Question: I am at the proverbial brick wall with my ancestor Saunders Haines. Saunders could be short for Alexander and Haines was later spelled Haynes.The earliest I can find him is in 1775 in Catskill, Ulster County, NY, where he (under name of Alexander) and Christina Halenbeck were married. I know he was in the Revolutionary War, that he had at least 5 children, and that in the Census of 1790, he was in New Paltz, New York. He moved to Rensselaerville, Albany County, where he died in 1813.How can I locate his place of birth and that of his parents, as well as their names? Answer: What this question describes is commonly referred to as a “brick wall,” however, the circumstances described should not fall into that category because there are likely … Read entire article »

Question: My great grandfather on my mother’s side came over from Denmark in 1906 so my research quickly requires someone that speaks and reads a different language, as well as knows the system for vital records for a different country.How do you connect with someone who can do all that? I tried through Ancestry.com and also local universities thinking they might have a Danish language department that can point me to someone but finding someone who is fluent in Danish, let alone also knows the Danish vital records system, seems impossible. Answer: Finding a specific professional genealogist may seem difficult, but there are a number of qualified people out there, but as you note, the trick is how to find them. We can suggest a number of different ways to find you Danish … Read entire article »

Question: What were the suffrage requirements in 1796 Maryland? Answer: This question really involves the more general topic of voter registration lists. Commonly, in most jurisdictions where voting was possible and where registration was required, historic voter registration lists may still be available. Unfortunately, many of these records have yet to make their way online and you may have to search for them in state and local archives as well as historical societies. One good source for records is the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. You can search the Family History Library Catalog (now called the FamilySearch Library Catalog) online at FamilySearch.org. You will have to click on the “Search” link to see the link to the Catalog. A search by the word “vote” resulted in finding 2,120 different documents. You … Read entire article »

Ask-the-Pros is a feature of the Family History Expos website. The feature is available from a link appearing on many of the pages of the website. If you ask a question, it will be reviewed and may be answered in this blog. It may be some time before your question is answered in a formal blog post. Question: I have a relative who was born in Alabama in 1868 and died in Texas in 1927. I have always been told she was Comanche Indian, the two census records that I have located her on do not state that she is Native American. I can’t find any death certificate for her, I do have a location for her burial. I am wanting to know how do I go about proving Native American lineage … Read entire article »

Question: How do I find an obituary of a person who died in 1945 in the Ft. Bayard VA Hospital, Grant county, New Mexico? Answer: Finding an obituary can be a frustrating experience. It would be simple if all of the obituaries were collected in one place and available online, but that is far from the current situation. Putting obituaries online is a relatively recent activity and very few online collections go back further than the 1970s. However, the newspapers containing the obituaries are being digitized and becoming available online in huge collections. Unfortunately, many of the larger collections of online newspapers are available only on subscription websites. The first step in this process is to see what newspapers were published in the area at the time of the ancestor’s death. This can be … Read entire article »

Question: I’m a beginner at this. On Ancestry.com when I type in a person’s name, birth year, state and marriage section that I want to check, I get SO many answers to look at that are from England, other states, etc. – about 20,000 or more. Why doesn’t just the person’s name & information that I put in come up? It’s so frustrating to sit and go through all this information because it simply has the same last name. Thank you Answer: Searching in a large online database can certainly be frustrating, even for those with years of experience. With databases such as Ancestry.com, you should use a search strategy. I suggest putting in a minimal amount of information about the target person, perhaps a name, one date and a place of residence, … Read entire article »

Question: What are the research techniques for an American Indian ancestor, great-grandparent? Answer: Research for American Indian ancestors living in the 20th Century are essentially the same as those of any other people in the United States. But, of course, as you go back in time, you may encounter some considerable differences in the number of written records referring to the Indian population. More than any other community, the researcher should learn all that is possible about the history and culture of the specific tribe or tribes involved to locate the various records that may have been created in the jurisdictions for those tribes. The first step is ascertaining the tribal association. This is accomplished by determining the tribes associated with the locality or localities where the ancestor lived. Quoting from the FamilySearch Research … Read entire article »

From time to time we will answering questions posed on the Family History Expos website in the Ask-the-Pros section. Here is this post’s question: Question: How do I find an obituary of a person who died in 1945 in the Ft. Bayard VA Hospital, Grant county, New Mexico? Answer: Thank you for this interesting question. Whether or not an obituary was written and printed depends upon the decedent’s surviving family members since they would usually be the ones writing any paying for the publication of an obituary. If an individual died away from family and friends or had very limited economic means, then there may have been no obituary written. However, even absent a formal obituary, a local newspaper may have printed a death notice. On the other hand, if the person who … Read entire article »

Did you know you can still purchase either on disk or a printed copy of all fo the handouts from the presenters at the Arizona Family History Expo 2013 and the still upcoming St. George Family History Expo 2013 for the same low price? These handouts make up a book on CD or in paper version of over 400 pages. The book is still available at a discount for $25.00 until after the St. George Expo. After the St. George Expo, the price goes up to $30.00. Shipping charges may also apply. You can view the list of classes and class descriptions on our website for current upcoming Expos and in our Memory Lane for those that have already been held. The presentation notes from the Expos make some of the … Read entire article »

SPRINGVILLE, Utah. — November 19, 2012 — RootsMagic, Inc. announced the official release of RootsMagic 6, the latest version of the award-winning genealogy software which makes researching, organizing, and sharing your family history easy and enjoyable.  With this release comes an update to the popular “RootsMagic Essentials” free genealogy software. RootsMagic 6 adds many new features while making existing features even easier to use.  “This release includes something for everybody,” said Bruce Buzbee, president.  “Whether you … Read entire article »