publicdomainvectors.org/en/free-clipart/Blacksmith-sketch/63288 Double Down Why do you do genealogy research? For me, it's about finding more cousins. Others want to uncover the stories that were not passed down, prove their connection to a group of ancestors such as Revolutionary soldiers, pioneers, their links to an ancestral village, or an early group of immigrants.  I think it is important to think about what you really want  because  focusing your attention to a specific goal naturally increases your enjoyment, skill and success. Along the way, notice what tools you use to find and document your discoveries, and research how to best use those tools. Create a work flow that optimizes the time you have and improves your end product.  What is your dream? A trip to the old home place? A book about the family? A family reunion, or large DNA project? The more detailed your dream, the more effective your work will be. As I improve my DNA tree, I work in the Ancestry...

Tower in the Great Enclosure, Great Zimbabwe   By Andrew Moore from Johannesburg, South Africa - Conical Tower - Great Enclosure III, CC BY-SA 2.0 Planning a Dig  While watching a documentary about an archaeological dig, I noticed how the team decided on first steps in their investigation into the history and development of an ancient huge African city. Instead of looking at the obvious features such as the central enclosure and outer walls, they started on a steep hillside where there seems to be a dump! Why? Because that is where they would find the remains of everyday life of the majority of the people.  We naturally notice the rich, the famous, the powerful--those in the headlines. But as we investigate our families, and the families of our ancestors, where do we find them? Only rarely in the headlines. Instead, we find them in letters, diaries, recipes, snapshots, social columns, legal and other government records, obituaries . And many choose to follow the pat...

Hilltop family cemetery still in use Gusher, Jetstream or Waterfall? Preparation I appreciated group guidance recently about preparing for a genealogy trip. I am going to a marvelous Appalachian region where a half dozen of my ancestral families settled. Their times in the mountains were exciting to me as they were part of the westward push in the wake of the Revolutionary War. They included patriot warriors, some guarding local lead mines against loyalists, several in the militia warding off raiding Shawnees, and one who was a Continental survivor of the siege of Fort Laurens. So much to explore! Four of these families landed in Philadelphia in 1738, coming from Bavaria and Prussia. They spent some  time in Lancaster, where German was as common as English. Were they working off indentures for their  passage? Then the Great Road called, and they travelled down the Shenandoah to the New River Valley.  I had visited southwest Virginia before, finding archival treasures abou...

Before heading to the grocery store, I need to make a list, so I don't forget to pick up something we need, or worse, buy things we don't! I hate waste and overcrowding the 'fridge. It is even more important to plan both my schedule and my genealogy.  I learned how helpful this was some years ago, when we studied Research Like A Pro : A Genealogist’s Guide by  Diana Elder, AG with Nicole Dyer .  Thinking about my questions and goals before diving in, and carefully reviewing everything I know (or think I do) is critical to progress and eventual success. The GPS, Genealogical Proof Standard , was created to help us in our work, because building on a solid foundation helps us have confidence in our findings and enjoy the journey. I find planning more parts of my life helps me have more time for research too. I use Google calendar, but whatever tools you like will work, as long as you use them as a part of your daily routine.  So what's my latest plan? I just started on...

  Oroboros, free image courtesy of Magnific.com Oroboros, or: Haven't I been here before? The value and danger of digging into FAN club members who are part of an "allied family" and part of the pioneer generation of settlers, is finding the same names over and over. Sisters marry brothers, people marry spouses of their same surname or their mother's surname, and occasionally first or second cousins. I  became dizzy as the tree filled. I imagine the snake in the ancient symbol above is feeling woozy too. F amily, Friends,  A ssociates & N eighbors sometimes play all three roles in the early generations and rural locations. Lately, my first action when looking at a census record is to open the index and scan the neighbors, before looking at the person and their family in the image. When I've researched more deeply into their history, another look at the index reveals even more, as future spouses lurk nearby.  Moving back to an earlier generation reveals more ...

Image generated by Nanobnana 2 May 2026 If you have tested your DNA for genealogy, you are either excited by all the new information coming your way, or hopelessly bewildered—or somewhere in-between, like many of us. If you and close relatives have tested at least you can easily prove the beginning of your DNA tree, which is YOU and your biological relatives. This DNA tree may or may not be the same as the research that you have labored over for many years, hunting for official records, context and other evidence of the lives of your relatives and ancestors.  If you have been "doing genealogy" for a while you know the final step: writing it up . But how to do that with DNA evidence? How do you explain all those numbers so that they mean something, much less PROVE your tree? And how can I say it is "easy?"  I recently found the answer in Legacy Family Tree Webinars  by  Karen Stanbary, CG®, CGG® in a series called DNA in Action ; 2 of 6 which are available. I plan t...

Used with permission from Steven Young Caudill, photographer Will Rogers is reported to have said , " If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging ." Recently I found myself in a hole of my own making, and took that advice. My first step was a new custom Tree Tag for my Ancestry.com tree: SameNameConfusion to make the profiles easy to find. Previously I wrote about pruning , part of which has been using Ancestry.com's ProTools to find possible duplicate profiles. I've merged hundreds of such profiles without problems. This case seemed simple and obvious on the surface because I saw what I expected to see, rather than what was actually there.  I saw Jane and Eliza J and thought they were the same woman I saw Thomas J Booth and Jefferson Booth, and thought that they were the same man Because both families were in the 1900 census, I did not stop to notice that one family was in Missouri and the other in Iowa  The Jane with no surname had little information, so I merged...

Women's Month Vectors by Vecteezy Note: this post is excerpted from one published some years ago by MaryLynn. Enjoy, and send us your own stories this Women's History Month. Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History  is the title of a book by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, written in 1976. Since that time the slogan has become bumper stickers, pins, placards, t-shirts, and many other memorabilia. It has become the cry of feminists and is a truism throughout history. When a woman, or group of women, affected society, it was usually by stepping outside the norm. I would like to share some quotes from the book and how they have fit in with some of our own ancestors or women in history whom we admire.  Follow this link to quotes and see if you are inspired about someone in your history. Quotes: “Some history-making is intentional; much of it is accidental. People make history when they scale a mountain, ignite a bomb, or refuse to move to the back of the bus. But they also make history by k...

Diamond_Mine_Disaster_Historical_Marker_Grundy I, courtesy WiikMediaCommons   Finding the Stories: Unusual Sources  Many, if not most, of us are interested in going beyond "genealogy" to "family history." More than just the names, dates, and places, we want to know the stories our ancestors could have told us. They may not be around anymore but there are lots of other sources for these stories. Sometimes you find what you're looking for where you least expect it! I knew that my paternal grandfather's family migrated from Belgium to Grundy County, Illinois, in the  1 880s to mine coal. Few people realize it, but the northern Illinois coalfields were some of the best coal in the country, strongly preferred by the railroads because it was much cleaner than Pennsylvania anthracite. However, the fields were comparatively small and pretty much were only able to supply Chicago and the railroads operating there. The city and village names in Grundy County reveal the...

2025: What Happened, and a peek into 2026 “Father Time” by Linnaea Mallette: Public Domain license In south King County, Washington, 2025 began with most folks still recovering from a major storm, a "bomb cyclone." Unfortunately, winter storms were punishing at the end of the year as well, with near-record flooding in much of western Washington. However, our society  handled disaster as our ancestors did: with courage, creativity and by working together. We had nine amazing speakers this year and were active weekly in small groups. Volunteers staff monthly Genealogy Help desks in three local libraries, and SKCGS publishes a weekly blog.  2025 Speaker Series January:  Dr. Carol Gorman Friedel "The Invisible Man—Moving Through a Pre-1840 Burned County Brick Wall" February:  Michael Strauss “The Road to Independence: Revolutionary War Research” March:  Amber Oldenburg " Women's Committee of the Council of National Defense Registration Cards: The Largest...