In today’s “How I Solved It” post, guest blogger Maggie Stevenson from Kin Histories shows how DNA research can point you in the right direction, but must be accompanied with a solid paper trail to prove relationships. By sharing her tree, Maggie connected with someone who held the answer to her mystery. Here’s what happened:…
Category: Guest Blogs
How I Solved It: Brick Walls Post #3–Rev. Isaac C. Hunter 1798-1842
Sometimes you search high and low and you find lots of information about your ancestor, but no proof about their ancestry. Such is the case—so far—of Rev. Isaac C. Hunter for Diane Gould Hall at Michigan Family Trails. The Reverend was a traveling preacher in the emerging Ohio and Michigan territories. He left traces of his…
How I Solved It: Back to the Basics with Probate Records – Part 1
When someone dies, governments tend to be extremely interested in the dispersal of possessions and real estate the deceased may have had. The resulting legal process is called probate, and it can yield a gold mine of clues buried in the paperwork. In today’s “How I Solved It” guest blog series, professional genealogist Diana Elder AGⓇ…
How I Solved It: Broaden those search terms
In genealogy, we quickly come to learn that we must use wildcards and some pretty creative spelling when searching for our ancestors. But today’s guest blogger Janine Adams from Organize Your Family History (organizeyourfamilyhistory.com) shares an experience reminding us to widen our thinking about *all* of our search terms, not just names! Here’s her experience:…
How I Solved It: The Micro-Biography of an Obituary
Jacqi Stevens, author of A Family Tapestry, finds abandoned old photographs and follows their story, hoping to reconnect the photos with their lost families. Here, Jacqi shares a few tricks and sources she uses for finding stories in digital obituaries and historical newspapers as part of RootsFinder’s “How I Solved It” guest blog series. _________________…
How I Solved It: Old electrical tower leads the way to family graves
Vera Miller from Find Lost Russian & Ukrainian Family had given up hope on finding her great-grandparents’ graves due to the extreme difficulties in geography and bureaucracy in the former Soviet Empire. But a tiny clue from a treasured family photograph made all the difference for her. Here’s her story in today’s “How I Solved It”…
How I Solved It: Brick Walls Post #2 – Robert L. Bowden 1863-1906
Why would you check Ancestry’s [fairly] new Pennsylvania death records when you have no record of your ancestor ever living there? Today’s “How I Solved It” guest blogger Diane Gould Hall (Michigan Family Trails) checked them anyway and there he was…her brick wall ancestor! Because you just never know where you’ll find the record you need,…
How I Solved It: Her Name Is Valerie
Gwen Kubberness looks for the stories behind mugshots. One day she felt drawn to Valerie. This is her story. __________________________________ She was Valerie Lillian Rita Lowe. She looks as if she could be anyone’s daughter. She has a shyness about her and innocents in eyes. When I first laid my eyes upon her I…
How I Solved It: Brick Wall Ancestor | #4 Jane “Jennie” M Whitford Nichols Faulkner
Anne Faulkner, the blog author from Ancestor Archaeology, has shared this blog as part of our ongoing “How I Solved It Series”. Here, Ann shares how difficult it can be tracking ancestors when records seemingly keep changing. In this case, the location of birth kept changing. The people she lived with kept changing. Surname variations were a…
How I Solved It: Angelina Appleton: A Victorian Bigamist
Suzi Brent, blog author of Family Tree Mystery, has shared this blog as part of our ongoing “How I Solved It Series”. Here, Suzi shows us how she discovered a missing relative who ended up changing her name and becoming a bigamist.
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