Category: FamilySearch
-
As my mother, an avid genealogist, taught me when I was young: every person needs a name, a date and a place. I touched on names here, and places here, so today’s contribution is about dates. How dates were recorded on documents was a function of what kind of record was being kept, what kind…
-
In English legal history, a married woman was “covered” under her husband, who was authorized to act in their shared interests. This concept called “coverture” explains why a woman in England and former English colonies like the U.S. took her husband’s surname, and often was known only by her husband’s name (Mrs. John Smith) instead…
-
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, yes, but is your ancestor Jon or John? Doing genealogy, we need to understand our ancestors in their own historical context. Names and proper spellings have evolved over time. With the advent of the computer for record keeping in the 20th century, it became essential…
-
When you look at a person entry on the shared tree in FamilySearch, sometimes you see a blue box. These are under the category of Research Help and are called record hints (or sometimes just blue hints). These are potential matches from the millions of indexed records in FamilySearch’s collections. They hire programmers to write…
-
As part of America250, FamilySearch is encouraging people to discover their place in America’s history. Once you create an account on FamilySearch (which is always free), you add stories and memories of your ancestors to the shared Family Tree on FamilySearch. A central part of America’s history is that we are, as stated the title…
-
Want to start doing your family history research? Started your family history research but have questions? Here are a few resources to consider: Rootstech sponsored by FamilySearch. The convention occurs every year at the beginning of March, but recordings of lectures are available year round. Free. FamilySearch Research Wiki. Over 150,000 articles on a wide…
-
We are all part of America’s history. Most people never get publicity or their names in textbooks. That’s why it is so important to record the history of our family members. We should remember their lives, as they built this country for us. FamilySearch, the world’s largest free shared tree and document repository, is collaborating…