Family History and DNA: Spencer Wells at SCGS
A couple of months ago, I blogged the cool news that the Southern California Genealogical Society will be sponsoring a one-day genetic genealogy conference on Thursday, June 6, 2013 in conjunction with its annual Jamboree. In the following video interview, a news...
Online Historical Maps: From David Rumsey to the DPLA
Genealogists rely on historical maps to help us navigate the geography of our ancestors' lives. One of the most important resources available online is the David Rumsey Map Collection. Well, Rumsey recently announced on his website that he will be making more than...
Civil War Timeline from the Library of Congress
Do you have relatives who served in or were affected by the American Civil War? Check out this book by Library of Congress staffers, who draw on the unmatched resources of the national library to tell this epic story. The Library of Congress Illustrated Timeline of...
Genealogy Tips: Find Ancestors in Tax Records
It's time to pay taxes in the United States! Is it any consolation that our ancestors paid them, too? Here's a brief history of U.S. federal taxation and tips on where to find tax records for the U.S. and the U.K. History of Tax Records According to the National...
What the U.S. Federal Government Could Learn from Genealogists
Beware: Personal Opinions are coming your way in this article! In my book The Genealogist's Google Toolbox I emphasize how to use Google to determine what is already available and free online before investing your limited time and money in offline family history...
Find Your Confederate Civil War Soldiers
For the month of April, Fold3 is offering free access to its Confederate Civil War collections of more than 19 million records. Many of these are from the National Archives' War Department Collection of Confederate Records: Confederate Compiled Service Records,...
10 Top Tips for Breaking Down Your Genealogy Brick Wall
"One of the most incredible and likely true stories I've ever seen!" announced Dave Obee as he met with Genealogy Gems Listener Sarah Stout, the winner of our #RootsTech 2013 conference registration contest. The question to contestant was "who's class would you most...
What DNA Can Tell You About Your Family History, and What it Can’t
Had King Richard III been discovered 50 years from now, chances are DNA testing would not have been possible - at least not without exhuming a body or two. In Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast episode 97 Dr. Turi King, the geneticist who positively identified the 500...
Young Boy Reunites Siblings through Facebook
A long-lost brother and sister have cause to thank a seven-year old boy for helping to reunite them: through Facebook! Recently the Waterloo-Cedar Falls (Iowa) Courier reported a story about a 66-year old Davenport man who had tried for years to find his sister. As an...
National Archives and Digital Public Library of America
The National Archives announced recently that it will help with the first pilot project of the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA). According to the National Archives' press release, "The DPLA is a large-scale, collaborative project across government, research...
Where You Should Sit at a Genealogy Conference
This spring we've got some great conferences coming up in the U.S., like #RootsTech2013 in Salt Lake and the National Genealogical Society conference in Las Vegas, as well as events in Fairfax (VA), Wausau (WI), Manchester (NH), Cincinnati (OH), the Houston area, and...
Find Your Criminal Ancestors: UK collection from Findmypast.com
If you have British roots, you'll want to check out the new collection available on Findmypast.com: a half million criminal records dating from 1770-1934! This sounds like a pretty gripping collection, whether you've got British roots or not. It contains records...
Who Do You Think You Are? Live in London: Highlights and Helps
I'm busy packing my bags getting ready to make the trip from California to London for my third appearance at Who Do You Think You Are? Live in London. I'll be teaching some of my favorite classes (sorry, they are already sold out, but I look forward to seeing those of...
Love Was in the Air: Our Ancestors and Valentine’s Day
This time of year many of us will show love with chocolates, flowers, jewelry or--as my husband prefers--tools and Chinese takeout. Many of us will also turn to Hallmark or American Greetings for the perfect card. Our ancestors exchanged love tokens at Valentine's...
Premium Episode 95 – Evernote and OneNote for Genealogy
Date Published: January 30, 2013 Click here to download the Show Notes pdf After publishing the Evernote for Genealogy Premium Video I told you that I planned on covering using Evernote for Genealogy more in the future. And we are starting with this episode! MAILBOX:...
How to Delete and Merge Duplicates in Ancestry Family Tree
Does your online family tree suffer from duplicate leaves? If so, you’re not alone. Hundreds of people seem to have this problem, based on the popularity of a YouTube video tutorial by The Barefoot Genealogist. This tutorial teaches you how to trim extra foliage from...
How to Get Organized and Put Your Family History Household in Order
From Guest Blogger Denise May Levenick, a recent guest on The Genealogy Gems Podcast: If you are buried under a mountain of genealogical clutter, take note that January is National Organizing Month and a great time to put your Family History Household in order....
The Wild West of Sound Today and in the 19th Century
When I started podcasting back in early 2007, it was still sort of the Wild West of podcasting. The medium had only been invented and gone public in 2005. It has been exciting to be part of a new frontier of sound and to reach people around the world interested in...