Category: Research tips

Free Genealogy Classes, Tutorials, Webinars, and Online Learning

~ Dayna Jacobs - "On Granny's Trail" ~ Leave a comment

Everyone likes “free”, right? And genealogists love to keep learning.  Here are a few resources I have come across that provide both.  They range from short videos to full multi-class college courses.

I especially recommend the genealogy “wikis”. Wikis are an under-utilized resource for genealogists, with detailed instruction on record groups, methodology, and the use of specific record collections. The content is created by experts who have extensive experience in a given locality or record group.

Only free, online offerings are included here, and some of them are free or available for limited windows, but if you stay on top of it you can build quite a curriculum for yourself! If you are aware of other resources, please let me know so I can add them to the list.

FamilySearch Online Courses
FamilySearch Learning Center – 100s of video courses

 Courses and tutorials

Webinars

 Other Online Learning

Youtube search for "Genealogy Research"
Youtube search for “Genealogy Research”

US Geological Survey adds a New Online Map Viewer and It is a Good One!

~ Dayna Jacobs - "On Granny's Trail" ~ Leave a comment

I have always found the USGS maps to be invaluable in solving research puzzles. I’m happy to hear the National Map Viewer has been upgraded. I love the download feature – you can make custom maps for your research localities. Try searching on your ancestor’s surname to find geographical features named after them.

Dick Eastman's avatarEastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

The US Geological Survey has an online collection of more than 178,000 maps, dating back to 1880. They cover the entire country. Best of all, they’re free to download. However, the digital images were not always of the highest quality and the search software for finding maps was confusing, at best. All that has now changed with the introduction of a new online map viewer.

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Peter Pan’s mid-life crisis

~ Dayna Jacobs - "On Granny's Trail" ~ 3 Comments

Peter-pan (1)

Spoiler alert:  Peter Pan DID grow up!  In fact, The Fairy Tale Genealogist has uncovered evidence of a mid-life crisis for ol’ Pete. Yes, vital records can be valuable in piecing together the untold stories of fictional characters.

Certain characteristics of childhood that may have served him well as the leader of the Lost Boys might have caught up with Peter Pan in later years, after immigrating from Neverland to Texas, as we see from divorce and marriage and divorce-again records. Being “the boy who wouldn’t grow up” has certain disadvantages in matrimony!

Peter Pan Divorce 1
Image from Ancestry.com

Vital records indexes show us that Wendy Darling may have dodged a bullet.  At age 58 Peter divorced his wife of 33 years (whose name I have redacted to protect her privacy), but a little over two years later eloped to Las Vegas with a 27 year-old woman.

Of course, vital records indexes can give a lot of information in and of themselves, but always try to obtain the original document using the details provided in the index. You will be rewarded with much more–possibly the names of their parents, birthplaces, signatures, and names of witnesses if you are lucky.

Peter Pan marriage 2
Image from Ancestry.com

The marriage index does not give his new bride’s age, but the divorce index  three years later does (and whose name I again have redacted)…

Peter Pan Divorce 2
Image from Ancestry.com

I don’t know what these divorces cost Peter Pan, but I’m thinking it might have saved him a lot of trouble and money to just buy the red sportscar in the first place.

Red_sports_car

Stay tuned for a look at Captain Hook’s birth record, and an update on Wendy.  The Fairy Tale Genealogist can hardly wait to share!

Pinocchio: Records don’t lie (or do they?)

~ Dayna Jacobs - "On Granny's Trail" ~ 5 Comments

The Fairy Tale Genealogist is at it again.  Let’s find out what became of Pinocchio, using records from Ancestry.com and good photo-editing software.Pinocchio 1You all know that Pinocchio was the wooden puppet whose wish came true when he became a real, live boy.  But I’m wondering if he may have had second thoughts when the draft board came calling during WWI. Continue reading “Pinocchio: Records don’t lie (or do they?)” →

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Little Known Facts Uncovered Thanks to Ancestry.com

~ Dayna Jacobs - "On Granny's Trail" ~ 6 Comments

Subscription genealogy websites are booming in popularity.  It has never been easier to unearth fascinating facts about your kin, thanks to Ancestry, My Heritage, Footnote, Find My Past, and FamilySearch (a non-subscription site), among others.

Naturally, this led me to wonder about the descendants of the Seven Dwarfs. Were they having any luck with their family trees? Were there other famous animated characters in their ancestral lines? And how about some background on the Dwarfs? Did they always work as miners? When did they move to the forest?  Were they related or just sharing rent? And what’s the real story with Snow White? Is there any truth to her family lore? What was her mother’s name. Was she really an only child? Continue reading “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Little Known Facts Uncovered Thanks to Ancestry.com” →