The Worst Baby Names Ever

Wonder how ugly and unusual baby names can get? There are some crazy baby names out there, or should we say some crazy parents with weird ideas. Al Caholic, Anita Bath, Sloth Washington, Mayor Bland, and Gamble Moore are just a sampling of the names some poor folk had...

5 Tips for Taking Great Photos For Family History Records

Digital cameras are all over the place these days and it is so easy to take tons of pictures. Digital cameras let you see the picture you took seconds after it was taken. You can then determine if the picture is a “keeper” or not. But how do you determine...

Family Search Indexing – How do I Find Records?

Thousands and thousands of individuals and families are contributing to the FamilySearch.org indexing project sponsored by the LDS Church. In essence, family history enthusiasts are given an image of a page from an old census and transcribe or “index”...

Old Job Descriptions

Ever researched census data and wondered what a husbandman is or what a cooper did? Many of our old records list occupations, and it can be a challenge sometimes when attempting to discover the definition of the listed occupation. Think about it, go back just 100...

Don’t Forget to Phone Home (for free)

To create a great family history, you need to work on your family present (meaning the hear-and-now, not a birthday present). We can explore old records, search microfilm, and travel the world taking pictures of headstones, but if our own family relations in the...

Preserving Your Library of Learning Part 2

The type of books you read tell much about your personality. A personal library handed down from one of your ancestors can be a treasure without measure. However, not everyone in the family can benefit from receiving an ancestor’s library or books. We recently...

Preserving Your Library of Learning

There are many ways to leave a legacy.  One way is to leave behind a library of good books.  The only problem with this is that the library you leave behind with physical books will have a limited reach depending on the family members who end up with your books. ...

Top 5 Ways to Preserve Family History with Audio

Sounds, sounds, sounds. There are lots of sounds in this world, but none so unique or as appreciated as the human voice (I could possibly be biased however). Nevertheless, the most appreciated sounds/voices to you are probably those of your family members....

Can Letters Make a Difference?

As the United States celebrates President’s Day, one might reflect on the physical treasures and glimpses into their lives that they have left us. From the viewpoint of a family historian, the founding families of the United States left behind absolute...

What’s at Ancestry.com

Sometimes a website can become so large, it’s hard to find your way around and know what is available. If you’ve been researching your Family History, Ancestry.com is one place you’ll not want to miss. Some think that you can only obtain information...