Many genealogy breakthroughs happen one search after most researchers quit. Every genealogist eventually encounters a brick wall. A record cannot be found. An ancestor seems to disappear. Search results come back empty. After repeated unsuccessful attempts, it is tempting to conclude that the records simply do not exist. In many cases, they do exist—but they […]
Author: Kenneth R Marks
Kenneth R Marks was born and educated in the San Francisco Bay Area, receiving a BS in Mathematics in 1968. His career was in Information Technology; with the last 20 Years as a software executive with Boeing, Pearson, and NASA. His genealogy career began in 2004. He is an expert in newspaper research for genealogy, as well as additional genealogy topics. He regularly conducts webinars on the subject and has authored three genealogy books. See the About page for more details.
The Ancestor Hunt, founded in 2008, is focused on helping genealogy and family history researchers of all skill levels to achieve their goals, by providing links to free online genealogy collections, and search tips and techniques, largely via easy-to-understand Quick Reference Guides.
Are you doing Virginia genealogy research and looking for Free Online Virginia Genealogy Records? Click on a link for your desired category’s free collection links: NewspapersYearbooksBirthsMarriagesDeathsBMD RecordsAlumni RecordsCemetery RecordsChurch RecordsCoroner RecordsCriminal RecordsDigital ArchivesDirectoriesDivorce RecordsImmigration RecordsInstitutional RecordsMilitary RecordsMortuary RecordsNaturalizationsObituariesPhotosProbate and WillsSchool RecordsTax RecordsVoter Records Good Luck and Happy Hunting! Want All of Virginia’s Genealogy Resources in […]
The right family in the wrong place is still the wrong family. Many towns, counties, and even states share the same or very similar names. Without paying close attention to geography, it is easy to attach records belonging to someone who lived somewhere entirely different. Genealogy research depends on placing ancestors in the correct location […]
Are you doing Iowa genealogy research and looking for Free Online Iowa Genealogy Records? Click on a link for your desired category’s free collection links: NewspapersYearbooksBirthsMarriagesDeathsBMD RecordsAlumni RecordsCemetery RecordsChurch RecordsCoroner RecordsCriminal RecordsDigital ArchivesDirectoriesDivorce RecordsImmigration RecordsInstitutional RecordsMilitary RecordsMortuary RecordsNaturalizationsObituariesPhotosProbate and WillsSchool RecordsTax RecordsVoter Records Good Luck and Happy Hunting! Want All of Iowa’s Genealogy Resources in […]
An index helps you find the record—it is not the record. Indexes are among the greatest time-saving tools available to genealogists. They allow researchers to locate records that might otherwise take days or weeks to find. But an index is only a guide. Most indexes contain only a small portion of the information found in […]
Are you doing Oklahoma genealogy research and looking for Free Online Oklahoma Genealogy Records? Click on a link for your desired category’s free collection links: NewspapersYearbooksBirthsMarriagesDeathsBMD RecordsAlumni RecordsCemetery RecordsChurch RecordsCoroner RecordsCriminal RecordsDigital ArchivesDirectoriesDivorce RecordsImmigration RecordsInstitutional RecordsMilitary RecordsMortuary RecordsNaturalizationsObituariesPhotosProbate and WillsSchool RecordsTax RecordsVoter Records Good Luck and Happy Hunting! Want All of Oklahoma’s Genealogy Resources in […]
Even when a newspaper page survives intact, the digitized version may not. During scanning, pages can be slightly misaligned, cropped too tightly, or shifted just enough to cut off text along the margins. The damage may be subtle—a missing letter, a clipped word, or a surname that vanishes at the edge of a column. Unfortunately, […]
Just because you haven’t found the record doesn’t mean it was never created. Few things are more frustrating than searching for a record that seems like it should exist—but doesn’t appear anywhere. After repeated unsuccessful searches, many researchers conclude that the record was never created or has been lost forever. Sometimes that’s true. More often, […]
Over 700 New titles were added by various Free and Subscription databases in the last month. Here are links to all the updates:
Are you doing Missouri genealogy research and looking for Free Online Missouri Genealogy Records? Click on a link for your desired category’s free collection links: NewspapersYearbooksBirthsMarriagesDeathsBMD RecordsAlumni RecordsCemetery RecordsChurch RecordsCoroner RecordsCriminal RecordsDigital ArchivesDirectoriesDivorce RecordsImmigration RecordsInstitutional RecordsMilitary RecordsMortuary RecordsNaturalizationsObituariesPhotosProbate and WillsSchool RecordsTax RecordsVoter Records Good Luck and Happy Hunting! Want All of Missouri’s Genealogy Resources in […]