In modules 5 and 6 of Skills: Transcribing, Abstracting & Extracting we learned about extractions.  It is a similar concept to an abstraction but not exactly the same. Trust me, I am sure you have used them both, but you may not have realized the distinction between the two.…

Everyone's Research is Different

One of the most frequently asked genealogy questions is “How far back can I go?” This is a very difficult question to answer. Everyone’s research is different. Accessibility and the availability of documents as well as the possible destruction of records means that the answer to the above question might be different even for the same person tracing two different families on their tree.…

    Mixed Results and Exciting Ideas.

   Thanks to Kenneth on Facebook and his crazy letter of 5 things not to do to excel in Genealogy, I am going to expound     on his fun.

   Needless to say, as an instructor in Genealogy I have been tempted to make similiar comments to my blog readers. 

   On Facebook they have many areas for various topics and Genealogy, Just Ask. really gets some interesting twists.

   It has been so long since I was a…

Nothing like jumping in and seeing if you sink or swim. There is no goofing off and easing into the subject matter with this course. You are into the meat of the subject from page one, which is great!  Don’t get me wrong, I am happy to start off strong. There is just a lot, and I mean a lot, of information.…

Passenger List

We have William Bradford to thank for taking pen in hand and keeping records of the early years. He wrote down the names of the passengers and did a separate accounting of the increasings and decreasings of these passengers thirty years later. Unfortunately, one piece of information he did not record in his history was the name of the ship Mayflower. It is known only from a 1623 land division in which settlers were listed under the name of the ship…

Family Albums, Friends and Neighbors

Obviously, knowing where a photograph came from is always helpful. Because of social media and genealogy websites, you may have access to family photographs posted by a family member or even a friend of the family. That person’s photograph collection may include more pictures of the same ancestor taken at different times or with other relatives.

Family albums are repositories of photographs of friends,…

When you think of an “institution” what comes to mind first? For me, it is prisons or asylums. But guess what, this word can cover a whole bunch of other places as well. Places which most of us had ancestors in attendance. Not to say all ancestors were black sheep, just that they had reasons to attend an established facility.…

What does Genealogy mean?

A definition found in the dictionary states that “genealogy is the science of tracing your family back through the centuries.” Genealogies record the descent of an individual or a family from a certain ancestor.  It is the study of your pedigree.

Well, this course didn't dally around; it jumped straight into the nuts and bolts of creating a good transcription. While several of the courses I previously wrote about did touch on the basics of transcription, Modules 1 and 2 of Skills: Transcribing, Abstracting & Extracting  provides an intense introduction to the process.…

Basic Questions

How do you learn more about a photograph? Here are some basic questions to help get started.

Photography: Clues Pictures Hold, Editing, Digitizing and Various Projects

WHO is in the…

175 years ago today Inspector Charles MAY along with Sergeants Thomas SMITHERS and Hugh McGREGOR resigned from the Metropolitan Police Force in London and began their 5 month journey to Hong Kong in order to establish the Hong Kong Police Force.  As the…

            Echoes of our Ancestors     

              20-23 May 2020

          SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH

       Presented by National Genealogical Society

            Family HIstory Conference

       HAVING HAD SUCH A GREAT TIME IN GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, hoping to be there.

20th Anniversary Special

We're celebrating our 20^th Anniversary!  What better way to do that, then to bring back those 1999 registration fees of only $50.00 per course.

You can register for as many courses as you wish.  That's right, there is NO limit.  Heck, you could even…

Local News 

Over the years, local news found in hometown newspapers has run the gambit, from the very serious to news that isn’t necessarily hard-core journalism.

Some of the articles you might find relevant to your genealogy…

By Shannon Bennett, Student

Many of my and my husband’s family come from England. Lots. Lots and lots. Did I say quite a few?  Well, needless to say I am intrigued by the records that are over there but at times I do not understand exactly what is being said. We sort of speak the same language.…

Women’s Clothing 1830 – 1890 

When researching the lives of our ancestors in photographs it’s hard not to notice all of the changes happening through time. Some changes were big while others were small and may go unrecognized.  Take for instance women's clothing during the 1800s. …

Headstones and Cemetery Indexes 

Your ancestor’s headstone can indicate both their date of birth and death. However, this information is only as accurate as the person providing the information to the stone carver. Always locate other sources to confirm the dates carved into the stone.  

If you have a death certificate and it states the name of a cemetery, Google the cemetery name. Then add the word “Index” to your search. Sometimes you will…

How do I get my grades? 

Within six weeks of the course end date, your grade will appear in your student Briefcase. Click My Briefcase to access your grades for all the courses you have taken.  

The…