Strategies
Writing Riddles Premium
Are faded ink, strange words or convoluted script concealing ancestral answers in your family papers? Solve eight old-penmanship puzzles with our tips.
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14 Genealogy Tasks to Do on Your Lunch Break
Pull up a chair and partake of these 14 genealogy jobs you can do on your lunch break.
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4 Steps to Transcribing a Genealogy Document
Preserve the content and flavor of old records with these four typescript tips.
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Now What? Genealogy Without a Computer Premium
Expert tips on doing genealogy without a computer.
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More Expertise Uncorked Premium
A sampling of the timeless genealogy tips we've shared over the years.
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Vintage Advice Premium
These 10 best tips from Family Tree Magazine’s first 10 years prove that some genealogy advice gets even better with age.
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Medical History Books and Websites for Genealogy Research Premium
Ready to start researching your family's health history? Start with these Web sites and books.
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Researching an Ancestor’s Murder
Q I found out my great-great-grandfather Juan Chavez was murdered in Valencia County, NM, in 1883, but that’s all I know. How can I find out more about this story? A Start by thinking about the kind of records a murder might generate: death records, a coroner’s investigation, newspaper coverage, a criminal trial. Let’s take […]
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Researching Ancestors in the Direct Tax of 1798
Q. What is the direct tax of 1798, and are these records available online? A. To fund a military buildup for a possible war with France, Congress enacted a $2 million direct tax in July 1798. Each of the country’s 16 states had to come up with its share of the $2 million. A state’s […]
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Reading Old Documents: The Long S
Q. I noticed that the hornbook pictured on page 12 of the May 2008 Family Tree Magazine has a 27-letter alphabet, with a unknown letter between r and s. What’s the story? A. The 18th-century English hornbook shown in our May 2008 History Matters column (here’s the hornbook—it’s from the Library of Congress Rare Book […]
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