Germany has a more fragmented history than most nations; it first became recognized as a unified country in 1871, and before that was comprised of loosely associated kingdoms, cities, and private estates. This can make tracing German ancestry more difficult than it seems at first glance, as some records for individuals or families with Germanic he...

Preservation Issues One of the most difficult aspects of Genealogy is the simple fact that paper disintegrates over time, no matter how carefully it is stored or handled. This is especially true of photographs and documents not treated with archival care; our ancestors didn’t know when they were writing their wills or photographing their childre...

One of the things that can provide clues is the hair styles of the women in the picture, because just like today they changed hair styles. While their hair would not be short, the type of bun, bangs or no bangs can provide hints to the age of the photograph. Men’s hair styles and facial hair is not as easy to decipher the photos age. The clothin...

Before digging into those however, its important to dig into your own resources, family members, personal papers and get everything organized and in order so that you have a method to your madness. While thats of course important in any kind of sound research, its especially important when it comes to finding African-American research. There are ...

The beta project that existed to help folks discover more about their families was a huge success, and now, its no longer beta. The official launch of the Ancestry world archival project is coming to pass, bringing more records online for those who want to review them. Literally thousands of people took part in the Ancestry World project, but the...

There are a few common sense things that we need to do to assure that we get all the help we can, and that those we ask are able to assist us in our searches. Using a forum has a few rules and in fact a few bits of etiquette that will serve you well when using them, but more than this, its important to be able to put the data you’re seeking ...

The more we want to protect something the more stringent will be our efforts to safeguard it and in reality, some of the most horrible things you can do to the older documents and paperwork of your family will be in your attempts to protect or preserve it for future generations. Of course there are myriad ways to actually destroy something, howeve...

Lets see a show of hands.. How many of us, and yes, I will certainly include myself in this one, store away little bits and pieces of our lives in every place imaginable around the house. Finding a place to put all the little things that you have collected over the years that speak of your history and heritage can be a daunting, if not nearly impos...

The first group are those who are already part of a tribe or a Native American or American Indian community. When that’s the case, it is definitely far easier to accomplish their genealogy, as most American Indian tribes these days keep their own histories fairly well and will be well able to assist you. If you do belong to a given tribe, o...

The first will be finding exactly what tribe or band your parent, or your grandparents actually belonged to may be difficult unless you have some clues to go on. The second thing is that by and large you will most likely not find any measure of acceptance there, or if you do, its going to take some real effort.. A harsh thing to say perhaps but so...