Many of the resources that we rely on for our research are in the hands of public agencies: clerks’ offices, libraries, state archives, and so on. We all know that public agency budgets are never what the agencies or their constituencies would like. Yet, some agencies and their employees manage to provide that extra measure [...]
Continue reading about Five Top Public Agency Research Venues
We have a winner in The First GeneaBlogie Challenge! The most popular feature ever in this space, The First GeneaBlogie Challenge was a test of genealogical research skills. It required the ability to draw reasonable inferences, make reasonable assumptions and to use various records available on the Internet. I hope it was a learning experience [...]
Continue reading about UPDATE III: The First GeneaBlogie Challenge–And The Winner Is . . . .
The First GeneaBlogie Challenge has proven pretty popular! Thanks to all those who’ve given it a try! I’ll announce a winner (if there is one) sometime after 9:00 pm PST. If you haven’t tried it yet, get started–you’ve got six hours left!
Continue reading about UPDATE II: The First GeneaBlogie Challenge
It didn’t take long for the first substantial entry–see the comments in the original post. To help out, I’ve included here and in the original post a link to the Aransas County GenWeb site where the Aransas County records are located.
Continue reading about UPDATE: The First GeneaBlogie Challenge
Almost everybody has had the experience of wondering exactly how a cousin is related. Here’s a chance to exercise some elementary research skills and WIN a cheap, possibly-suitable-for refrigerator door certificate. Here’s the challenge as I took it through the first several steps: My dad speaks from time to time of his cousins, George Stafford [...]
Continue reading about The First GeneaBlogie Challenge–Find This Relation and Win!!
As I reported a few days ago in this space, I decided to try out the website Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness. I requested that a volunteer help me with a problem in Clay County, Missouri, specifically information on the marriage license of Ezekiel Johnson and Sarah Gilbert. I knew that this marriage had taken [...]
Continue reading about Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness II
One of my goals for 2007 is to perform genealogical service of a volunteer nature for others. So today I went to the website Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness intending to become one of their “people helping people.” Instead, after going through the site, I became one of the people requesting help! How did that [...]
And if you couldn’t guess from yesterday’s posts, it is indeed Black History Month! So to that end, Chris at The Genealogue takes note of several blogs and websites that focus on African-American genealogy or that are run byAfrican-Americans. Check it out. The Library of Congress is focusing on its African-American collections. Look here for [...]
Last week, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 390, the “Preservation of Records of Servitude, Emancipation, and Post-Civil War Reconstruction Act.” The bipartisan vote was 414 to 1. The bill directs the National Archives to establish a national searchable database of “historic records of servitude, emancipation, and post-Civil War reconstruction, including the Southern Claims Commission [...]
Continue reading about House Passes Records Preservation Bill to Help Genealogists
Carter Godwin Woodson was the son of former slaves whose early education was spotty, to say the least. But by the time he was he twenty-two, he had obtained his high school diploma. He later received a masters degree from the University of Chicago and his Ph.D. from Harvard University. His early experiences no doubt [...]
