Adventures in Anderson genealogy!
I do a lot of genealogy research in Warren County, Ohio. My 4th great-grandfather, Kenneth Anderson, moved to Warren County from Freehold, NJ in 1817 and the family stayed there until 1961. There were two major papers covering this area: The Franklin Chronicle and the Western Star. Neither has been digitized by a major vendor... Continue Reading →
I have been working in a library’s Local & Family History department for about six months now and in that time I have learned something about genealogy library visits that I want to share with you. Are you ready? Here it is: Librarian’s are not omniscient. We do not hold the library catalog in our... Continue Reading →
I don’t know about you, but my ancestors had some unusual names. Certainly many I would never wish on my future descendants! In addition to laughing about them, it can be helpful to understand where the name came from. Understanding a name’s origin might provide insight about unknown heritage, supply additional variants to search or... Continue Reading →
One of my favorite things about using Ancestry to host my primary tree is that it is discoverable to other researchers. I especially love that my photos and documents will soon become a little shaky leaf waiting for others to find, and hopefully enjoy. I just get a warm and fuzzy feeling when I think... Continue Reading →
If you have looked at visiting a library or archive as a part of your genealogy research, you might have seen or heard the terms "closed stacks" and "open stacks" before. What do these phrases mean? And how will these designations affect your visit? Let's examine each one. Open Stacks If you have ever been... Continue Reading →
I recently started a new job as a Local & Family History Librarian in St. Joseph Co., Indiana. (Dream job, I know.) I am loving every minute of it so far! The library has a beautiful genealogy department and a treasure chest of resources. If you are in the area, you should definitely take a... Continue Reading →
A few weeks ago I attended a fantastic webinar put on by the Guild of One Name Studies. If you haven’t heard about their free webinar series this year, I highly recommend signing up for some of their offerings! During the webinar a really interesting resource was mentioned in passing and afterwards I immediately went... Continue Reading →
I love the “street view” feature on Google Maps. It helps me know what I can expect to see when I visit a new place. Sometimes I wish I could do the same thing for my ancestors’ hometowns. I wish could find their house on a map and walk down the street in their shoes.... Continue Reading →
I forgot I had written this post a while ago, but I finally remembered and finished it this week. It's a long one, so don't say I didn't warn you! Over my spring break from graduate school in March 2017, I visited the National Archives in Washington, DC. With my mother in tow, I navigated... Continue Reading →
As a member of many genealogy Facebook groups and an admin in one (shoutout to GAA), I have seen a lot of questions on my newsfeed! Unfortunately, many people never get their questions answered, even if there are willing volunteers out there. You can improve the success of your queries on genealogy Facebook groups by... Continue Reading →
Have you ever wondered if others have written your family’s genealogy? Maybe you’ve tried some keyword searches and come up empty handed? Then you need to learn about subject headings! Today we’re specifically talking about subject headings related to surnames. This type of searching relies on understanding and leveraging specific terms used in a bibliographic... Continue Reading →
After cataloging countless self-published genealogies, ranging from folders of loose papers to gorgeous multi-volume hardcover sets with embossed details, I compiled 10 things a cataloger would appreciate in a self-published family history.
Ellen Anderson