Genealogy Tip of the Day

In some locations, there may be a city, township, and county all with the same name. Make certain you know to which location someone or some...

I just wrapped up my webinar on the "Genealogical Proof Standard for the non-Professional" today. We discussed: exhaustive sear...

Proofreading your transcriptions of records and your research conclusions is always advised. Don't proofread right after you finished so...

If you've got an estate settlement for your ancestor, look at the names of the people who owed him money. Any chance they are relatives?

We are supposed to cite our sources so that others can find the material we found, we can go back to it if necessary, and we know what versi...

If an inventory of an estate lists appraised values of items, be careful in comparing them to prices today. Values are not easy to "tra...

Do not assume that every immigrant naturalized in his new country. If an immigrant was not interested in voting or running for political off...

Today I presented "Proving Benjamin" discussing how 1850, 1870, and 1880 enumerations for a man in three different states were sho...

If there's a website that has information you need, save the page to your hard drive or print it out for your own personal use again lat...

It's no April Fool's Day joke--the 1940 census is coming. Originally it will be unindexed--our webinar will discuss search strategie...

Look carefully at the bondsman on an ancestor's marriage bond. If he was not related himself, research him further--it could have been h...

Is there a first name in your family that gets passed down from generation to generation and is somewhat unusual? Was it possibly someone...

Three of my blogs are available for delivery on your kindle: Daily Genealogy Transcriber-- view blog -- order kindle version Genealogy T...

When your research crosses a border into a state where you have never done research, put the ancestor away. Learn something about research a...

If your ancestor filed a homestead claim under the United states Homestead Act of 1862, he had to be a citizen of the United States. This mi...

March 2012 Fundamental Webinars Rescheduled due to illness--see new dates below Our fundamental webinars are each approximately 20 minu...

We have rescheduled my missed webinars and posted the new schedule. If you have already paid and registered--you're still good to go for...

For some locations and time periods, there may be civil and church records of birth (baptism), marriage and death (burial/funeral). Make cer...

If an ancestor "disappears," consider the possibility that they were admitted to the county poor farm? The ancestor may have falle...

If your ancestor bought and sold property after property, the deed work can be tedious. However if he were married during those land transac...

Have you fully researched those siblings of your ancestors without descendants? Their pension applications, marriage records, census materia...

After you have transcribed and analyzed the information, take the names of neighbors from the census and ask family members if they remember...

If you ancestors were living in an area before the county was formally settled and had established a local government, are you aware of the ...

When reading a 1790s era deed, a quick reading seemed to indicate that the seller was selling all of a piece of property he had acquired a f...

It never hurts to be reminded of the importance of spelling: ignoring it for names (within reason). The last name of a person can easily be ...

In some handwritten indexes to local county records, the entries for those names beginning with "Mc" or "Mac" may be fil...

Remember that information on a census is to be given as of "the census date." Sometimes censuses were not taken until days, weeks,...

Immigrant ancestors who married in their new country might very well have known each other back in their homeland. If you have located one o...

If you are "stuck" on a specific ancestor, have you completely researched all the way through their grandchildren? There may be di...

Have you contacted the local historical or genealogical society in the county where your ancestor lived? They may have unique sources or kno...

Remember that city or town dwellers who owned their home should appear in land records as well as farmers who owned property of larger sizes...

My webinar on the probate process (focusing on American records) was recorded today. Geared towards the advanced beginner or intermediate...

Your great-great-grandparents probably have other descendants besides you. They may easily have several hundred descendants. Any of those in...

My webinar "Researching Female Ancestors" was recorded today. In giving the presentation live, a few ideas for my own research cro...

The appraisers of an estate cannot have a direct interest in the estate they are appraising. This eliminates heirs and creditors of the dece...