Back to the Future
When you're trying to put some life into an ancestor, it's fun to imagine what they'd think of the world now. One of my new favorite blogs, Paleo-Future, gives you an inside look at how our ancestors (and our childhood selves) thought the future would be. A menu on the...
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Learning Your Ethnic Heritage Through DNA
Q What’s the best source for DNA testing for all ethnic groups? A It sounds like you’re looking for a DNA test that shows your ethnic heritage, rather than whether you’re related to someone. Several types of tests accomplish this to some degree. Biogeographical testsTests such as DNA Print Genomics’ AncestryByDNA evaluate autosomal DNA, which […]
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Converting Your Genealogy Files From PC to Mac
Q I’ve used Family Tree Maker software for several years on my PC. Now I’m switching over to a Mac. What software can I get that will let my data transfer to the new computer without having to buy new software and re-enter everything? A Since Family Tree Maker software doesn’t come in a Mac-compatible […]
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July 4th Quiz Answers
Here are the correct answers for the quick Fourth of July quiz linked in the July 3, 2008, Family Tree Magazine E-mail Update newsletter. (We back-dated this post so it wouldn’t appear on the blog’s front page—we’re sneaky like that.) Quick—if you just stumbled upon this post, click here to test your knowledge. 1. When […]
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Out on a Limb: Tale of Two NARAs Premium
By the time this magazine is in your hands, two things are likely: I'll have ordered my first Civil War pension file from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) <archives.gov>. And the price of obtaining that document by mail will have tripled. In March, NARA proposed...
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Finding Your Ancestor in State Hospital Records
Q My grandmother died at the Cleveland State Hospital during the Flu Epidemic of 1918 after staying there two months. I’ve learned the hospital was torn down, but I could never find out where the records went. How can I get them? A We received this question in response to a Family Tree Magazine E-mail […]
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Suspicious Death
Q Leslie Carlisle Grant was born about 1912 in Macon Co., NC. I last found him on the 1930 census in Miami, Dade Co., Fla., living near his sister Ethel Heinneman. Shortly after, he supposedly joined the Army. Coming home on leave from who knows where in 1931 or 1932, he supposedly drowned in New […]
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Saving Old Scrapbooks
Q I’ve discovered scrapbooks my mother made in the 1930 and ’40s. They include photos and paper ephemera such as party napkins and dance programs. The scrapbook pages are black and the items are glued on. What’s the best way to preserve this material? Also, I’d like to take pictures of each page. Should I […]
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Out on a Limb: Stuck on You Premium
Every hobby has insider lingo. When I got involved in family history, it took me only about five minutes to figure out the biggest buzzword in the genealogical lexicon: brick wall. Throughout the community — on message boards, in mailing lists, at society meetings and events — researchers repeat...
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Swede Success
Q My grandfather Carl August Petersson (he later went by Charles) was born in 1863 in Sweden, and died in America in 1927. I’ve spent years searching unsuccessfully for his birth parish. He came immigrated around the mid-1800’s and spent most of his life in northern California. Records I’ve found list his birthplace as only […]
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