Whether you are an experienced researcher or just getting started, there are at least five things you can do with every record you encounter. Just finding the record and attaching it to your tree isn’t enough. Try walking through these five steps with your records. Source the record. This may seem obvious but you might… Read More Five Things to Do with Every Record
We have heard the saying, “If we don’t learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it.” Of course, that was originally applied to the destiny of civilizations. But it can just as easily apply to our own personal lives. While we learn the skills necessary for doing family history, we should also look at… Read More Looking Back: How Family History Benefits Families
If you haven’t already seen the new feature in your smart phone FamilySearch app, you might want to take a look. The new Ordinances Ready feature can help you identify ancestors who need work done, especially if you are having trouble finding people. Ordinances Ready searches FamilySearch Family Tree, as well as temple reservation and… Read More What’s New at FamilySearch – Ordinances Ready
My mother died in a car accident when I was two years old. She was the youngest of eight children born to my grandmother. By 1955, my grandmother had buried her husband, three babies, and two adult children, one of them being my mother. As a little girl, I would go to the nearby cemetery with… Read More Don’t Forget the Babies!!!
We have discussed the value of census records before. But were you aware that there are at least 5 hidden clues in the US Census? Here are the 5 things you might want to look for. 1940 Census: The X in the circle. One of the challenges with the US census is that we don’t… Read More Hidden Gems in the US Census
The past couple of months have been exciting at the Granite FHC. Last month I shared with you the response of many young men and young women to President Nelson’s invitation to join the battalion to participate in “the greatest challenge, the greatest cause, and the greatest work on the earth today.” The response continues… Read More November 2018 – Director’s Message
We all know that newspapers are gold mines for information about our ancestors. Old newspaper databases hold gems worth digging for. But were you aware of that just stopping with the regular newspapers, daily and weekly, often leaves facts yet to be found. There are at least three other kinds of newspapers that you should… Read More Newspapers Genealogists Should Know
The kids are back in school, and fall is in the air. The beginning of the school year always brings back memories of days spent in classrooms and adventures with friends. Fortunately for me and my husband we still have copies of our high school yearbooks to help us reminisce and remember the stories of… Read More What You Can Learn from Your Ancestor’s Yearbook
Name searches are the backbone of genealogical research. But if you only use a person’s full name, you are missing opportunities for discovery. Remember that uniform spelling rules were not even established until well into the late 1800s. Your ancestor may not have spelled his name the same way consistently. Records may have been kept… Read More Full Name Searches Don’t Always Work
We all know the value of finding obscure records that may help us fill out our family trees. But records are lost every year because of five threats to historical records. FamilySearch is saving memories, historical records, that may be the only remaining witness to an individual’s existence. These irreplaceable documents include birth, christening, marriage,… Read More FamilySearch Helps to Preserve the World’s Archives
