How To Trace Your Family Tree
Wondering how to trace your family tree? Find genealogy how-to articles to successfully find your ancestors and build your family tree. Finding your ancestors does not have to overwhelming, but it does take time. Learning step by step is the key to successful genealogy research. Here at Are You My Cousin? you will learn:
- How to start your research the right way (Hint: It's with a plan!)
- How to progress your research forward
- How to find and use both common and uncommon genealogy records.
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How To Pull the Stories From Your Ancestors
Your ancestors are telling their stories even when it feels like they are hiding from you in the records. Researching them feels more like a game of hide and seek than research sometimes. Still…..I contend that our ancestors are telling us their stories in the records. In fact, they are often shouting them. We (read that as “I”) as researchers do not always listen. We (again, read that as “I”) fail to hear what our ancestors are telling us through the records. Why do we not “listen” to our ancestors? We are in a hurry. (There is no condemnation here! I struggle, too!) When I just started out researching my…
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Best Tip to Decipher Your Ancestors’ Handwriting
Do you have trouble deciphering your ancestors’ handwriting? (Me, too!) Transcribing wills, deeds or our ancestors’ letters or dairies can be difficult. The writing is small. The letters are made differently. The ink can be smudged. Then the terms and words used may be archaic or used differently than today. It can all add up to a bit of eye strain. My ancestors were prolific letter writers. They were also “pack rats.” (Thank goodness!) As a result I have many, many letters written by their own hand or that of their friends. Transcribing the letters was a large project that revealed much about their lives and personalities. My ancestors were…
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Delve Into Your Ancestor’s Occupation
Do you know your ancestor’s occupation? Have you ever used that occupation as a means of learning more about him (or her)? I am guilty of overlooking information that a person’s occupation can tell me. You, too? Let’s look at this example. The subject of my research is Connie M. Howard, my 103 year old great grandfather. I have known for years Connie was a crane operator and worked on construction projects in Raleigh, NC during the 1920’s and 1930’s. [This information came from conversations with my great grandfather.] Specifically, Connie Howard worked on the NCSU Bell Tower and Meredith College’s Johnson Hall. Did these institutions have photographs of their…
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How to Use Vintage Cookbooks in Your Genealogy Research
Find female ancestors in vintage cookbooks! Expand your genealogy research by exploring heritage cookbooks for evidence of your ancestors. Society and church cookbooks have been around for years. We all have them. You know the ones…the little paperback cookbook sitting on your bookshelf. Local women’s societies or women’s church group would donate recipes that would be put into a book. The cookbooks were often fundraisers for a local charity. How to Use Vintage Cookbooks in Your Genealogy Research Besides great recipes, did you know there is a wealth of genealogical information found in these cookbooks? Let’s take a closer look. 1. Find Your Ancestor in Time and Place. Each…