It’s a chance to discuss your specific problem with a professional genealogist, one who can look at your problem family with a fresh set of eyes. It can help you get started if you are just getting started with your research or continue if you’ve reached a point where you do not know what to do. It’s like having a problem-solving class devoted to your family. We’ll look at see if there any additional clues or leads in the records you have already located and discuss what the next steps are in your genealogy journey on your family of interest. It’s also a time for you to ask specific questions about the materials you have found. Learn more on our consultation page.
I have an uncle who was born the year his father died. Any stories he knew about his paternal family would either have been filtered through his mother (who did not know her husband or her husband’s family until she was approximately sixteen) or have been stories his siblings told him. It does not mean the stories are wrong, but could explain why there are not too many or why some are incorrect.
If you find a record that you are certain is for a person but contains details that are inconsistent with what you know about that person, there are some things you should remember. Make certain you really know what you know about your ancestor–could that information be off? Make certain you really have the ancestor in this new record–could you be drawing an incorrect conclusion? If you have considered the previous questions carefully and thoughtfully and still want to add the record with inconsistencies to your files, explain why you added it. Acknowledge and accept the inconsistencies. Explain the reasons for them (if you have them) and explain why you think the record is for the person you think it is. Just dumping it in your file on […]
We are offering a new session of our AI for Genealogy class–check out details on our site.
Do you need to just start from scratch on a genealogy problem? Let’s be honest, it can be hard to literally start over–we can’t always forget what we know. But there are things we can do. Make certain you have completely cited each record you have viewed or read on the person or problem. Re-analyze carefully each piece of information you have discovered, and write down each step in your logic and reasoning. It’s possible you know more now than you did when you originally located the information. Maybe even argue with yourself slightly as you work on the problem. Question yourself by asking if you could have overlooked something, interpreted something incorrectly, or made a mistake. Review local, state, and national sources to see if records have […]
If you find an online picture of a relative, do you indicate where you obtained that photograph? What database did you find it in? What website hosted it? On what date did you find it? Who submitted the photograph? Is there any provenance or identification listed on the photograph? How do you really know who it is? How did the submitter know who it really was? You may never be able to determine how the original submitter of the image knew who was in the picture. And if you don’t know that, it can be difficult to know how much trust to put in the identification. But tracking where you obtained the image is a good first step. And…do not just download the image and crop off any […]
When was the last time you reached out to a relative by marriage for genealogy information? I’m not talking about that in-law who brings the potato salad you can’t stand to family functions, but a descendant of your ggg-grandma’s third husband (when you descend from the first). Is there a chance they have something that could be beneficial to your research?
A death certificate for a relative indicated that the father’s name was “Morris.” Actually it was technically written as “Morris —.” Does that mean that the first name was Morris and not the last name. It might be odd for someone to only know the first name of someone’s father and not the last name, but if the deceased is a woman who only knew the informant a short time, it is entirely possible. Last names that can be first names can sometimes create problems. Upcoming:
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Genealogists who have done DNA tests often look through their matches to determine who they are. That’s an excellent way to use your genealogy DNA test results. Genealogists encourage relatives to take tests when they know that they have not already done so. That’s not a bad idea, but try and avoid being overbearing about it. But have you asked relatives if they have taken tests and if they have, did you see if they showed up on your list of matches where you would expect them to? This webpage on the Genetic Genealogist shows the amount of expected DNA various relationships should expect to share. Discovering you don’t match the way you thought you should or don’t match at all can really change up your research.
We’re re-doing our Perplexity for Genealogy presentation into a two-hour long session–complete with handout. Our focus is on a practical, down-to-earth approach. You’ll be able to play the video more than once and see research approaches that are easy-to-follow New examples, new families, new prompts, with a continued focus on practical, down-to-earth application of AI for genealogy—focused on Perplexity. Perplexity is a combined search engine and research assistant that uses large language models to answers questions, summarize content, and create responses to queries. Thoughtful genealogists do not use AI to replace their brain—they use it to preform tasks more quickly than they can and with precise attention to detail. Our presentation will use the free version of Perplexity. Order now for delivery on 1 October 2025. Topics include: […]
Old envelopes can contain a variety of clues: old addresses, dates people were probably alive, and other notes or comments written on the envelope. This 1984 envelope gave me two addresses, indicated that the sender and recipient were probably alive on 18 August. There were even a few phone numbers written on the envelope as well (they may not have had anything to do with this correspondence). Don’t neglect digitizing those old envelopes when converting family history ephemera to electronic format. They may be good for more than harvesting old stamps.
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When I’m stuck on a family, I ask myself: am I sure I have found all the easy ones? Sometimes I have and then the work is more difficult. But other times there are easier members of the family to find and sometimes finding those individuals can provide me with additional information to help find the others. These “easy pickings” include: These approaches won’t always work. No approach always works. But it’s always good to ask if there’s a close relative to your “problem person” who might have left better records. Genealogy Tip of the Day book is here and it’s not written to help you research your “famous ancestors.” It’s written to help with all of them. Learn more about it and get your own copy.
Reminder: Check digital images you make of family ephemera to make certain you got the best image possible. Also think about how you share images as some messaging options optimize the image’s file size which also can reduce clarity of the actual image. Also include some additional information on the image (preferably at the bottom) to indicate what you know about the item you scanned–in this case, I don’t have a date, but this was a letter addressed to my Grandma from her sister probably in the late 1940s. Any clues about the item that are only in your head need to get out of your head and into a more permanent format.
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