Many of us have lived in an old house sometime in our lives. Some prefer the older homes. The old house I lived in from about age 4 to 9 had so many mysterious places. It was fun exploring them.

I received the following article on July 3 from the free online publication on Facebook, My Genealogy Hound, and found it interesting. I thought my readers would enjoy it being passed along.

I want to know the path my Revolutionary Soldiers took before and after the war and I am sure, you do too. A database with this information would be so helpful. Thanks to the Tennessee State Library and Archives, we now have this important databank available online. This makes possible for g…

No longer do we have to go to the Annex building on Hwy. 5 in McKinney to get original marriage licenses not previously picked up by the couple. The Collin County Clerk’s Office scanned the marriage licenses and made them available to purchase. If you access the site directed by the Clerk’s …

Hunting the females in your family is difficult about 98% of the time. Why? They lie about age, place of birth and marriage date on census. Sometimes you cannot find them because they are in an institution for reasons of mental problems or because of menopause. Sometimes they want to escape …

The TSHA presents the annual, one-day Battle of San Jacinto Symposium on Saturday, April 6 from 8:30-5 p.m. at the University of Houston-Downtown, One N. Main, Houston, Texas 77002. This is the preeminent conference on the Texas Revolutionary era. These pivotal years, 1821-1845, mark the tra…

In 2020, we will celebrate the 400th anniversary of the landing of the 102 travelers onboard the Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor in December 16, 1620. For those wanting to celebrate, the party begins as early as April 17, 2019, the Opening Ceremony held at the American Ancestors headquarters in…

Something most of us do not know or tend to forget is that the 1940 census has additional information not asked on other censuses. Approximately two people on every page of the 1940 census gave additional information about themselves and those living in the household. If you are so lucky to …

Genealogists use census records at the beginning of each family search. When prospective members cannot produce a marriage license to a lineage society, they accept early census records as an indication the couple was married and the parents of the child in the household. We all know and und…

The Decatur/Maxwell/Murphy Cemetery is the final resting place of many of Murphy’s earliest settlers, with burials dating from 1853 to1966. It contains approximately three acres of land and over 300 graves—most now unmarked.

It is imperative to begin immediately to interview all living relatives while they are still alive. Procrastinating can leave you with an hourglass whose upper flask is empty. Talking to the older members of your family about your family’s history is very rewarding. You can conduct interview…

Searching cemeteries for the beginner can be unnerving, but taking along a seasoned or adventurous friend can be just the ticket to enjoying the beauty of the stones and their engravings as well as finding long deceased ancestors.

Doesn’t it feel like you are constantly being asked to subscribe to this site or the other? The prices, even though lower than they used to be, are still high. There are neat tricks you can use to save a little money, but to put them in place will be a little time consuming in some cases, bu…

Winter is the perfect time to take classes to perfect your family history. It may be cold outside, but you can certainly take online classes at Legacy Family Tree Webinars, https://familytreewebinars.com/. The classes are by recognizable professionals we all highly respect for their teaching…

This month is Black History month in the United States. Fold 3 is recognizing this by making the records in its Black History Collection, https://tinyurl.com/y8nvu3bn, available free through the end of February. From their website, you can search more than a million documents related to prim…

The National Genealogical Society (NGS) is now registering for its annual conference, Journey of Discovery, in St. Charles, Missouri, May 8-11, 1919. The following is from their website where you may also see the electronic brochure, https://conference.ngsgenealogy.org/.

Over the holidays, I talked with genealogist John Greer who told me about his progress with recognizing the past Sons of the American Revolution (SAR). He began this project in 2014 when the State President Tom Jackson appointed him the Chairman of Compatriot Grave markings. John says there …

I double date. If you are not double dating, then you may have recorded something incorrectly.

Genealogically speaking, the time is here to get ready for those family gatherings around the Christmas and New Years’ holidays. Exactly whom are you visiting? Check them out on your family history. Exactly what do you know about them? Do you need more information from them? Do you need pict…

Do those cousin relationships get confusing? All those ‘cousin removed’ categories can become puzzling. I know the further the relationship goes down the cousin tunnel often befuddles me.

Most of us have people we would like to have found in the missing pages of the 1890 census, but have you given up, or are you one of those that never give up? I am one of the latter. Certainly, it is not as easy, but there is likelihood that missing person might be found if you put some work…

Hunting the females in your family is difficult about 98% of the time. Why? They lie about age, place of birth and marriage date on census. Sometimes you cannot find them because they are in an institution for reasons of mental problems or because of menopause. Sometimes they want to escape …

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft recently announced the once lost Missouri 1880 Census Population Schedule has been found. His announcement is below:

After the recent workshop sponsored by Genealogy Friends featuring Colleen Fitzpatrick where she discussed hospital and asylum records, I began again to see what exactly I could find on this subject. I began by examining the ever-changing laws beginning in the 1990s. I was able to find that …

Recently, friends of ours were blessed with their second child. Although she was a beautiful baby girl with little tuffs of blond hair, she looked just like the infant pictures of her big brother, now two, who was also born with little hair and who is also blond. I warned the mom that in tim…

In a study by the University of Kansas (KU), they found that only about 250 Native Americans made up the original DNA identification database for the Americas. They believe they found from the study that the people migrated from Siberia.

The question arose the other day about what the audience thought about their DNA being used on GedMatch to solve decade’s old criminal cases. I answered that I do not mind it at all. If a criminal is hiding in my DNA, then I am delighted for law enforcement to identify and arrest the person.…

If you had family who worked in the Texas Oil Patch during World War II, and you can’t find them in Texas or on military rolls, they might have been one of those special men went to England during the war to find oil.

The study of family history is not just about collecting the documents and pictures of your ancestors, but eventually reaches into other areas, such as writing books on your family and other subjects, to colorizing black and white photographs.  Now she is transforming creased, damaged photog…

Are you using every avenue to determine your ancestor’s information? Being perceptive of the available records is necessary. One can begin by just thinking of the records you yourself create on a day-by-day basis. The first record you created is probably your birth record. The next records y…

During the years 1850-1880, there is a possibility you may find in the mortality schedule the name of someone who died within the last year of the date of enumeration, which is June 1. That means the name might be listed between June 1 of the previous year through the census year date of May 31.

The Texas Society SAR Arlington and Athens chapters and the Texas Society DAR Corsicana chapter invite you to join us on Sat. Aug. 11, 2018 at 1:30 pm at the Jester Park Pavilion adjoining the Oakwood Cemetery in Corsicana, Texas.  Flyer and driving directions are attached.  See www.txssar.o…

Finding an ancestor on the census does not guarantee he owned the land he lived on. It is imperative that you check the land deeds and land sales to find out this information. Did he own it or not? If not, find out who owns the land and where the owner lives. It might be in another county. J…

On September 15, Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick will speak to genealogists at the Plano Bible Church, 1900 Shiloh Road in Plano and sponsored by Genealogy Friends of Plano Libraries, Inc. Colleen will speak on the following subjects in the all-day workshop.

The following is a release from the Genealogy Center announcing their summer classes in Genealogy. These are in the downstairs Genealogy Center program room.

Have you ever had trouble finding your ancestor in one of the censuses? I have, and I believe many of you have had the same problem.

At the Saturday, June 16 Genealogy Friends of Plano Libraries, Inc. Saturday Seminar, Lynne Darrouzet, LLP, will entertain the audience with Copyright vs. Copy Wrong. This expert will answer all your questions about copyright. Do not miss her talk!