Most family historians spend a lot of time thinking about what they still have left to find. There is always another record to track down, another county to search, another family story to check, and...
Latest Articles
U.S. Census Records 1850 And Beyond, When The Federal Count Became Person By Person
By the middle of the nineteenth century, the United States had reached a point where a simple decade-by-decade household tally no longer satisfied federal goals. The country was larger, more complex...
U.S. Census Records 1790 to 1840, Why The Government Counted And What Changed
The first six U.S. federal censuses, from 1790 through 1840, were created primarily for government purposes. They were designed to measure population for representation, to support national...
The Sideways Search Method That Breaks Brick Walls
If your genealogy research feels stuck, the problem may not be missing records. It may be that you are asking the right questions in the wrong direction. Some of the most revealing information about...
Counting People Before America, Why Governments Counted, And Where The Records Hide
If you use United States census records often, you notice that the questions change when the country changes. The format changes when technology changes. The people being counted change when laws and...
Is Genealogy Worth It If Everyone Forgets You?
Someone asked me a hard question once, and I think a lot of people have asked it in their own minds, even if they never say it out loud. They said, “Is genealogy really worth doing? After you die...
The Politzer Saga by Linda A. Broenniman (Book Giveaway – ENDED)
This giveaway has concluded. Stay tuned for our next giveaway.
Birth Records Through Time, Part 3: Using Modern Systems to Find, Verify, and Prove Birth Information
By the time you reach the modern era, birth records feel straightforward. You search an index, order a certificate, attach it to your tree, and move on. In real research, modern systems still create...
Valentine’s Day and Our Ancestors
Do you enjoy sending Valentine’s Day cards to those you love and admire? So did your ancestors. Here is a little bit about the history of the tradition of sending Valentine’s Day cards, and how the...
Birth Records Through Time, Part 2: From Parish Books to Civil Registration Systems
Birth records did not shift from “nothing” to modern certificates overnight. For centuries, most births were documented through churches, town clerks, and community systems that varied widely from...