100 Years Ago Today in Newspapers
Spring is in the air, as it was 100 years ago today. On May 14, 1913 the Omaha Daily Bee, the front page sported a comic depicting the eternal struggle of suburban life - fighting weeds in an effort to achieve the perfect lawn. (Omaha daily bee., May 14, 1913, Weekly...
Tech Tool for Discovering What Your Speech Reveals About Your Heritage
How you speak can reveal much about your heritage. If you've ever lived in or visited the U.S. or Canada, you already know we don't all speak English the same way. But did you know that we actually speak eight different major dialects in North America? The...
Family History and DNA: Spencer Wells at SCGS
A couple of months ago, I blogged the cool news that the Southern California Genealogical Society will be sponsoring a one-day genetic genealogy conference on Thursday, June 6, 2013 in conjunction with its annual Jamboree. In the following video interview, a news...
100-Year Old Time Capsule Opens
Exactly one hundred years ago on April 22, a time capsule was buried in the basement of the First English Lutheran Church in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.A. During a ceremony this April 22, a crowd that included the governor oversaw the opening of the "Century Chest."...
Online Historical Maps: From David Rumsey to the DPLA
Genealogists rely on historical maps to help us navigate the geography of our ancestors' lives. One of the most important resources available online is the David Rumsey Map Collection. Well, Rumsey recently announced on his website that he will be making more than...
Danish Version of WDYTYA Being Filmed
The Danish Broadcasting Corporation is filming its own version of "Who Do You Think You Are?"--which we've learned via two U.S. newspapers! According to the Bureau County Republican and the NewsTribune (Illinois Valley), popular Danish actress Suzanne Bjerrehuus was...
More Family History Records on FamilySearch.org
FamilySearch.org keeps adding records at a phenomenal pace, thanks in large part to the efforts of thousands of volunteer indexers around the world. In fact, they recently celebrated the billionth record indexed since they started community indexing in September 2006....
MyHeritage Releases Family Tree Builder 7.0 Software
One of the most popular family history websites in the world, MyHeritage, has released Family Tree Builder 7.0, an updated version of its free family tree software. Family Tree Builder allows users to construct their family trees and decorate them with photos,...
Civil War Timeline from the Library of Congress
Do you have relatives who served in or were affected by the American Civil War? Check out this book by Library of Congress staffers, who draw on the unmatched resources of the national library to tell this epic story. The Library of Congress Illustrated Timeline of...
Genealogy Tips: Find Ancestors in Tax Records
It's time to pay taxes in the United States! Is it any consolation that our ancestors paid them, too? Here's a brief history of U.S. federal taxation and tips on where to find tax records for the U.S. and the U.K. According to the National Archives (U.S.), the Civil...
What the U.S. Federal Government Could Learn from Genealogists
Beware: Personal Opinions are coming your way in this article! In my book The Genealogist's Google Toolbox I emphasize how to use Google to determine what is already available and free online before investing your limited time and money in offline family history...
Find Your Confederate Civil War Soldiers
For the month of April, Fold3 is offering free access to its Confederate Civil War collections of more than 19 million records. Many of these are from the National Archives' War Department Collection of Confederate Records: Confederate Compiled Service Records,...
Take a Break: A Video Guaranteed to Take You Back to a Gentler Time
Grab a pop, find a porch swing and enjoy Pickin' and Trimmin'
How to Grab Your Copy of a Free Digital Archiving E-Book
Digital archiving is a hot topic for genealogists these days. Digitizing our family documents, photographs and other artifacts is one more way to help us preserve and share our heritage. Well, the Library of Congress wants to help us out! It has published a free...
10 Top Tips for Breaking Down Your Genealogy Brick Wall
"One of the most incredible and likely true stories I've ever seen!" announced Dave Obee as he met with Genealogy Gems Listener Sarah Stout, the winner of our #RootsTech 2013 conference registration contest. The question to contestant was "who's class would you most...
What DNA Can Tell You About Your Family History, and What it Can’t
Had King Richard III been discovered 50 years from now, chances are DNA testing would not have been possible - at least not without exhuming a body or two. In Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast episode 97 Dr. Turi King, the geneticist who positively identified the 500...
Here’s What’s New (and Better!) at Chronicling America Historic Newspaper Website
Many of us know the fabulous Chronicling America newspaper site. Hosted by the Library of Congress, it catalogs all known U.S. newspapers and provides free access to more than six million digital newspaper pages. Well, this site keeps getting better. Content...
Young Boy Reunites Siblings through Facebook
A long-lost brother and sister have cause to thank a seven-year old boy for helping to reunite them: through Facebook! Recently the Waterloo-Cedar Falls (Iowa) Courier reported a story about a 66-year old Davenport man who had tried for years to find his sister. As an...
