Genealogy Tip of the Day

If certain details of your ancestor wife change, but the first name remains unchanged, have you considered that he had two wives with the sa...

If you are researching in an urban area, are you aware if the house numbers were changed at any point during your research time period? Are...

Names of locations can change over time. Is it possible that the village or place for which you are looking is now known by a different name...

If your ancestral family were members of a denomination that practiced infant baptism, do you pay attention to the names of sponsors at the ...

Are you actually thinking about the new information you locate? Or are you on auto-pilot as new details come across your path, responding to...

If there is a period of time where you are not certain where your ancestor was living or what he was doing, then you have an opportunity. Sh...

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First and last names of your ancestor will be spelled differently, sometimes different ways in the same document. There is more to "mat...

When viewing an original document (or a microfilm or digital copy), do you try and determine if the same person wrote out the entire record?...

Sometimes relationship terms are also used as terms of affection, even if there is no biological relationship. Take care when a letter, diar...

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An ancestor of mine has children who were born in Canada, Mchigan, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. He and his family got around. Never...

When an index or manual searching takes you to an ancestral entry in a census, tax or other list entry take times to look at the neighboring...

As we approach the end of the year, now is an excellent time to pass along our wishes for a Happy Holiday season to all who are fans, follow...

Those whose families have lived in the United States for centuries sometimes think that their relatives will not appear on a passenger manif...

Chances are the information in great-great-grandpa's death certificate and obituary were provided by the same person. This means that th...

If you're stuck on a family or a document, consider asking someone with no "preconceived" notions or ideas about the family. A...

The "provenance" of a family heirloom, picture, etc. is "how you know it is what it is and how you came to have it."  ...

No matter how unusual or "odd" the name, do not immediately conclude that people of the same name appearing in different records m...

If there are symbols, logos, or other "non-textual" inscriptions on your ancestor's tombstone, have you determined their meani...

When analyzing a record or set of materials that does not make sense, get away from what you "want to prove" and try to think ...

Before you assume your ancestor had two "different" first names, make certain that one name is not simply a translation for anothe...

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When a researcher is "hot on the trail" of an elusive ancestor or relative, it is tempting to research as fast as possible to find...

If you think you are stuck on all your lines, work on someone else's family for a while. The different names and locations will be a goo...

For your "brick wall" ancestor, do you know (or have any idea) how far they lived from: the county seat? the nearest church of...

If you are working on a more recent relative and you've got a copy of their "funeral book," look and see if the names of those...

Old newspapers and obituaries often contain the abbreviation  viz. Some genealogists wonder exactly what viz means, so in this tip we will l...

Some local real and personal property tax records may indicate the date the tax was paid and by whom. Look at those dates and the names of t...

I often search Google Books for phrases that I encounter in old materials in an attempt to get a better grasp on their meaning.  Searchin...

Files of loose court papers are frequently out of order. If you are having difficulty understanding the case being tried, organize the paper...

City directories can contain more than simply names and addresses of residents. They may also indicate names of addresses of schools, busine...

GenealogyBank , sponsor of Genealogy Tip of the Day , is offering a free e-book on obituary searching for new subscribers to their database ...

Remember that even after counties are "formed" and fairly settled, county boundaries can change. A change between two Kentucky cou...

Years ago I was trying to read the village of residence for one of the sponsors on a baptism in a Catholic church in the 1780s. The name of ...