Mac Genealogy Software | Mac Genealogy News & Information Do you have any genealogy documents hiding in your home? - Organize Your Family History In an extreme example of the perils of letting household filing pile up, I found my grandfather’s birth record over the weekend. Over the last few years, I’d put some effort into figuring where he was born. It was mysterious to me because the census records said he was born in Oregon, yet his residence was always Washington. My father, his son, had no recollection of any family history in Oregon. Two years ago, I blogged about it when I discovered a birth announcement in a Portland paper. At that time I said I had written away to the state archives for a copy of the birth certificate. Fast forward to October 2015. I set my timer for ten minutes and filed. Among them was a file marked with my parents’ address. In 2007, when I saved that document from being shredded with the rest of my parents’ old records, I was interested in genealogy. Needless to say, I was delighted, if a little chagrined, to find it.
GEDitCOM Genealogy Software Home Page How to Read Old Handwriting You can train yourself to read old handwriting. This is a necessary skill if you want to read handwritten census records or any type of record that was produced before the wide-spread use of the typewriter in the 1920s. This article lists the best free online resources and tutorials to help get you started. Palaeography is the study of old handwriting. At some point, every genealogist comes across an old handwritten record of their ancestor, looks at it and pronounces it totally illegible. Context There are two aspects to reading handwritten historic documents: • Understanding what letter of the alphabet the cursive script represents The resources below generally focus on the first aspect – understanding the letters in the cursive script. Resource List Here is the GenealogyInTime Magazine list of the five best free resources that will help you read old handwriting: 1. 2. These are historic examples of the capital letter A.
RootsWeb Genealogy Tip of the Day | Grow Your Genealogy Skills-One Tip at a Time From Genealogist Michael John Neill Hot Tips on How to Use Google for Genealogy Searches Google is an ideal too for genealogists. In this article, we show you how to get the most out of Google when searching for your ancestors. Some General Principles Here are three basic principles to follow when searching online for your ancestors: 1. • The record has just been put on the internet. 2. Searching for ancestors is very much an exercise in overcoming brick walls. 3. • The Google search that you requested is not effective at extracting the correct result. Since new records are being added daily, a useful strategy is to repeat the same search pattern every couple of months to see if any new records are available. The rest of this article provides various tips and ideas to help you design Google searches for genealogy as efficiently as possible to maximize your chances of finding online that elusive ancestral record.
Millions of Free Records on FamilySearch Can Not Be Found via Search: Here's How to Access Them | Family History Daily It’s an often overlooked fact that a vast amount of FamilySearch’s collections cannot be found via the search on their site. Millions of free family history records are waiting to be discovered but have not yet been indexed and are, therefore, somewhat hard to find. These records are invaluable tools for genealogists and cover a wide range of locales and time periods so we thought we’d offer a quick rundown on how to access them. But first a note about searching collections individually. One of the most commonly overlooked tactics for successfully locating ancestors in online databases is to search collections individually. It’s natural to want to check a site’s entire database with one quick search–and many places do make this incredibly easy and quite accurate–but the truth is, no search function is perfect. Luckily, FamilySearch makes the process pretty painless. Here’s one: Or perhaps you’re looking for immigration information for your ancestor James Marshall. Here it is:
Articles - Web Genealogist Is Your Family History Done? 10 Ways to Get your Tree Growing Again Search for cousins Check record sourcing on known individuals Find pictures & stories Create a timeline Share what you have learned with other family members Re-check a family line that has long been “completed” Ask questions to break past “brick walls” Google search for names and places Travel Read More 10 Ways to Start Genealogy for the New Year 1. FamilySearch.org If you haven’t already, sign up for FamilySearch. Read More New Memories Feature on FamilySearch FamilySearch announced earlier this month that there is going to be a new Memories feature available! Read More How to Use FamilySearch Hope Chest Updated December 7, 2015 As of June 9, 2015, Hope Chest, previously known as Pandora’s Hope Chest, is now an approved and official FamilySearch app available in the App Gallery on FamilySearch.org. Read More New Ancestry LifeStory For all those who love Ancestry.com out there (and come on, who doesn’t love it?) Read More
Is Your Family History Done? - Web Genealogist Search for cousinsCheck record sourcing on known individualsFind pictures & storiesCreate a timelineShare what you have learned with other family membersRe-check a family line that has long been “completed”Ask questions to break past “brick walls”Google search for names and placesTravel to the location your ancestors are fromCheck again, the answer might be there this time Many times as I talk to people about my passion for genealogy, I often hear, “Oh, my family history is all done. My parents already did it all.” All amateur to experienced genealogists have heard this at some point or other, and nothing makes me cringe more. If they say it’s all done, how do they know? What does “done” mean anyways? Genealogy is, ironically, alive. For instance, my husband grew up being told that a Finnish line in his family tree was done as much as it could be – only a few generations. Many people think doing their family history is just their direct ancestors.