Search Results for: blog who is an ancestor

Were Any of Your Ancestors Born on Leap Day?

Were any of your ancestors born on Leap Day? This might be more difficult to figure out than you may think. There are some quirks associated with February 29 that genealogists will not face when searching for information about an ancestor who was not born on Leap Day. Leap Year only happens once every four years. February 29 is called Leap Day. This day has been added to the calendar as a corrective measure. We say that the Earth orbits the Sun one time every 365 days. However, in reality, it doesn’t quite match up exactly. To keep the calendar … Continue reading →

Was Your Ancestor an Indentured Servant?

Some of our European – born ancestors came to America by themselves, when they were in their teens or early twenties. Many times, these young men and women did not make the passage to rebel against or run away from their families, but rather to establish a foothold in America so that the rest of the family could join them later on. Many of these young people were able to make the trip to America despite the fact that neither they nor their families could afford to pay for the voyage outright thanks to the option of indentured servitude. The … Continue reading →

The Official Bloggers of RootsTech 2012

Are you unable to attend RootsTech this year? It is the biggest genealogy conference of the year, and there will be some genealogists who really wanted to go but could not travel to Utah due to work, finances, or health issues. Those of you at home can follow along by paying attention to some of the Official Bloggers of RootsTech 2012. What does it mean to have been designated an Official Blogger of RootsTech 2012? As far as I can tell, this is something that is considered to be an honor. These bloggers will be attending RootsTech 2012, which means … Continue reading →

How to Start Your Own Genealogy Blog

Ready to start your own genealogy blog? There are plenty of good reasons to do it. Genealogists need to be careful not to steal content, or break copyright laws on their blog. It is also wise to make sure that your blog doesn’t contain information that can lead to identity theft. Many people think that the best way to start creating a brand new blog is to jump online, put together a WordPress blog, and think of a catchy title. In reality, your blogging experience will be much more successful if you take the time to think about what you … Continue reading →

How to Trace Your Ancestors

There is a page on Facebook that is called “How to Trace Your Ancestors”. It seems to be designed to help new genealogists learn how to do some basic aspects of genealogy, how to get started, and what to do. A closer look at the links on the Facebook info page raise some questions about how good this really is for brand new genealogists. Genealogy is a hobby that is growing in popularity. As such, there seem to be new genealogy websites popping up all over the place. It isn’t unusual for these types of websites to try and attract … Continue reading →

Hints for Tracking Down Elusive Ancestors

Many people joke about having outlaws as in – laws. Sometimes, though, it is actually true. There have always been “bad guys” (and bad girls) and there probably always will be. For some reason, the capers of criminals and other characters from years past seem more interesting, more exciting, and perhaps (depending on what they were doing) more acceptable than the dirty deeds of modern day criminals. However, at the time that these folks were plundering ships, bootlegging whiskey, shooting up saloons, or planting the seeds of organized crime, their families were probably not so pleased about what they were … Continue reading →

Halloween Costumes Inspired by Your Ancestors

What are you going to be for Halloween this year? If you don’t know the answer to that question, you might want to look to your ancestors for inspiration. Genealogists who know their heritage can turn to their family tree in order to decide on a meaningful costume to wear this Halloween. It is going to take some planning in order to create a costume that reflects your heritage, or that resembles one of your ancestors. You may want to start now on creating your costume, so that you can get all the details just right. If you don’t want … Continue reading →

Census Reveals Unexpected News About Ancestors of Governor

The United States Census, from any year, holds a wealth of information for genealogists. Recently, someone looked at the 1930 Census and discovered that the Governor of New Mexico has grandparents who came to the United States illegally. This information doesn’t match well with some of the Governor’s political choices. There are a lot of genealogy websites that have recently added a collection of the United States Census, or that have made additions to their existing census archives. There is a law that prohibits public use of the census for a total of seventy-two years from the original date that … Continue reading →

Job Titles From the Days of Your Ancestors

What did your ancestors do for a living? Times have probably changed quite a bit between now and and when your ancestors were alive. There are job titles that exist today that were never even dreamed of several generations ago. Conversely, there are some jobs that have ceased to exist. Genealogists spend a great deal of time digging into the past. This means there is a good chance that you will come across a word or two that you are unfamiliar with. Some of these words relate directly to the types of occupations that your ancestors held. If you cannot … Continue reading →

Did Your Ancestors Experience a Disaster?

As I hear more stories and see more pictures of what happened here in Vermont as a result of Hurricane Irene, I think that the storm is certainly going to be the subject of many family stories that will be handed down to future generations. There are people who are isolated in their mountain villages because all roads in and out have been destroyed by floodwaters. There are folks with out of state license plates from Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York who came up here when they were evacuated from their homes. I am sure that they thought that … Continue reading →