Vol. 22, No. 14 — April 13, 2017
New Ways to Find Maiden Names |
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There are hundreds, if not thousands, of articles online about various ways to discover the maiden names of our female ancestors. It is a common genealogical topic because women are so often merged completely with their husbands in the historical records that their original identities disappear completely. The cultural norms of times past, going from the introduction of surnames about a
thousand years ago to only a generation or two ago for most of us meant that women normally never referred to their maiden names again after marriage. They often didn’t even go by their first names, either. “Mrs. John Smith” was a common way for a woman to introduce herself, just putting a “Mrs.” on her husband’s name. It was entirely possible that someone could know her for years, and be good friends with her, without ever knowing her actual name. Most of the time, no one would even think to
ask... Read More
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Family History Questions You May Not Have Thought to Ask |
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You know you have to do family history interviews with older relatives to get started on a good genealogy research journey. These interviews are the foundation of any beginning genealogy project. However, you have to remember, the interviews and the information you get from them are only as good as the person doing the interviewing, and that’s you. You have to know what questions to ask, how to
ask them, and techniques to use to get older relatives to remember things and be willing to share stories with you.
As a genealogist, you want your family history to be as complete as it can be, with real details that bring long gone relatives to life again on the page. Some of the best information you get will be from your family history interviews, because these are the people who were there,
and who knew ancestors you did not. While there are basic questions you ask in any interview, here are some you may not have thought to ask, that will give you more delicious details to add to your story... Read More
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The Top Three Reasons You Should Donate Your Genealogy Research to a Society |
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It’s nice to keep family heirlooms in the family for generations. It offers the family a tangible sense of connection to the past, and teaches one generation to revere the objects, traditions, and Donate of the ones that came before them. Some families are able to do this for centuries, and have impressive collections of heirlooms and genealogical information as a result. However, this is rare,
not the norm by any means. Most families discard things they consider “old,” especially if they never knew the person to whom they belonged, or were never even told of them. That is how so many antiques end up in antique stores, including orphan photographs of people from a century or more ago that are not labeled or identifiable (in most instances).
The sad truth is many families just don’t see
the value in these things and throw them away. The good news is that you don’t have to depend on your family to save those heirlooms and all your research for you throughout the centuries. You can keep these things safe and available for use for future generations of your family who may care about them more than the ones you know now. You can ensure the protection and preservation of all of your work and the history of your family by donating it to a genealogical society or historical society.
Here are three reasons why you should do it... Read More
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Latest Genealogy Gold Podcast
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Are you starting to look into your family's history? On today’s episode, I’ll give you some information on naturalization and how the process has changed throughout the years.
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Listen
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Insights in the Way Painters Began Using Light |
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What is it that makes photography so enthralling? When you think about it, there isn’t anything that we photograph that we can’t just look at. Certainly, photography has a sort of convenience to it. Once you take a photograph, you don’t have to return to the spot you took it because now you have a visual record. But if that is all photography was, merely a visual record, then most people
wouldn’t find it quite so interesting.
I think that a large part of the interest comes from the way the human eye works. To put it simply, we just don’t see the same way that a camera does. A photograph gives us a whole new perspective on the subject... Read More
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