Family Tree

Editor Andrew Koch Art Director Katharine Van Itallie Photo Editor Heather Marcus Digital Editor Courtney Henderson New Media Editor Rachel Fountain eLearning Specialist Amanda Epperson Contributing Editors Lisa A. Alzo, Rick Crume, David A. Fryxell,

Lincoln once said, “Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history.” And to me, that simple statement has an important double meaning. On the one hand, we can’t remove ourselves from the context of history. As genealogists, we study how history shaped the

Genealogy how-to downloads and videos, plus PDF back-issues of Family Tree Magazine  Free genealogy advice from host Lisa Louise Cooke and expert guests iTunes / Our members-only

IN EARLY 2021, a trio of prominent genetic genealogy companies announced changes to their ownership structures: • Family Tree DNA merged with the Australiabased myDNA . The latter company primarily focuses on

In 2019, AncestryDNA launched AncestryHealth, a testing option that provided health-based results such as genetic risk reports. But just 15 months later, Ancestry announced it was discontinuing the Health service, citing a desir

Fans of 1970s Westerns might recall a TV series titled “Alias Smith and Jones,” in which a pair of outlaws try to go straight. To keep a low profile and earn a pardon, they adopt as pseudonyms two of the most common surnames in the country. If your o

How common are the surnames in your family tree? As the US population has diversified, so has the list of most common surnames in the census. In 1790, the year of the first national census, the most-enumerated last names all had UK origins, and the l

Many of these strategies and tricks come together in my search for the ancestors of my great-greatgrandmother, who not only had the all-too-common surname Brown but an equally ordinary first name: Emily. How could I find her family amid a whole bunch

“Ashkenazi” refer to Jews of Germanic or other Central and East European origins. “Sephardic” includes those from Spain, Portugal or countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea including North Africa. Worldwide, it’s estimated that 65% to 75% of Jews

All was not lost in the Holocaust. Primary Shoah-era resources for tracing victims and survivors are found online at: Arolsen Archives JewishGen Holocaust Database US Holocaust Mem

Whether you’re one of those pioneering longhaulers or a beginner genealogist wanting to use an existing system, let’s take a deep dive into the world of genealogical numbering systems. They can be divided into three types: ancestral, descendant, and

Q I am trying to find the grave of my secondgreat-grandfather in Hardin County, Ky. When did the state stop allowing burials on personal property and mandate burials in cemeteries? A It may surprise you to learn that Kentucky has never enacted a proh

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In some cultures, women used their maiden names on legal records even after marriage. Your ancestor may have gone by various nicknames or by her middle name at different times in her life. A woman isn’t necessarily the biological mother of every chil

New Jersey revokes the right of women to vote, a right granted with the adoption of the state constitution in 1776 Women mill workers in Lowell, Mass., successfully strike to reverse a 25-percent pay cut The Seneca Falls Convention in Seneca Falls, N

American Women (Library of Congress) College Women: Documenting the History of Women in Higher Education Cyndi’s List: Female Ancestors Finding Female Ancestors