General questions about how to conduct genealogy research and best practices for genealogy research.
4
votes
3answers
39 views
What steps should I take to retrieve lost sources?
I've lost my sources for an individual. Either I never wrote it down or it's been lost by my software (probably the former).
I realized this when I came back to this individual the other day and saw ...
6
votes
1answer
55 views
Are there checklists or templates made for visiting the Family History Library in Salt Lake City?
I am on my first research trip to Salt Lake City and my first few days in the FHL has been quite a learning experience. I watched the into video and met a number of very friendly, helpful volunteers ...
5
votes
1answer
73 views
What is the best practice for posting certificates online?
I have been slowly acquiring birth, marriage and death certificates. Is there a best practice or accepted procedure for posting the United States certificates online, including to Geanealogy.se (to ...
5
votes
2answers
81 views
How do I get the most out of a conference as a 'newbie'?
I am going to my first genealogy conference. What should I bring with me and what do you suggest I do while there to make the most of this experience. I'm planning on bringing my laptop.
3
votes
3answers
51 views
Cornish parish records lost in fire?
I have a brickwall in the form of my great great grandfather whom I know from our family bible was born in Cornwall in 1811. I've found him (Robert Chapman and his wife Elizabeth nee Shapling and ...
3
votes
0answers
46 views
Where might I find General Orders No. 77 dated 11 Nov 1943?
I have found a document that notes the renaming of Edinburgh Field, Trinidad to Carlsen Field (click image for full size):
To get more information about the renaming (and the individual behind it) ...
13
votes
6answers
307 views
How should I organise my digital documents?
I have been trying for over 15 years now to come up with a system of folders for my family documents. As I'm sure most of you know it can be difficult.
Without making duplicates of each document ...
6
votes
1answer
97 views
Reliability of houseofnames.com: searching for possible Mayflower descendant
My grandfather has told me for years that us members of the Briscoe family are directly related to a doctor that came to this country aboard the Mayflower. He said that in his attic somewhere are ...
12
votes
2answers
186 views
Best way to find a living relative in Victoria, Australia? [duplicate]
I only have their first names, maiden names, and know that they were born in Victoria, Australia. What is a way to locate these relatives.
1
vote
2answers
121 views
What are the tools and methods actually used by genealogists in their work? [closed]
I am under the impression that amateur genealogists, like most amateurs undergo a rite of passage before turning their hobby into a passion. One of these rites of passage is finding a tool that works ...
10
votes
5answers
158 views
How do I plan a research trip?
I intend to visit the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. I know already that they allow Flip-Pal Scanners, so I will bring mine, plus my laptop which contains all of my genealogical ...
5
votes
4answers
104 views
How do I deal with alternative spellings to names?
I am trying to find out information for an Arzula Hokum and am running head-first into issues with her name. Her first name sounds like Ursula and her last like some variant of Holcomb(e). How do I ...
4
votes
3answers
78 views
Ways to index a family history collection?
My personal family history collection consists of correspondence, photographs, historical documents and family papers, family tree compilations and genealogies, research logs and reports. I've ...
10
votes
5answers
218 views
How do you determine how much of a nationality you are according to your ancestry?
My sister, cousins, and other relatives speculate that my mom's grandmother was Jewish (for various reasons). I've heard people say at times things like, for example, "I'm 50% German" or "I'm 25% ...
5
votes
3answers
101 views
Need more strategies for meeting “collaborative cousins”
There are some lines in my ‘”tree” that contain few confirmed ancestors. One of the ways I’ve found people and information is by connecting to “cousins”. I’ve done this through:
a public online ...
10
votes
7answers
203 views
How do I validate place names that no longer exist?
For the places mentioned in my family history I'm looking to make sure I have the native spelling correct. The problem is that many events' places no longer exist. Some places (like Prussia) are not ...
4
votes
6answers
165 views
How do I Keep my Public Tree right sized to meet my own high quality standards?
One of the reasons my Ancestry.com tree is public is so that I can make connections to “cousins” I don’t know. The relatives I have connected with have been a fantastic help in researching our common ...
7
votes
2answers
44 views
Are all NARA services/records available at all locations?
I've found the NARA locations page but cannot seem to figure out if these locations all provide the same services or contain the same set of records. If I visit the NARA location in Los Angeles is as ...
3
votes
2answers
89 views
When/why did the BCG abandon “preponderance of the evidence” (POE)? What is the effect of the change?
When and why did the Board for Certification of Genealogists(R) stop using the term "preponderance of the evidence" to describe how genealogists evaluate evidence.
Today, genealogists who work to ...
13
votes
4answers
160 views
How can I establish (and describe) my confidence that the child and adult are the same person?
My two general questions are:
At what point can one say that, yes, the adult you have identified as your ancestor is the same person as the child you think might be your ancestor, and that you have ...
10
votes
5answers
367 views
Organizing Research: Should I start a binder system?
In today's day and age, are newbies still starting binder systems? I am reading Unpuzzling Your Past, 4th edition by Emily Anne Croom and it is very good. She advocates binders that organize by ...
25
votes
8answers
366 views
What are the key features in genealogical software that will help me future proof my research?
I have been researching my family for about 15 years.
I have used Microsoft Access for about 10 years to record my results.
Microsoft no longer supports the version of Access I have.
I have no need ...
6
votes
2answers
117 views
How would a genealogist utilize Cyndi's List?
What is the purpose and value of Cyndi's List to an entry or intermediate level genealogist? It simply seems like an endless listing of data without any segmentation. Don't mean to knock the site - ...
7
votes
1answer
136 views
How can I trace my ancestry in India?
I'm a Christian from Kundamkulam, Trissur, Kerala, India. It is said (there are no written evidences) that we once were Brahmins, got converted to Christianity in the 1st century AD (there are records ...
10
votes
2answers
96 views
How can I track down back issues of a family history newsletter from the 1980's?
When I started asking my parents about family history in 2008, my mother gave me a copy of a "Burbank Family News" newsletter of the Burbank-Burbanck family edited by John R. Burbank in St. Albans, ...
5
votes
2answers
81 views
How do I find twins in the England and Wales civil registrations?
How do I find twins in the England and Wales civil registrations?
In one of my workshops, I was given some information about a couple in the UK who had identical twin daughters. Although I knew their ...
2
votes
1answer
54 views
How can I find a more specific date of death than that given on a headstone in the US before the 1800s?
Many head-stones only show the year of death, not the full date. Others may record the internment date rather than date of death.
Where would I locate more accurate dates of death before the 1800's ...
2
votes
4answers
97 views
Researching Native American ancestry
How do you research your native American ancestry, when all you have is old family stories, but no records?
1
vote
0answers
98 views
Requesting help with Y-DNA studies of the Bonnell Family that lived in Ireland and came to Pennsylvania in the 1700's [closed]
I'm interested in Y-DNA studies pertaining to the "Bonnell" Family.
The line of interest resided in Ireland and seems to be well documented in the USA through the 1700's.
My Ancestor was presumably ...
-5
votes
1answer
121 views
Which popular sources to avoid? [closed]
How to convince family members that using shared online trees as sources may only introduce them to errors. Almost anyone can add misinformation to them.
3
votes
3answers
95 views
How do I go about finding 20th Century vital records?
Every person I look for with few exceptions I find no records for. For example:
First: Heinz
Last: Zaun
Birth: Germany
Date: 1928
Death: Germany
Date: 1957
I know this to be true, his son is ...
9
votes
4answers
110 views
Are there any genealogy research companies offering their service in Poland?
I am interested in finding out more about my family genealogy by hiring some company or person to do the work for me. My entire family comes from Poland, so I am wondering whether there are any ...
11
votes
2answers
194 views
How do I correctly identify an individual who goes by multiple names?
This question is general to all inquiries where a person has differing last names in multiple records. In my particular case, I am researching my 3rd great grandfather Simon Zoller (1840-1902) and I ...
11
votes
5answers
127 views
How to work local resources remotely?
My great great great grandfather spent some of his life in Houghton, Houghton, Michigan, United States, and I would like to find more records for that area regarding his family. The problem is that I ...
12
votes
7answers
218 views
Tracking family names and migration patterns using GIS
I posted a question, Using web mapping and geocoding to track genealogical data, over at Geographic Information Systems SE awhile ago, so I was quite excited when I saw the proposal for this site. I ...
9
votes
6answers
267 views
How can I determine what an old document with Illegible handwriting says?
When looking through handwritten records, I found a document. Some fields are legible and matched information I already knew. However, the name is written illegibly. I cannot read it for the life of ...
12
votes
4answers
112 views
How do you record a person you know existed, but with no (or limited) other details?
The Census of England and Wales 1911 asked for each married woman -- the number of children born alive to this marriage, and the number still living.
This information can reveal the existence of ...
10
votes
2answers
112 views
Why do historical and genealogical scholars differ in their approach to classifying sources?
Historical scholars classify sources as "primary" or "secondary."
Princeton University, "What is a primary source"
Library and Archives Canada, "Toolkit: Defining Primary and Secondary Sources"
...
5
votes
2answers
119 views
What details do I need to know about an ancestor before I try to uncover the ship they immigrated on?
What basic information do I need to have about my ancestor before I start looking for the ship that he/she came to America on? So that I don't waste a lot of time fruitlessly searching for a ship - ...
4
votes
4answers
90 views
How do I find original surname of adopted child from NY?
My late father-in-law was adopted by his step-father when he was 10. My late grandmother-in-law never talked about her first husband and there is some confusion on the first husband's surname.
My ...
9
votes
6answers
101 views
How can I get others excited about an aspect of my family history without gloating?
For example, one of the major battles of the Revolutionary War was fought on my [several-]great-grandfather's farm grounds.
Without sounding like I'm gloating when talking about the event, how can I ...
4
votes
6answers
120 views
After the web, where is the next place to start searching? [closed]
I've done a lot of research on websites but I'm not sure where to go from here. I assume the next step is to contact the organizations the kept the records (churches, government/municipality, etc.) ...
10
votes
2answers
192 views
Citation guides for UK sources for family history and genealogy
Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills (Mills, Elizabeth Shown. Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace. Revised edition. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., ...
4
votes
3answers
127 views
How can I find a town or the local church for a distant relative?
In my situation my Family Name is semi-common. I can find several discussion boards and resources. My issue is that my specific tree is not known. I've asked about my father, grand-father, ...
27
votes
10answers
451 views
Should I use the modern (what it is called now) or historical (what it was called) place name?
When I am writing records, do I use the name of a city or country as it is called today or as it was in the year an ancestor was there?
Related to When documenting place names, should I write them in ...
12
votes
1answer
146 views
How can DNA testing aid me in my genealogy research?
My basic understanding of DNA testing is that it can tell you where your ancestors came from. How can just knowing the ethnic breakdown of my ancestors help me?
What if I already know where my ...
10
votes
2answers
138 views
How can I get all the military records available through NARA (USA) for an individual veteran?
When requesting the military records for an individual veteran from the national archives, I was only sent the discharge summary. How do I know if there are any more records available for the ...
14
votes
6answers
209 views
How should I deal with conflicting information?
How should I record and report information which conflicts (e.g. differing birth dates for what I believe to be the same person)?
18
votes
9answers
250 views
What is the best way to benefit from another's tree without copy and pasting?
Once one gets so far back in their tree, one finds ancestors in common with other researchers. It is all too tempting to collect information by copy and paste information from another researcher's ...
