Genealogical Gems

While researching a marriage this morning, I stumbled upon this great resource: (taken verbatim from Lancaster County website) New Course! Searching Deeper: Untraditional Geneaology Sources at the Lancaster County Archives Fridays, March 8th and November 8th (same class offered two different dates) 9am - noon Lancaster County Government Center Annex: Room 102/104 Plus:Take a tour of the Lancaster County Archives Department! Also, Lancaster Central Market is open on Fridays and just a block away! Discovering Your Roots: Genealogy Sources at the Lancaster County Archives Fridays, February 8th, May 3rd, July 12th, and October 4th (same class offered four different dates) 9am - noon Lancaster County Government Center Annex: Room 102/104 Plus:Take a tour of the Lancaster County Archives Department! Also, Lancaster Central Market is open on Fridays and just a block away! Homemade History: Researching Your Historic Home at the Lancaster County Archiv...

If anyone needs a look up in the Index for the 1870 Philadelphia Census, I have the index and am offering to look up information at no charge. This is only the Index so the information will only give the head of household. No children or spouse are included. To be honest, Ancestry.com will provide more information. However, sometimes it is nice to have a list of all heads of households with a specific last name. The photo below shows the second half of the listing for the VanHorn family. For example, Robert VanHorn, age 70, appears on the 1870 Census. From the index, we can see that he is married and we can assume that his wife is living since a few entries below has Simon listed as a widow. Robert was born in Pennsylvania. The rest of the information in the index is where to find the actual information.   If you are interested, simply either comment here or email me at jeanne.eckman@comcast.net .  

NGS announces the release of Mastering Genealogical Proof by Thomas W. Jones, p h d, cg, cgl, fasg, fngs . As a unique textbook on genealogical methods and reasoning in the twenty-first century, Mastering Genealogical Proof guides readers in acquiring genealogical skills transcending chronological, ethnic, geopolitical, and religious boundaries. Dr. Jones, a noted writer, lecturer, and editor in the field of genealogy, explains and develops the level of proof that is appropriate to genealogy. Dr. Jones relies on his vast experience as a genealogist to explain the various concepts and techniques involved in the genealogical research process. Mastering Genealogical Proof aims to help researchers, students, and new family historians reconstruct relationships and lives of people they cannot see. It presents content in digestible chunks. Each chapter concludes with problems providing practice for proficiently applying the chapter’s concepts. Those problems, like exa...

Maiden names are not always the easiest to determine. We all have the one stubborn woman who married into the family and was simply always referred to as Mrs. So and So. Here are some suggestions to help find her maiden name and that next branch: Marriage certificate and/or license application. Social Security application. Children's birth and/or death certificates. Obituary - perhaps a father or brothers are listed. Church records. Engagement and marriage announcement. Census records - often neighbors were related.

FRANKLIN LAKES, NJ - Savvy genealogists have long known the benefits of building their family tree online in a collaborative environment.  A common approach is to find other genealogists who are searching the same surname in hopes of exchanging genealogical data to minimize their own research efforts. Today, ourFamily•ology unveils two new collaboration features aimed at helping subscribers build their family history. The first new feature allows genealogists to search for a common ancestor and see basic data from anyone’s tree that has enabled this feature.  Users can also contact and exchange information in hopes of sharing research. The second feature gives the ability to share documents with other subscribers. There are only a small percentage of genealogical documents available online.  Genealogists need to do field research to uncover and document their family history. ourFamily•ology now provides a tool where subscribers can share their findings such as wills, ...