As many of you are celebrating the Memorial Day weekend with backyard BBQs, eating various meats slathered in BBQ sauce, my mind turns to vinegar. Many types of BBQ sauce are made with vinegar. But why were our immigrant ancestors required to have vinegar on the boat when they came over here? I highly doubt… Continue reading Why Vinegar?
Confederate Soldiers Baptized in Chicago
This holiday weekend commemorates those soldiers who lost their lives while fighting in our country’s armed forces. Memorial Day was established shortly after the Civil War.[1] That war was certainly a dark period in our nation’s history as the nation found itself divided. Camp Douglas, at one point the largest Civil War military camp, was… Continue reading Confederate Soldiers Baptized in Chicago
Polar Bear Principle
This past week I presented a hands-on workshop for using Ancestry and FamilySearch, two of the genealogy mega sites. I didn’t want to dive right into best search practices for these websites without giving the students a foundation based on planning. People newer to genealogy tend to see search fields on these websites and immediately… Continue reading Polar Bear Principle
Learning Opportunities!
This week, I give two different presentations at different locations. On Tuesday morning, May 9, at 10:00 a.m., I teach a hands-on workshop “Demystify Ancestry Library Edition and FamilySearch” at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library at 500 North Dunton, Arlington Heights, Illinois. It is for Arlington Heights card holders only. Before diving into tips and… Continue reading Learning Opportunities!
German City Directories
City directories are an amazing resource. Not only do they list the residents who lived in the city in the stated year, but they give other helpful information. They are a mini census that details a person’s movements and job changes from one year to the next. Use of the city directory for its residential… Continue reading German City Directories
You Never Know . . .
. . . what might be lurking in your relative’s attic. Growing up, I talked to both of my grandmas on numerous occasions, asking about their grandparents who had immigrated from Germany. Their memories were great. They could recall birth, marriage, and death dates for each person and so many other details. I was ultimately… Continue reading You Never Know . . .
Free Webinars
The Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) hosts a free webinar series on the third Tuesday of every month. This series is made possible by a partnership with Family Tree Webinars. To register for an upcoming webinar, go to Family Tree Webinars and browse through their upcoming webinars and register. You will then receive an… Continue reading Free Webinars
Local Talk: Organization
Tonight I will be speaking at the Zion Genealogical Society, presenting "From Piles to Files: Let's Get Organized." This will begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Zion-Benton Public Library located at 2400 Gabriel Avenue, Zion, Illinois. I love giving this talk because I really do love to organize things. You might not know that by… Continue reading Local Talk: Organization
World War I Records
April 6, 2017 marked the 100th anniversary of United States involvement in World War I. To commemorate this event, Ancestry.com released a new database, “U.S., Army Transport Service, Passenger Lists, 1910–1939.” This database contains the names of soldiers and other military personnel who arrived at U.S. ports during the years indicated. Sometimes family members were… Continue reading World War I Records
Welcome!
I’ve tried fighting it. I’ve tried to ignore it. People have been telling me for years that I need to blog. But I would argue “Doesn’t everyone have a blog?” “I don’t have time. I’m already too busy.” Well, I’ll always be busy. That will never change. Anyway, many people have blogs…. But here’s the… Continue reading Welcome!
Lind Street Research 