There’s a meme that floats around that purports to show your grandparents waiting to see “Star Wars.” The intention of the meme (I think) is meant to be funny as it shows a picture of people waiting in line to see a movie. I’m not certain it’s funny or not. What I’m reasonably certain of […]

Apparently Conrad Haase had an “original Paper” copy of his naturalization in his hands when he had the Hitchcock County, Nebraska County Clerk create a transcription of that naturalization. The naturalization transcript was used in Haase’s Timber Claim as proof of his citizenship. Haase’s claim was for 160 acres in Section twenty-six of township 4 […]

The recording is now available for my citation webinar–download is immediate. More details are on our announcement page.

“Made Your Own Map?” appeared recently as a tip of Genealogy Tip of the Day with the map accompanying this post as the illustration. The map is a rough sketch, but drawing it was a really good exercise for me. As soon as I finished it, I realized the scale was slightly off, the position […]

There’s a practical limit to how far into the network of the non-biologically connected people to an ancestor a researcher should delve. At least there is in my research world. I know there are some who believe that researching the step-father of your third cousin’s blacksmith is a valid research approach, but I’m not one […]

It’s really not all that unique of a document. It’s simply a mortgage for $2500 signed by my grandparents in 1946 that references 101 acres of real estate they owned at the time. The legal description of the property contains a partial metes and bounds description of the real estate due to a railroad track […]

I’ve been writing about tombstone pictures on Genealogy Tip of the Day. As time has gone on, I have become a bigger fan of taking overview photos to provide perspective and indicate the location of the stone. Sometimes I get told “GPS” will take care of that. I understand how GPS works. It’s worth noting […]

I’ll be giving a webinar on genealogy citation on 28 January–attend live or pre-order a recorded copy. Details are on our announcement page.

I have my Mother’s original “baby book” from her birth in 1942. The handwriting certainly appears to be that of my grandmother. But the handwriting of a seventeen-year-old can certainly vary from that of someone much older and my memory of Grandma’s handwriting does not stem from when she was seventeen. But Grandma would have […]

My genealogy motivation: to preserve and share the family history items I have been fortunate enough to obtain, to preserve and share the unwritten stories to which I have access, and to discover and share the unknown stories of ancestors buried in old records. I also like to share approaches, methods, and ideas that have […]