Genealogical Resources
Here are some must-read genealogy books while you're climbing your family tree. Whether you're just starting the journey of discovering your roots or have been at it for years, there is something for every hobby genealogist.
Here are some must-read genealogy books while you're climbing your family tree. Whether you're just starting the journey of discovering your roots or have been at it for years, there is something for every hobby genealogist.
Accuracy is fundamental to genealogical research. Without it, a family's history would be fiction. This manual presents the standards family historians use to obtain valid results. These standards apply to all genealogical research, whether shared privately or published. They also apply to personal research and research for clients, courts, and other employers. The standards address documentation; research planning and execution, including reasoning from evidence; compiling research results; genealogical education; and ongoing development of genealogical knowledge and skills. BCG offers these standards to the field as a guide to sound genealogical research and a way to assess the research outcomes that genealogists produce. They are standards for anyone who seeks to research and portray accurately people's lives, relationships, and histories.
Microfilm. Madison, Wis. : State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 198-? 8 microfilm reels ; 35 mm.
Trace your Eastern European ancestors from American shores back to the old country. This in-depth guide will walk you step-by-step through the exciting--and challenging--journey of finding your Polish, Czech, or Slovak roots. You'll learn how to identify immigrant ancestors, find your family's town of origin, locate key genealogical resources, decipher foreign-language records, and untangle the region's complicated history. The book also includes timelines, sample records, resource lists, and sample record request letters to aid your research.
Follow your family tree back to its roots in Bavaria, Prussia, Wurttemberg and beyond! Beidler walks you through the exciting journey of researching your Germany heritage, whether your ancestors came from lands now in modern-day Germany or other German-speaking areas of Europe.
There are more historical newspaper resources than you think--and they're easier to access than you know. When researched properly, no other type of record can beat historical newspapers in "taking the pulse" of their times and places, recording not just the names of specific individuals, but also the information that was important to the community. This comprehensive how-to guide will show you how to harvest the "social media" of centuries past to learn facts about your ancestors as well as the flavor of the times they lived in. With step-by-step examples, case studies, templates, worksheets, and screenshots, this book lays out what genealogists can find in online (and offline) historical newspapers, from city dailies to weekly community papers to foreign-language gazetteers and publications from religious, ethnic, and labor societies.
Highlights important German resources on popular genealogy websites including Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org as well as lesser known resources such as Archion.de.
Knowing your ancestry is more than just ethnic percentages it’s about creating and building a story about your family history. The Family Tree Toolkit is designed to help you navigate the sometimes overwhelming and sometimes treacherous waters of finding your ancestors. Here is a roadmap to help you on this journey of discovery, whether you are looking for your African Asian, European, or Jewish ancestry. The Family Tree Toolkit guides you on how and where to begin, what records are available both online and in repositories, what to do once you find the information, how to share your story and of course DNA discoveries.
A plain-English guide that explains the how and why of genealogy DNA testing.
Your passport to European research! Chart your research course to find your European ancestors with the beginner-friendly, how-to instruction in this book. This one-of-a-kind collection provides invaluable information about more than 35 countries in a single source. Each of the 14 chapters is devoted to a specific country or region of Europe and includes all the essential records and resources for filling in your family tree.
Gathering information on your WWI ancestors is easier than you think! This guide outlines a straightforward strategy to find service details and information from a variety of online resources and physical depositories. Special topics include women's records, a state specific resource guide, naturalization records, alien registration files, and a quick guide to Canadian military World War I resources.
Discover the process that a professional genealogist uses to solve difficult cases. Diana Elder shares her step-by-step method using real world examples, easily understood by any level of genealogist; written for the researcher ready to take their skills to the next level. Learn how to form an objective, review your research by creating a timeline analysis, construct a locality guide to direct your research, create a plan, style source citations, set up a research log to organize and track your searches, and write a report detailing your findings and ideas for future research. Work samples and templates are included.
You take the high road, and I'll take the low--and your family tree will be in Scotland before you know it. This book will help you uncover your Scottish heritage, from identifying your immigrant ancestor to tracking down records in the old country. With help from Scottish genealogy expert Amanda Epperson, you'll learn about church records, civil registrations, censuses, and more, plus how to find them in online databases and in archives.
Trace your Swedish, Norwegian, or Danish ancestors! This convenient guide will help you discover your Northern European family history while optimizing your research time.
Covers compiled sources, newspapers, vital records, census returns, abstracting wills and deeds, and immigration records.
John Grenham's well-established and detailed guide has thorough descriptions of all the relevant sources and county-by-county reference lists--all expanded, updated and indexed to make the book easier to use than ever before.
Tracing your ancestry can be a deeply rewarding and enjoyable endeavor. With the help of this hands-on guide, you'll find out how to start your genealogical research using the latest tools and techniques, including DNA testing. You'll learn how to leverage social media networking sites, add digital images to your family tree, and access public records and U.S. Census information. This book is packed with everything you need to uncover the clues to your family's rich legacy.
Discover the secrets to Ancestry.com success! This book will help you get the most out of your Ancestry.com subscription by showing you how to take advantage of what the world's biggest genealogy website has to offer--and how to find answers to your family tree questions within its billions of records and massive network of family trees. This newly updated guide reflects the site's many changes, with screenshots that demonstrate how to create family trees, navigate the site, and use Ancestry.com's search engines. A new section on Ancestry DNA will also help you dive deeper into your research, with detailed guides to interpreting test results and applying them to research. What you'll learn: Step-by-step strategies for structuring your searches to find what you're looking for faster; Details on each of Ancestry.com's historical record categories, including what you can expect to find in them; Tips for creating and managing your family tree on Ancestry.com, as well as connecting your tree to others on the site; Timesaving tricks to maximize your Ancestry.com experience, including Hints (the "shaky leaf"), Ancestry DNA, and the Ancestry.com mobile app. Whether you've just begun dabbling in family history or you're a longtime Ancestry.com subscriber, this book will turn you into an Ancestry.com power user!
Say "ciao" to your Italian ancestors! This in-depth guide will walk you through the exciting journey of researching your Italian famiglia both here and in Italy. Inside, you'll find tips for every phase of Italian genealogy research, from identifying your immigrant ancestor and pinpointing his hometown to uncovering records of him in Italian archives. In this book, you'll find: Basic information on starting your family history research, including how to trace your immigrant ancestor back to Italy ; Strategies for uncovering genealogy records (including passenger lists, draft cards, and birth, marriage, and death records) from both the United States and Italy, with annotated sample records ; Crash-course guides to Italian history, geography, and names ; Helpful Italian genealogical word lists ; Sample letters for requesting records from Italian archives. Whether your ancestors hail from the island of Sicily or the hills of Piedmont, The Family Tree Italian Genealogy Guide will give you the tools you need to track your family in Italy.
The Korean Genealogy Guide helps English speakers interpret Korean family registers (JokBo). It serves as both a reference and instruction guide on Korean writing (HanGul and HanJa), names, numbers, dates, history, and genealogy vocabulary.
In every family someone ends up with Mom's and Dad's "stuff"—a lifetime's worth of old family photos, papers, and memorabilia packed into boxes, trunks, and suitcases. This inheritance can be as much a burden as it is a blessing. How do you organize your loved one's estate in a way that honors your loved one, keeps the peace in your family and doesn't take over your home or life? How to Archive Family Keepsakes gives you step-by-step advice for how to organize, distribute and preserve family heirlooms.
Discover your ancestry on FamilySearch.org, the world's largest free genealogy website. This in-depth user guide shows you how to find your family in the site's databases of more than 3.5 billion names and millions of digitized historical records spanning the globe. Learn how to maximize all of FamilySearch.org's research tools--including hard-to-find features--to extend your family tree in America and the old country.
Included in this book are hundreds of links to church research resources, as well as chapters devoted to specific resources for major Christian denominations before 1900.
Unearth clues to your past. Not all research can be done from home - sometimes you have to head into the field. Cemeteries are crucial for any genealogist's search, and this book will show you how to search for and analyze your ancestors' graves. Discover tools for locating tombstones, tips for traipsing through cemeteries, an at-a-glance guide to frequently used gravestone icons, and practical strategies for on-the-ground research. And once you've returned home, learn how to incorporate gravestone information into your research, as well as how to upload grave locations to BillionGraves and record your findings in memorial pages on Find A Grave. The Family Tree Cemetery Field Guide features: Detailed step-by-step guides to finding ancestor's cemeteries using websites like Find A Grave, plus how to record and preserve death and burial information ; Tips and strategies for navigating cemeteries and finding individual tombstones in the field, plus an at-a-glance guide to tombstone symbols and iconography ; Resources and techniques for discovering other death records and incorporating information from cemeteries into genealogical research.
Tracing Your Roman Catholic Ancestors is the ideal handbook for readers and researchers who are keen to find out about their Roman Catholic ancestors and for anyone who wants an introduction to Roman Catholic history in general. Stuart Raymond provides a brief historical account covering the Roman Catholics from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries, then goes on to identify the available sources, explaining their strengths and weaknesses. His accessible and authoritative book will be an essential source of insight and reference for anyone who is starting to explore this fascinating subject. The Catholic church's structure is described, as are the various repositories where relevant archives and books can be found. Chapters are devoted to specific sources and what they can reveal about the church and those who were members of it. Much information concerning Catholicism is to be found in the records of repression. The records of Quarter Sessions and the Anglican ecclesiastical courts, together with central government sources, tell us much about our Roman Catholic ancestors, and are fully described. So are the records of Roman Catholic baptisms, marriages and burials. Other Roman Catholic records, such as confirmation lists, are also covered, as are records relating to Roman Catholic clergy and religious orders. Stuart Raymond's handbook opens up the history of the Roman Catholic Church for researchers who want to gain an understanding of the religious lives of their ancestors and for those who have a wider interest in the history of religion
What does your family tree look like? Where do its roots lead? Are you related to royalty? Start your very own journey and find out with this activity-packed guide to genealogy! This lively guide will get you started on researching your family's past and let you in on the newest and most up-to-date technology for genealogy research. Get tips on how to interview family members, create a family tree, and much more. Fun facts, lists, and sidebars offer additional tips and bring the dusty past to vivid life! National Geographic kids series.
Presents ideas and tips for overcoming common obstacles researching genealogies, including advice on how to find records before civil registration, using censuses, and advanced court records.