I've been thinking about heat lately with the Northeast sweltering this week. What about the kind of heat your ancestors dealt with every single summer with zero mechanical help? No central air. No window unit humming in the background. No thermostat. Just July, and whatever they could figure out. We talk a lot about what people did to stay cool before air conditioning. But as a genealogist, what I actually want to know is what those summers left behind. We can find records,

I am officially an Accredited Genealogist® in the Mid-Atlantic region through ICAPGen℠! Earning this credential was a 3-year journey. It began with my portfolio, which featured a 37-page narrative, 200 citations, and 61 pages of research logs. From there, I passed intensive exams at the FamilySearch Library and a final Oral Review. Read the full post for a step-by-step roadmap of the entire process!

If you caught Union Pacific’s Big Boy 4014 coming through on its recent tour, you know how impressive it is to see that massive piece of history in person. But watching it roll by mostly got me thinking about the people who actually kept those trains running. Big Boy No. 4014 traveling between Ripley and Westfield New York 9 June 2026. The conductors, engineers, and track laborers left behind a massive paper trail. If you discover you have an ancestor who worked for the railr

John Locke survived the Civil War, but he never made it home. A single phrase in his pension file—"while in the line of duty"—revealed that his service continued after the fighting ended and opened the door to a much larger family story.

Vital records are some of the first records genealogists reach for, and for good reason. Birth, marriage, and death records can confirm names, dates, places, and relationships. They can help connect one generation to the next. But in West Virginia research, it is not enough to simply search for a name. You need to know what type of record you are looking for, who might be named in it, when the record may exist, where it was kept, why it matters, and how to access it. That is

As I get further along in my research and in learning how to research properly, I find that I have a deeper desire to find out more about my ancestors' lives. Sometimes they live very short lives and don't leave a lot of records. Other times you have a strong connection to a relative and want to find out more about where and how they lived and possibly visit that place. My paternal side of the family has lived in Western New York since the early to mid-1800s, most of them f

This is going to be an audit of sorts. I want to make sure there is a source attached to the following life events: Birth Date Birth Place Marriage(s) Children Death Date Death Place I chose to "audit" one of my great-grandmothers, Jennie Margaret Myers. There are two ways to do this. The first is to click on edit next to each fact. This could work for all the facts except children. The second way is to go into sources and match the sources up that way. Here is a look at