Women In the Family Tree – Everything You Need To Know
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Genealogy tips and strategies to help you in finding the women in your family tree. Female ancestors do not have to be your brick wall.
How many of your genealogy brick walls concern your female ancestors?
Does it feel like the women in your family tree are hiding from you? It may feel that way – it does to me sometimes! – but those female ancestors are just waiting to be found.
I’ve got you covered with this round-up of seven (7) posts here at Are You My Cousin? to help you find all the women in the family tree. 🌳 It’s one-stop shopping!
Women In the Family Tree - Tips & Strategies to Find Them!
All of my best posts walking your through your genealogy search for the women in your family tree. You'll find everything from tips to strategies to find your female ancestors. I want to help you break down your genealogy brick walls!
Women In History - Overcoming the "Just a Housewife" Myth
Genealogy tips and strategies to help you in finding the women in your family tree. Female ancestors do not have to be your brick wall.
Researching Female Ancestors? You Can Overcome Those Research Roadblocks!
Trouble researching female ancestors? Learn how to find those elusive females in your family tree with these genealogy research strategies.
How To Track Females in the Family Tree Using the Children's Records
Explore an unusual genealogy research strategy to find the females in the family tree. Elusive female ancestors may be hiding in their children's records.
How To Use Pre-1850 Census Records to Find Your Female Ancestors
Genealogical clues to your female ancestors are hiding in the pre-1850 census records. Include early census records in your genealogy research!
How to Use Vintage Cookbooks in Your Genealogy Research
Besides great recipes, did you know there is a wealth of genealogical information found in historical church and local cookbooks? Seek out your female ancestors in their community's cookbooks!
VIDEO - Finding Female Ancestors in the Pre-1850 Census Records
Listen in as we talk about using pre-1850 census records to find our female ancestors. We are looking for evidence of the women in those tick marks.
VIDEO - Your Ancestor's Marriage Record - Let's Talk Genealogy
Searching for our ancestor's marriage record is high on the genealogy researcher's list. After all, marriage records are one of the best places to find an ancestor's maiden name. Let's explore how to find those "hard to find" marriage records.
More Websites For Researching Female Ancestors
Newspapers! Newspapers are critical when researching our female ancestors. My favorite websites include:
- Digitized newspapers in the state archives. (I frequently use the North Carolina Archives digital early newspaper collection.)
- Newspapers.com
- GenealogyBank
- Chronicling America – This one is free and where I start!
Special Collections! Special collections are often overlooked, but are fantastic resources for social history and discovering what was important to women at a given time or on a social issue.
- American Women – A Gateway to Library of Congress Resources on Women’s History. You will find a variety of online collections featuring different topics on women.
- Women’s Vote – August 2020 marked the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment. This excellent social history site features the fascinating history the Suffrage movement and of individual women.
- Colonial Love and Marriage – Researching colonial ancestors? Learn about how love and marriage impacted couples during this time.
- Studies in Scarlet – Fascinating online collection from Harvard on marriage in the US 1815 – 1914.
- Check the state archives for special collections unique to your area of research.
- Check university special collections, too! The oral history collection from the Documenting the South collection from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is one such example.
Do you have a favorite record collection you research for your female ancestor? Share in the comments below!
3 Comments
Shelby Baltzley
I’ve been reading your blogs for a few years now but I have discovered podcasts and not I get more! Also started with your YouTube videos as well. I plan on signing up for your 12 week course as soon as I get the email on that.
Side note – you and I are DNA matches on Ancestry! I tried looking for the match again and couldn’t find it but I’m excited to see if I can find a connection… and hoping that DNA can once again topple a brick wall.
Love your work… thank you for putting it out there! My goal (at 53 years old) is to finally have my dream job of genealogist and I’m doing everything I can to get there. Women like you have definitely inspired me to do this. My mom has told me for years I should “make money at this genealogy thing” and now, with dementia, she has said the same thing a couple of times. I really never thought I could but listening to podcasts, watching YouTube, I believe this is something I can do. Thank you.
Shelby
LisaL
Hi, Shelby, thank you so much for your kind words! Interesting that we are DNA matches. Wonder where the connection is.
Leslie Kozak
I am still struggling with finding my ancestor Jemima Adams.
The sale of land in Fauquier Couty, VA in1766 show the sale from Isaac Adams and wife Jemima, and both Isaac and Jemima made their mark on the document.
Likewise, the sale of land in Rowan County, NC in 1790 shows the sale from Isaac Adams and wife Mimey However, all of the other land sales after 1790 do not show Isaac’s wife.
Where wive’s requied to sign land sales at that time? Or can I assume that Jemima died sometime after 1790, and before Isaac sold other land in 1796, 1797, 1800, 1811 and 1812?