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…
What DNA Can Tell You About Your Family History, and What it Can’t
Premium content You must have a Premium membership to access this content. Sign up now Already a member? Log in here
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Genealogy Gems Podcast Reaches 1 Million Download Milestone – Infographic
Sometime over the first busy holiday weekend in December 2012, The Genealogy Gems Podcast reached an incredible milestone: 1 Million Episode Downloads! In early 2007 when I published the first episode, podcasting was in its infancy, having just come into being in…
Another NARA Historical Document Thief Sentenced
Washington, DC . . . Today, the U.S. District Judge Catherine Blake sentenced Jason Savedoff to twelve months and one day in prison, plus two years probation, for conspiracy and theft of historical documents from cultural institutions in four states, including the…
The Way That Genealogists Can Remember Everything
Premium content You must have a Premium membership to access this content. Sign up now Already a member? Log in here
New Free Online Historic Maps, DNA and more in Genealogy Gems Premium Episode 92
Old maps can tell us a lot more than just where our ancestors lived: They put events into geographic context, reveal surprising genealogical clues, and can be incorporated into Google Earth for analysis and storytelling. It used to be pretty difficult to find old maps…