We’ve added two webinars this August: AncestryDNA From Their Mouth to Your Computer Screen More details are on our announcement page.  

Ancestry.com is indicating that “U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007” has been updated as of today. It’s been on the Ancestry.com site for some time. There’s no indication of how the database has been updated or how significant that change is. The database is a wonderful source for 20th century United States research, but […]

People lie for a variety of reasons. Sometimes those reasons are to hide scandal or the eyes of law enforcement. Sometimes those reasons are to protect individuals from knowing certain information. I’m not going to debate the ethics of lying–whether or when it is appropriate or not. Paper documentation, since it contains statements by people, can […]

In July of 1867, Catherine Belless of Fulton County, Illinois,  signing her mark and only referenced by her initials, acknowledged her receipt of property from the estate of her husband. It was her right to receive personal property from her husband’s estate. Illinois State Statute allowed widows an allotment from their deceased husband’s estate to support […]

Black and white digital images of original records present occasional challenges to the researcher. Not because the images are bad, but because sometimes there are clues in the colors that one cannot easily see. Sometimes those clues are significant and sometimes they are not.  Often the color that’s been stripped from a document is a […]

The circles AncestryDNA at are still in beta stage (part I on the “circles” appeared here earlier). The content in this post is current as of 2 August 2017. These comments reflect my own experience with the circles. That experience is largely based upon the amount of research I’ve already done, what families I’ve concentrated on, […]

I first encountered this poem while searching the issues of the Ostfriesische Nachrichten for something or other in the 1903 issues. To find a poem comprised entirely of Ostfriesen first names was highly unusual, so I made a copy and transcribed it. I’ve always loved the sound of the Platt first names–interestingly enough, my great-grandmother’s name of […]

We’re closing out our webinar sales after 3 August so we can purge our offerings and streamline. Before that date, we’re offering a 40% price reduction on our current offerings. Coupon code: fortyoff. No minimum order required. Enjoy!

Reading handwriting can sometimes be a tricky business. While it can sometimes be difficult to transcribe the handwriting of a court clerk, census taker, church pastor, etc., often there are several pages of handwriting to use as a point of reference. On those other pages there are names that are known, legal phrases that are […]