Where to Start Your Genealogy in 2016

I was reading a post on a website the other day from someone who wanted to know more about their past. The person was upset that they didn't know anything about their family or where they came from. They wanted to be able to tell their children where their family was from but knew nothing about genealogy.

If you are able to read this then you can work on your family history. Their is some to learn, but if you take your time and gather some facts, you might be surprised what you can find online. Nope, it's not all on the internet, but a lot of good information is.

The best advice I can give to someone who has no genealogy background and wants to learn is to either join your local genealogy society or hire a professional to work with you or consult on an as needed basis to help you learn how to discern from the flood of information you are soon bound to discover.

If you would like some help finding a genealogy society in your area, shoot me an email and I'll see if I can't refer you to a local society.

If you'd like some help getting started; consider hiring me or another genealogist to work with you for a set period of time just to get you pointed in the right direction!

The final word: Genealogy can cost money. Some genealogy websites charge membership fees, Genealogy societies charge for memberships. Genealogy researchers charge $25 an hour or more. In the Boston area, Genealogy Researchers are in the $35 plus range. Some charge upwards of $100 an hour for their expertise.

My advice? Keep it simple. Work within your budget. Learn as you go. Have fun!

Interested in learning more? Use this form. No obligation. No fooling around, just straight realistic conversation.

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The Hunt for Mary Louise Smith; Dearborn County Indiana

Dearborn County, Indiana has a great library in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. The Lawrenceburg Public Library has an obituary index right on their Genealogy website. http://www.lpld.lib.in.us/history.htm A quick check of the last name of Cormican turns up four hits. The first two are unrelated, but two are for Mary Louise Cormican and Mrs. Hugh D Cormican. Hugh Cormican was the husband of Mary Louise Smith so the last two obituaries are probably going to be for my Great Grandmother.

The index itself has a lot of information on it that helps build my confidence:

Lawrenceburg Public Library District Obituary Finder

Last Name: Cormican
First Name: Mary
Middle Name/Initial: Louise
Maiden Name: Smith
Date of Death: 10/25/1924
Birth Date: 09/20/1853
Spouse: Hugh
Survived By: husband;nine children;twenty-nine grandchildren; two sisters; one brother.
Other: was married Jan. 11, 1874. Preceded in death by one infant.
Cemetery: New Haven, OH
Obituary Source: Register Oct. 30, 1924, Register November 6, 1924, Press Oct. 30, 1924
Source Information:
Obituary File:
Other File:


There are also some clues above that may help me down the road, when I try to find her before she married Hugh.

Right on the Genealogy Page of the Lawrenceburg Public Library is their mailing address and the procedure to follow if you need copies ($1 per obit and a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope). An email address is provided if you have questions. So off goes the check for $3 and an SASE and we will see what we get back in the mail. The hardest part about genealogy is the waiting!

See you next Wednesday.

Who Do You think You Are? Season Three, Episode Three: Blair Underwood

Have you been following the show this year? Blair Underwood will be the subject this week. The show is on NBC at 8pm Eastern / 7pm Central time.

Martin Sheen and Marisa Tomei have already been on this year. You can catch up by watching the past episodes from the "Who Do You Think You Are" Website

I would imagine that folks new to genealogy may be wondering how to get started? I will bet this can be a daunting task for most folks. A great way to get going is to spend a few hours on a personal consultation with a genealogist. Click on the tab above or the link on the right side for more information!

Are you who really who you think you are?

Do you Have a Genealogy Brick Wall?

In my title, I ask if you have a brick wall. If you are in the learning mode, and you have some time to spare (about an hour) and you want to learn some great brick wall "busting" tips, then you need to watch this free webinar by Marian Pierre-Louise:

Ten Brick Wall Tips for Beginners

From the Legacy Family Tree Webinar website at http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/webinars.asp

"Ten Brick Wall Tips for Beginners. Marian Pierre-Louis, the genealogist who cracked the case of Nathan Brown's parents, is at it again. Once again she's tackling the topic of brick walls. Everyone needs a little help and encouragement to jump-start the research, especially on hard-to-solve cases. In this webinar, Marian will present 10 brick wall tips that will help every genealogist look at their research challenges in a fresh way. This webinar will bring you the momentum you need to get your family history research back on track."


The catch? None really... except it will only be *FREE* on the website until the 27th of February, 2012. 


Happy Webinaring! 

The Value of Education

I suspect if someone asked me the value of education when I was a child, I'd have a much different answer than I do now. Anyone over the age of 25 knows it is expensive and in some cases un-affordable. Currently in the genealogy world there are MANY low cost and even free alternatives. The webinar has caught on in recent years and several days a week you can tune in via your computer and watch a free webinar.

Recently at RootsTech, (2-4 February 2012 @ SLC) they broadcast eight webinars over three days on all sorts of information. The Keynote speech was even broadcast.

A great source for learning more about webinars is on the GeneaWebinars website http://blog.geneawebinars.com/p/calendar.html

At the bottom of the calendar you can click on the + Google Calendar to add the webinars to your own Google Calendar. This really makes it easy to keep track of them on my own calendar and even set reminders.

Don't forget to register!

If you have questions about webinars or other technology that is available for low cost or even free, please ask!