Adventures in Anderson genealogy!
Next week I’m giving a presentation about research trips at the library as a part of our annual community read month themed around The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. One of my favorite tips in the presentation is how I prepare throughout my research so I’m ready to take advantage of any travel opportunity to... Continue Reading →
On my way home from RootsTech I was inspired to renew my research on my brickwall ancestor, John H. McKee. I started by writing down my research question: When did John McKee die? Followed by a research plan. To put my research plan on paper I pulled out a form I had developed a while... 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 →
In researching my great-grandfather, Walter H. Bell, I have been interested in tracking his employers throughout his life. He worked in so many capacities for so many corporations that it has become a personal challenge to track his place of employment year to year. And it often changed in such a short span of time.... 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 →
A few months ago I wrote about my great-grandfather's first marriage. When we last left Walter Bell, he had just eloped with Anna Hertel in January 1907. Walter and Anna divorced in January 1910 and she succumbed to tuberculosis in 1921. What did Walter do after the divorce? In 1910 Federal Census, taken in... Continue Reading →
You’d think with an unusual name like “Straughen” that it wouldn’t be difficult to identify my ancestors, but it hasn’t been easy! My 2nd great-grandfather Isaac Straughen (pictured at the top of this post) was born in 1817 in New Jersey. He reported in the 1880 census that his father was also born in New... 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 →
There are two ancestors in my family tree that I continue to revisit whenever I'm up for a challenge. One of those is Walter H. Bell (1881-1934), my great-grandfather. Chipping away at Walter's past has been tricky but fascinating. He moved all over the country during his life. It seems he had three or four... 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 →
Happy New Year everyone! Okay, I'm a little late, but I've been out of town for a few weeks. Now I'm back, graduated, and not yet employed. Let's start the new year off by reviewing the goals I set in a blog post this time last year: Research - 3 out of 4 goals achieved, not... 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 →
Ellen Anderson
Andersonology 