Genealogy Research
Explore genealogy research articles and how-to tutorials designed to help you trace your ancestors and grow your family tree.
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Back to Genealogy Basics – Birth Records
Birth records are important records in our genealogy research and come in many forms. Birth certificates, family Bibles, and church records are common sources of your ancestor’s birth. As with all genealogy records, understanding what is available for the time and location of your ancestors is crucial. Using North Carolina as an example, let’s take a closer look at birth certificates. Birth certificates were no required to be recorded until 1913. Full compliance with this regulation was not achieved for several years. If you ancestor was born prior to 1913, do not waste time looking for an official birth certificate.
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Back to Genealogy Basics!
March is our month to focus on Back to Genealogy Basics! Recently I have been getting more questions about how to get started in genealogy. Questions about where to start. Questions about the meaning/interpretation of records. Questions on locating available records. This month seems like the perfect time to delve into these questions. This isn’t just for beginners! In my early years of genealogy, I moved quickly through the records, adding names to my family tree generation by generation. But as we all know, you hit a brick wall eventually. Overlooked clues in the beginning of a search can be the key to avoiding some of these brick walls.…
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Using Freedmen’s Bureau Records Records in Genealogy Research
The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands is often simply referred to as the Freedmen’s Bureau. Often as genealogists, we are aware of the Freedmen’s Bureau, but do not fully realize the potential it holds for our genealogy research. Let’s take a closer look.
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Using the Slave Narratives for African American Research
Learn how to use the WPA's Slave Narratives in your genealogy research. These narratives are an important part of social history.