September - October 2020

Family Tree

The Leading Family History Magazine

Family Tree1 min read
Family Tree
Editor Andrew Koch Art Director Katharine Van Itallie Photo Editor Heather Marcus Digital Editor Courtney Henderson New Media Editor Rachel Fountain eLearning Specialist Amanda Epperson Contributing Editors Lisa A. Alzo, Rick Crume, David A. Fryxell,
Family Tree1 min read
Out On A Limb
My great-grandfather Edmund loved boating. Every summer, he’d take his 10 children to Indian Lake in north-central Ohio, whiling away their days swimming, playing and drifting through the lake’s many coves. Tragically, boating was also part of his de
Family Tree1 min read
Tree Talk
Genealogy how-to downloads and videos, plus PDF back-issues of Family Tree Magazine Free genealogy advice from host Lisa Louise Cooke and expert guests iTunes / Our members-only
Family Tree1 min read
Everything’srelative
“WHY WASTE YOUR MONEY LOOKING UP YOUR FAMILY TREE? Just go into politics, and your opponents will do it for you.” Author and humorist Mark Twain supposedly quipped about how politics and genealogy intersect. Indeed, politicians have long used family
Family Tree2 min read
Harvesting Family History
Family history and music are central themes in my household. So, when I decided to redecorate my family room, I dug up an old photo of the band that my husband Bill’s grandfather performed with in 1940. I scanned the photo at 1200 DPI, then uploaded
Family Tree3 min read
WHAT’S NEW COVID-19 and Genealogy
WE CAN’T YET MEASURE the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the genealogy community, but the community’s initial response was telling. Libraries and archives closed and in-person conferences and institutes canceled or shifted to virtual events.
Family Tree3 min readFashion
The Iron(ing) Age
THE HISTORY OF LAUNDRY is both ancient and relatively new. Although the Roman Empire had a sophisticated clotheswashing industry, by the Middle Ages clothes (like people) were washed only infrequently. As late as Victorian times, doing the laundry wa
Family Tree2 min read
Caring for Game-Day Souvenirs
1 Preserve paper items by storing them in an acid-free envelope or archival plastic sleeve. Ticket stubs and gameday programs are typically tossed into the trash post-game, but sports collectors often haunt auction websites for souvenirs of landmark
Family Tree1 min read
Worth a Thousand Words
Noy Lovanh of Willowick, Ohio, spent her early years in a refugee camp in the Philippines with her parents and three older sisters. “I’m not sure exactly why we had to leave our home in Vientiane, Laos,” she says. “My parents don’t talk about it.” He
Family Tree1 min read
Tombstone Transcription Form
Learn the meanings behind common tombstone icons . In each issue, Your Turn offers a form that’ll help you preserve your family’s unique stories and organize your research.
Family Tree1 min read
Branchingout
“STORY IS THE UMBILICAL CORD that connects us to the past, present, and future. Family. Story is a relationship between the teller and the listener, a responsibility… Story is an affirmation of our ties to one another.” Writer and activist Terry Temp
Family Tree12 min read
Lights, Camera Ancestors!
Do you ever wish you could share family history stories more powerfully? Maybe like they do with celebrities on the popular PBS television show, “Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.”? The show captivates its guests with stirring stories ab
Family Tree5 min read
Georgia
THE FIRST STEP in tracing your Georgia ancestors might be to shake your preconceptions of this state, which presents many different faces to history: Georgia was the last of the original 13 colonies, a frontier where settlers pushed Indian tribes out
Family Tree9 min readDiscrimination & Race Relations
Hard to Tell
One of my readers, who was writing a story based on family history, once asked me, “Are you okay with leaving out the blemishes in family stories?” This is a pertinent question, since anyone who has done family research will inevitably happen upon un
Family Tree11 min read
Health Inspectors
Discovering your ethnic background. Solving genealogical questions. We frequently discuss these benefits of having your DNA tested, but another use comes up less often in genealogy circles: learning about your health. Along with ancestral information
Family Tree5 min read
Nebraska
NEBRASKA HAS PRODUCED more than its well-known crops of corn, soybeans and wheat, and a historically top-ranked football team—the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers. It’s also produced stars such as entertainer Fred Astaire, actors Marlon Brando and
Family Tree8 min read
Pole Vaulting
Are you ready to trace your Polish immigrant ancestors back to their town of origin? If you’re among the more than 10 million Americans with Polish roots, you can now begin your research right from your easy chair. Polish genealogists have traditiona
Family Tree8 min read
Government Issue
The government can make or break your genealogy research. Laws that created records about your ancestors, like the Census Act of 1790 (which facilitated the first US censuses) and the Steerage Act of 1819 (which mandated passenger arrival lists), are
Family Tree2 min read
How to File an FOIA Request
Want your ancestor’s application for a Social Security Card (called an SS-5), WWII alien registration form, or other federal record that isn’t already publicly available? You’ll need to send a Freedom of Information Act (or FOIA) request to the right
Family Tree1 min read
Treetips
DO YOU HAVE YOUR LIBRARY CARD HANDY? With local history collections, hard-to-find manuscripts, and free access to subscription genealogy databases (to name just a few patron benefits), libraries hold the key to limitless information for researchers.
Family Tree1 min read
A New Century
1 The card’s patterned border suggests circa 1900. Card-stock colors for this style included cream, gray and shade (shown here). 2 When you can find a photographer’s name, search Google , then dive into city directory records to narro
Family Tree1 min read
Newspaper Lists
1 Before the US government introduced Rural Free Delivery (RFD) in 1902, many people living outside of urban hubs didn’t receive their own mail. Instead, various locations (general stores, commercial offices, etc.) acted as post offices, and people h
Family Tree3 min readComputers
Now What?
Q I’ve scanned hundreds of family photos—both new and very old—and would like to caption them for future family. I cannot find software to do that. Is there any easy way to add this info? A The simplest, most foolproof way to “caption” family photos
Family Tree1 min readAnthropology
HOW TO Locate a Tombstone
1 Use sources such as death certificates, obituaries and family memories to identify a relative’s death date and place—and, if possible, the name of a cemetery. Search online tombstone transcription websites such as BillionGraves
Family Tree1 min read
ROUNDUP Genealogy News Blogs
Whenever a DNA testing company launches a new tool or major update, look to genetic genealogist Roberta Estes for timely, detailed how-to’s and commentary. She excels at making advanced DNA topics more understandable and relev
Family Tree1 min read
WEBSITE WorldCat
A Search for history books, newspapers, family histories, historical atlases or gazetteers, record transcription volumes and more. B Results may appear in a variety of formats, such as dissertations, manuscripts, journal articles and other resources
Family Tree2 min readScience & Mathematics
DNA Q&A Transferring DNA Data
Q What does it mean to transfer my DNA? A I’m often asked if I think the genetic genealogy testing companies will ever join forces and contribute to one single combined genetic genealogy database. While the answer is “definitely not” because, well, i
Family Tree1 min readInternational Relations
The Rest Is History
An event that does the highest honor to the American arms, and which, I hope, will be attended with the most extensive and happy consequences. Commander-in-Chief George Washington congratulates General Horatio Gates on his victory over British Genera
Family Tree6 min read
German Genealogy
Source: Wikimedia Commons. User: kgberger, based on work from User: Wiggy!. Reproduced under CC BY-SA 3.0. Fr. Anna Schmidt Aachener-Str. 42 69115 Karlsruhe Germany honorific street-house number postal code-town country • Fraktur: a type of German le

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