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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The Most Powerful Tool in Your Genealogy Toolbox
This post contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy here. A cup of coffee is the most powerful tool in your genealogy toolbox. No, that coffee is NOT to help you stay awake while you read 1820 tax records line by line. Nor is it for those late night research sessions when you were really “just doing a quick look-up”. [It can help, though. 🙂 ] Let me explain. The Most Powerful Tool in Your Genealogy Toolbox When I began researching my family’s genealogy, much of what I learned at first came from great conversations with older members of my family over a cup of coffee. Now, a number…
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I Twitter-ized My Ancestor!
I love sharing stories about my ancestors. I don’t know many genealogists or family historians who do not. The problem? Most people do not want to hear an hour long summary of my ancestor. Or a 10 minute summary. Or a 5 minute summary…(think teenagers.) It seems most family members want a “quick version” when asking about an ancestor (think teenagers again!). In terms of social media, people want the twitter version, not the blog post version. For example, when my teenager asked me about this photograph of my grandmother Cecile White Howard, he wasn’t asking for her entire life history. He was simply asking who she was. On some…
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What I Learned From a Delayed Birth Certificate
A return address for the Surry County register of deeds on a plain white envelope made my genealogy heart go pitter patter. In that envelope was the delayed birth certificate for my maternal grandmother Cecile Clara White. I am most fortunate to have grown up knowing my grandmother. I spent many summers with her and Granddaddy (James Lester Howard) learning to make candy, going on special trips and just playing in the backyard. Oh yes, and shelling butter beans! (If I shelled them I did not have to eat them. I shelled a lot of beans.) I had requested Grandmom’s birth certificate as part of my lineage paperwork for my…