Many of the records contained in this book were found online. Both originals and typescripts are often available, for free, at Familysearch, if you know how to look. I am including this brief tutorial so that readers might, if they choose, go and look at the original documents which, while important to the story, did... Continue Reading →

By guest writer Melvin Larry Williams ~ Who was my earliest known ancestor and did I come from a family with historical significance? There comes a time in our life when these questions beg answers, it is happening to more and more people and is fuel to the explosion of interest in family genealogy.  Recent... Continue Reading →

By Sue Ward~ Through the course of research, how often is it that you find a lone ranger in a cemetery buried with no other relatives?  Not very often.  There are unmarked graves we will never be able identify.  But if you look carefully and consider all headstones and the married names of the women,... Continue Reading →

By Wanda Tucker~ If you read my post “What’s in a Name” from a few weeks back, I wrote about searching for a woman in the early 1900s in Wyoming, and the absolutely crazy ways the family name was spelled in various sources. When you are searching for a family, particularly one with a “foreign”... Continue Reading →

by Wanda Tucker~ Do you or one of your ancestors have a commonly misspelled name? If you are like me, there are more than a few! When researching these people, it sometimes necessary to think FAR outside the box. Many times in distant past, names were spelled phonetically, or just misunderstood by the hearer. And... Continue Reading →

By Sue Ward~ Sometimes we get so wrapped up in what we are presently researching, we tend to forget what we have already acquired.  This is a big mistake. After publication of our first Patriot Edward Williams book, those records were filed away.  I began working on another collateral family of mine, the Jarretts.  As... Continue Reading →

by Wanda Tucker~ Sometimes, as I do this work, tracking people across history, I am absolutely baffled by the range of errors that are found in the United States Census. After all, these are some of the earliest government documents we have, and one would hope that the people chosen to compile the information were... Continue Reading →

by Wanda Tucker~  Have you ever found a genealogical document that took your breath away? That one bit of information that tied up a loose end, confirmed a long-suspected connection, or simply pinpointed some lost relative? Well, I have. But sometimes, the document in question generates more questions than answers. In genealogy, documents are the... Continue Reading →

by Sue Ward~ In this research challenge, I was looking for the ancestry of a man named Rowland Patterson. Studying the early census records and eliminating families for whom Rowland Patterson would not qualify as their son was the beginning point.  Rowland was born in 1790 so his parents must be the correct age and... Continue Reading →

by Sue Ward~ My first real findings for the origins of the Foster family were from Dr. William L. Foster.  I had provided him DNA results for Edward Bryant Foster, first cousin to my grandfather, Roy Earnest Williams.  After studying the various Foster results, Dr. Foster sent me an e-mail.  He was finally certain of... Continue Reading →