Jennifer Mattern Genealogy is about more than researching your family’s past. It’s also about documenting the present for future generations. For this week’s genealogy prompt, take some time to write down or otherwise document your family traditions for your children, grandchildren, or other family. Why Document Family Traditions? When you keep records of your family’s traditions, you give … Read more
When researching your family history, you won’t just come across a handful of ancestors. You’ll find dozens, hundreds, and over time even thousands. With each ancestor comes a variety of information and records you’ll want to preserve. And to do that, you’ll want to set up a family history filing system. Let’s further explore this … Read more
In our last post in the new series of weekly genealogy prompts, I suggested beginning your family history research by reaching out to a relative. But what if you don’t have anyone to reach out to? Or what if you did, but they didn’t have much information to share? A good next step is browsing … Read more
Today I’m kicking off a new series of weekly genealogy prompts. These will include family history research prompts as well as genealogy writing prompts. Why Genealogy Prompts? Whether you’re new to researching your family history or an experienced genealogist, your next steps aren’t always clear. Sometimes this is because you’ve hit a brick wall and … Read more
I’ve been researching my family’s history since I was 16 years old. And it’s something I feel both passionate and curious about. But every now and then I step away from that genealogy research because it feels overwhelming. I have almost 3000 people in my family tree at this point. And as much I love … Read more
I’ve been wanting to get a genealogical DNA report for a while now. One of my brothers did previously, and we found some surprises, but also some things we expected. For example, we found Sardinian DNA where I didn’t expect it (though it could be tied to an Italian line, it was still surprising to … Read more
Some of the best genealogical tools available to family history researchers are census records. Not only can they tell you where your ancestors lived at different points in time, but they can tell you much more about them, their lives, and their families. While the information found in federal census forms varies a bit from … Read more
In a recent post, I mentioned getting involved in genealogy as a teenager. I don’t remember doing this as a child, such as for a school family tree project. But I wish I’d have been introduced to family history research at a younger age. Today I’d like to share why that is by sharing three … Read more
If genealogy is just a hobby for you, chances are good access to basic tools like Ancestry.com will keep you busy researching various branches of your family tree for years. But what happens if you get stuck and can’t get over a particular hurdle on your own? One option is to hire a professional genealogist. … Read more
One of the most valuable tools for me in researching my family members in the U.S. has been the Social Security Administration. Today I want to briefly explain why that is and how you might be able to learn an ancestor’s social security number (and what knowing that can tell you). First, I should note … Read more