Cemetery records and cemeteries in general are a very large part of our family history and are a significant pursuit for many genealogists. Sometimes, the information on a headstone is the only information available for certain ancestors. There are different types of cemeteries. Just being buried in a specific cemetery may provide a clue to […]
Category: Miscellaneous
Maybe it’s just me, but I have never heard anyone write or talk about using Alumni Records in their genealogy research. I use them personally and have discovered mountains of information in these gems. I contend that alumni records are part directories, part newspapers, and magazines, part biographies, part obituaries, part yearbooks, part vital records, […]
One of the often overlooked genealogical documents are passport applications and the passports themselves. For United States passport applications, required reading is from the U.S. National Archives – Passport Applications. The history, types, limitations, and how to access the microfilms of registers and indexes are included. So what unique and interesting information can be found […]
People think yearbooks from high school or college are just for fun. And they are fun! They provide you with a ton of story-like information about your ancestor’s life. What their interests were, what sports and clubs they participated in, and often some goofy snapshots of them before they became an adult. But is there […]
There are a bunch of different documents and records that the genealogist and family historian can utilize to find out more about one’s ancestors, no matter whether they be related to life event dates or locations or include other information. I have found that funeral and memorial books hold a ton of interesting information, much […]
Prior to the recording of civil records and even now, Church Records have become a necessary and valuable category of collections that should be researched. They provide information that often cannot be found anywhere else. Baptisms, marriages, and funerals are commonly thought of when we discuss church records, but there is so much more. For […]
City and business directories are available online from all over the U.S. and Canada and are what I consider another important (and underutilized) set of information that can assist you in advancing your family history and genealogy research. So, what kinds of directories are available to the researcher? Naturally city and business directories, but also telephone directories, […]
“An obituary is a compact life story of the deceased;it is likely the only life story of the subject personever to be written.” · Make the most of what is written in an obituary; look for the information below; and by all means, analyze each and every word carefully. Death Date – Based on the publication […]
If you are like me, you want to know as much as possible about the lives of your ancestors. Determining their stories is a challenge, especially if there is no one alive who remembers the ancestor that you are researching. But fortunately, there are a number of documents that record at least, the occupation of […]
A major goal for genealogists is to seek records and determine relationships. Many records such as census records and birth, death, and marriage certificates have evidence you need right there on the document. But there are lots of documents and other materials that simply provide clues. They do not have the answers written on them. […]