Ok, in Western societies, death is a taboo subject. We don’t like it and we don’t…
Category: Genealogy Research Strategies
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Southern African-American 19th Century naming conventions
Understanding 19th and early 20th Century naming conventions – the structure and method of naming children…
Recording names: Maiden names
One of the common challenges I come across in my family history research has to do…
What’s in a name #2: Getting to grips with the misspelling of names
There is another fun aspect of searching for your ancestors in historical records: the misspelling of…
What’s in a name #1: abbreviations & nicknames
Abbreviated first names one of the things to get to grips with when searching online census,…
Register of Colored Persons cohabiting together as Husband and Wife, 1866 Feb.
The Library of Virginia has an extensive digital collection. This is a collection of documents that…
Getting started with Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org
I use two online genealogy services: Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. I…
Pushing the clock back for your slave ancestors
Your search for African American ancestors needn’t end at 1860 or 1850. Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org have…
Getting to grips with the 1850 and 1860 Slave Schedule census – Part 2
What’s the detective work when searching for your ancestors in the Slave Schedules? A bit of…
Getting to grips with the 1850 & 1860 Slave Schedule census – Part 1
If you’re an African American, the chances are you will come up against Slave Schedule census…