Summer is a great time to travel to the old home places and distant repositories. What's your first step?  Create Your Plan The longer your trip and farther away your destination, the more preparation you will need. Are passport, visa, special vaccinations required? Early on, write away for maps; some are available for free but arrive by mail; good local maps will help in the planning process. How about connections with researchers in the localities you will visit? Join some local societies, and start conversations with the local history groups, libraries, colleges, courthouses, archives and museums. Create a spreadsheet or table to gather names, contact information, closed dates, hours of operation. Before you leave, print your itinerary and the info sheet. Leave a copy at home with friends and family, too.  Prepare short biographies of ancestors who lived locally to leave in vertical files in libraries and archives. Ensure that each bio has your contact information; if...

Vectors by Vecteezy We've mentioned Genealogical Crime Mysteries, a genre of fiction that is becoming very popular. We have introduced several of our favorite authors and even talk about our favorite protagonists and anxiously await their newest exploits. It is in this same genre that I have recently read two non-fiction genealogy mysteries and the arduous tasks of sorting out the facts among the brick walls the authors had to overcome. Buried Secrets: Looking for Frank and Ida  by Anne Hanson, New England Books, LLC; Copyright 2022 addresses the brick walls caused by half truths, omissions and deliberate misinformation. Coupled with research prior to online indexes and records, the author and other family researchers were faced with a nearly insurmountable task in finding Frank and Ida Hanson. "After so many years of flailing in the genealogical wilderness, . . " Anne hardly dared believe when she finally made a breakthrough. She had become so accustomed to failure.  Eve...