greedy villain. After a long and difficult struggle, the hero finds the treasure and everything works out in the end! Family history can...

Searching through Layers of Sources to Find Your Ancestors

Editor’s Note: This article, written by James Tanner, was originally published in the Genealogy’s Star blog site and is used with the author’s permission. It is probably evident that all sources are not created equal. Some are much more equal than others. (Attribution to George Orwell). As I have been doing research, I have noticed that source records are often...

What’s New: Updates to the Topics Page and the Vault

The Family History Guide has something for everyone, whatever the skill level or past experience. For those wanting to see at a glance what’s in The Family History Guide, the Topics page can be especially useful. The topics are arranged alphabetically, with corresponding links. The Topics page is in the Intro menu, towards the bottom of the list. For those...

Using Pinterest for Family History

Pinterest is a social media network that allows you to share and discover new interests by posting or “pinning” images and videos to your own “board,” which is a collection of pins with a theme or subject. Think of it as a type of search engine like Google, Bing, or Yahoo but with its own twist. Pinterest has an estimated 200...

Taking Off with FamilySearch

Are you “stuck on the ground” trying to learn and use FamilySearch? Or perhaps you are expending a lot more effort to gain a little more elevation. In either case, if you’ve dreamed of flying high with FamilySearch, then The Family History Guide could be just what you’re looking for. Let’s examine how you can lift your FamilySearch game. no...

Party On! Check Out This FamilySearch Auto-Reminder to Celebrate Ancestral Moments

One of the fantastic family history activities listed on the Youth Page of The Family History Guide Family Activities section (Documenting the Past: Y4-03) is to create a timeline using Twile. This site is an interactive, cloud-based service in which you can create a timeline of your family’s past, present, and future. Made up of photos and milestones (such as births, marriages, deaths, and any...

Welcoming Our New Content Specialists

It takes a lot of work to keep the website content for The Family History Guide fresh, appealing, and relevant. We have added a group of Content Specialist volunteers to help us bring you the best in family history learning, just where you need it. Our new Content Specialists are: Laurie Beardall, Industry Partners Ada Nelson, Latin America Jim Millecam,...