Nothing hits me harder than these three words. Some version of this phrase is often found in the wills of enslavers, designed to give away children who were not even yet conceived. Enslaved women’s wombs enriched generations of enslavers, both giving life and bringing death in so many ways. It’s a concept that still haunts […]
WWI Soldier Pictures and More
Soldier William Dumas of Wilcox Co., Alabama, died between 8 March and 15 November 1918 while at Camp McClennan, AL. His family sent in the picture above and filled out a biographical questionnaire about his life. But that wasn’t the only picture they sent. They also submitted this: The letter enclosed with the photo describes […]
Undivided Interest in Deed Records
It is no secret that I am a huge proponent of researching deed records. I have previously discussed them in this blog and I have a webinar that teaches these records. Yes, deeds can be contain boring, lengthy descriptions of land, but when you find one that uses the phrase “undivided interest,” oh baby! You […]
The Tough Stuff of History for Genealogi...
The 13 volumes of the Ku-Klux Congressional Testimony (part of the Serial Set) illustrate well the continuing divide in our country. I blogged about these records in 2016. These records are an incredible source of information for all genealogists trying to understand the issues at stake during Reconstruction, issues that extend into today. Hundreds of […]
Enslaved Ancestor Found Using 1914 Ad
It was while recently writing about Mike Fendricks’ family that I made one of the biggest discoveries in 25 years. I recovered the identity of my 2nd great-grandmother, an enslaved woman named Salina Sherrod. It was my favorite gift this year! This discovery illustrated two concepts I often recommend. First, everyone should write up their […]
Proving Relationships: One Strategy
Part of the joy of researching my family has always been the challenge of proving relationships once the “easy” records that state relationships don’t exist anymore. (In genealogical parlance this means once we don’t have direct evidence.) When we don’t have birth and death certificates that name parents, marriage records that provide maiden names, or […]
Never Trust Only One Source
Webinar Note: My next webinar is a two-hour lecture + workshop on Deed Records. It will be held on August 20, 1-3:30 pm EST, and is $20. It includes a free PDF guide to Using Deed Records which is a $12 value for every attendee. Click this link to register. When we first start […]
Two Men Become One: Identity
Proving that the sources we find are actually about the person we are researching, and not some same-named individual takes skill and time. Online databases will happily offer up records with these same-named people; the prudent researcher should never believe them without scrutiny. Additionally, the constant shift in records between use of first names, nicknames […]
Supreme Court Records
Court Records have been a favorite source of mine for many years. Several of my earliest lectures focused on using this source, and recently I created a Beginner’s Guide to Court Records to introduce new researchers to their use. Many of the richest records that mention our ancestors are found in the records of the […]
A Genealogy Research Checklist
The beginning of the year is always a good time to reassess and track progress in genealogy. Below, I offer a checklist of questions that you can apply to any line of your family. My hope is that this list can help frame some of the goals for your research this year. Research Checklist 1. […]