The increasing popularity of the internet has offered many new chances for people to exchange information from all over the world. Message boards are one way this information is exchanged in everything from sports to medicine. However, it can also be a way you can increase your genealogy research. They allow you to communicate freely [...]

When working on your genealogy, sometimes the most difficult obstacle to overcome is that of finding the maiden names of female ancestors. However, by finding this information you can be lead to an entirely new branch of your family tree and a whole new set of information and history to explore. To get to that [...]

When someone begins to make efforts in finding out their past with genealogy research, they may begin to run into dead end leads.  This happens when you begin to find something on your family history, but it ends up going in circles or leading to the same information that you have already found.  Often times, [...]

When researching your ancestors, it is crucial to your research that you find their correct vital statistics. You need to know their full name, birth date and location, marriage date and location, death date and location, and the full name of their parents. In order to insure that your vital statistics are correct, it is [...]

Did your ancestors ever serve in the war? If they did, you could be overlooking a valuable resource leading to vital statistics about them and their family members that exist as a result of their military service. By figuring out what conflicts, if any, that your ancestor served in, you can proceed in researching the [...]

One of the most difficult tasks in creating a family tree is following up leads in your Native American ancestry. Many modern tribes today do not keep records that go back very far.  One of the first places you should begin to look is the Bureau of Indian Affairs.   The BIA was established in 1824 [...]

Once upon a time when two people fell in love with one another everyone expected to hear wedding bells in the near future. Not anymore. Today the trend would take the besotted couple into a cohabiting arrangement. So common has this fashion become, that in many countries the law has recognized and legalized it in [...]

Property records can tell you a lot about your family’s past.  Real estate leaves a paper trail.  Deeds, wills, deeds of trust, property transfer agreements, mortgages, homestead records, land grants, all can go a long ways towards helping you trace the path that your ancestors took to reach the area where you grew up.
Once example [...]

Anyone who is interested in researching their family tree knows how wonderful it would be to have vital information on their ancestors available to them at the stroke of a key. The Social Security Death Index, a huge database compiled by the United States Social Security Administration, is a gold mine to be plumbed for [...]

Researching your family tree can be one of the most rewarding things you will ever do. It can help you to gain a sense of place. It can help give you a background that you can understand and identify with. It is, however, an arduous, and at times, overwhelming process that will take years. When [...]