Hosted by James Pylant
It’s a myth in American culture that every family has a coat of arms or a “family crest” or at least one exists for every last name. However, coats of arms are granted to individuals, not surnames.
As genealogists, we don’t like to see an online family tree that’s marked as private—especially when it’s a DNA match. However, it’s usually private for a reason.
Pretending to be a professional genealogist, impostor Gustave Anjou provided clients with documented family trees that cited real sources, but he also included fabricated references to non-existent people and places.
Titanic Widow: The Mystery of Addie Bracken
In family records, genealogist Berry Greenwood entered a question mark for the death date of his aunt, Addie Bracken, who disappeared three decades earlier. She had severed ties with relatives after her husband lost his life on the Titanic. In this video, Addie’s story is told with previously unpublished family pictures, correspondence, and documents.
Learn how to locate rare, out-of-print books that may be borrowed through ILL—Interlibrary Loan.
Fame, facts, and falsehoods. Learn how to use caution and avoid pitfalls when tracing celebrity family trees.
What does handwriting analysis reveal about your ancestor’s personality?
Our ancestors were fond of stretching the truth about longevity. A family story says that my great-great-great-grandmother died at age 108. Research, however, disproved this tale.
See how facts were discovered about an ancestor’s day-to-day life by reading a journal written by his neighbor more than 180 years ago. In GenealogyMagazine, Episode 3, learn what sources are available for finding family in the pages of diaries and journals.
Often what’s written in a family Bible record is the only known document of an event such as birth, marriage, or death, but how reliable is that information? Learn how to evaluate data written in a family Bible record.
Have you searched courthouse records in the places where your ancestors lived? Learn the basics about what can be found at the county clerk’s office.