Background Historical Occupation Profiles explain what ancestors actually did for a living and how those occupations shaped the records genealogists rely on today. Occupation Overview Barbers cut hair, shaved beards, and provided grooming services for men in towns and cities. In the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries, barbering was both a skilled trade and […]
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.
Background Historical Occupation Profiles explain what ancestors actually did for a living and how those occupations shaped the records genealogists rely on today. Occupation Overview Foundry workers produced metal castings by melting metal and pouring it into molds to create tools, machine parts, and structural components. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, foundries were […]
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men. Most camps published a newspaper or newsletter for the camp personnel. The State of Coolrado’s Historic Newspapers Collection has just digitized and added 52 Camp Newspapers to the collection. Below are the Camp Newspaper […]
Over 1,200 New titles were added by various Free and Subscription databases in the last month. Here are links to all the updates:
This past week (April 11, 2026 to April 17, 2026), the following additions were made to The Newspaper Research Academy: ✅ Free Resources – 11 New Articles were added – 117 Total ✅ Research Guides – 1 New Guide was added – 136 Total ✅ Video Guides – 0 New Videos – 19 Total ✅ […]
The Quicksheet Vault is a growing collection of structured, ready-to-use research references — with new additions being added regularly. This past week (April 11, 2026 to April 17, 2026), the following additions were made to the Quicksheet Vault: ✅ QS Core Collection – 0 New – 174 Total✅ QS Glossaries and Notes – 0 New […]
Background Historical Occupation Profiles explain what ancestors actually did for a living and how those occupations shaped the records genealogists rely on today. Occupation Overview Gristmill operators ran mills that ground grain such as wheat, corn, and rye into flour and meal for local consumption. In the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries, gristmills were […]
MyHeritage continues to add or update its record collections at a fast pace for us to search. For April 1-15, 2026, there are 2 new and 9 updated collections. The new and updated collections are: I hope that some of these are what you have been waiting for! Good Luck and Happy Hunting!
Ancestry.com continues to add or update its record collections at a fast pace for us to search. For the period of April 1-15, 2026, the new and updated collections are: I hope that some of these are what you have been waiting for! Good Luck and Happy Hunting!
FamilySearch continues to add or update its record collections at a fast pace for us to search. For the period of April 1-15, 2026, the added/updated collections are: For a complete list of all added/updated collections, go to https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list I hope that some of these are what you have been waiting for! Good Luck and […]