Genealogy Tip of the Day

Through 11:59 PM 1 December, we've re-opened our $5 webinar sale. You can view the list here: http://www.genealogytipoftheday.com/webi...

Sometimes in our attempts to research back into the distant past we forget the relatively recent past and the ancestral clues that may be co...

Most of the local copies of records used by genealogists are not originals but are record copies. While it is always possible the local cour...

Did your immigrant ancestor return to the old country later in life--perhaps to temporarily visit relatives or perhaps even to stay? Over ...

Happy Thanksgiving to those fans who reside in the United States or who celebrate Thanksgiving on this day. I'm thankful for all of my a...

It sometimes is tempting to completely ignore a document that contains some information that is clearly incorrect. Avoid this temptation. ...

Our sponsor, GenealogyBank is offering a Thanksgiving special for Tip of the Day Fans-- $48.95 per year! That's 30% off their usual r...

Remember when doing your family tree research that it's not about how far back you can research your family, the important thing is bein...

Clearing your mind may be what it takes to solve your problem. Put your "problem" away for a few days (or weeks). Work on other ...

Did your ancestor, either intentionally or on accident, lose part of his last name? Did some of your DeMoss ancestor's records get recor...

When you are asking questions of relatives, do you try and learn the origins of nicknames? I have an uncle named "Babe" and for so...

Are you working on your "brick wall" problems while four or five other things are going on? Is possible that all the distractions ...

If your migrating ancestor settled where there was no church of the "right" denomination, he may have attended the nearest church ...

Think about the materials you would like to access to learn  more about your family's history. Don't just prioritize based upon how ...

You have organized information obtained from a variety of sources and it all fits a certain theory. Are you certain that all that informatio...

Pick a day in your ancestor's life. Try and answer the following questions as of that date: Where was my ancestor living? Who was in...

Never assume that just because something is literally carved in stone that it is figuratively carved in stone. Information etched in stone c...

If you are unable to find a probate settlement for your ancestor and you "know" he owned land, make certain you have all the deeds...

If you can't "find" your ancestor for a few years, have you considered the possibility that they fell on hard times and spent ...

If you widowed ancestor cannot be located, consider the fact that she might have married after the death of her first spouse. If a subsequen...

Remember that there are a variety of ways your ancestor could have interacted with the federal government--besides the census. Your ancestor...

Looking for something to show your ancestor was alive? If he was in a rural area, consider looking at estate settlements of his neighbors. Y...

Your ancestor's death certificate will be recorded in the jurisdiction in which they died. Their probate or will (if there's a need)...

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If a document is confusing you, consider the following: why was the document written? who gave the information? could someone else have...

If your ancestor's census entry ends on the bottom of a page, look at the next page. There could be more children on the next page.

Many words have both legal and non-legal meanings. Genealogists who are not aware of these differences run the risk of misinterpreting a doc...

When your ancestor died at what stage in life were his children? Were they toddlers, teenagers, or grown children with their own families? W...

When relationship details in records are scant, every record matters and researching the entire "group," (even non-relatives) is i...

I value the relationship I have with my fans, followers, and readers. Because of that I'm posting this statement to each of my blogs. I...

When searching chronological entries of baptisms in a church register, always look through the entire year--even when you are certain of the...

While genealogists usually want every record they can get, remember that in terms of potential information, military benefit records (pensio...

When relatives have the same first and last name it is easy to get them confused. It is even worse when the name gets spelled or written in ...

When transcribing a document or writing up your research conclusions, do you take a second look at what you've written? Do you really pr...

If your ancestor was divorced was there a waiting period before they could get married. There were times and places where divorced individua...