1 Keep existing hair samples intact. Victorians were especially fond of preserving the hair of loved ones, both living and dead. Woven hair wreaths, jewelry and decorations were visual reminders of relationships. Some keepsakes were carefully placed

The mere idea of marrying any of my first or second cousins—family members that I’ve known since earliest childhood and have grown up with in sibling-like relationships—is unthinkable to me. But for generations of our ancestors, a conjugal union betw

In each issue, Your Turn offers a form that’ll help you preserve your family’s unique stories and organize your research. Tear out and use the form or make a photocopy. ■

WYOMING IS THE LEAST-POPULATED STATE in the United States today—a place that many passed through, but not many stayed. Though both desolate and isolated, the state is also beautiful and full of history. Wyoming attracted settlers looking for opportun

IN LATE 2023 MyHeritage was busy, releasing a trio of new tools: • AI Biographer: Have artificial intelligence write a Wikipedia-style entry about your ancestor, based on details in your MyHeritage family tree or from AI Record F

Online family tree sites are terrific tools for organizing your family history, collaborating with other relatives and sharing your findings. Most let you build a tree from scratch or upload a GED-COM file generated from another program or website. A

When a University of Cambridge professor requested to view a stash of 18th-century letters at the UK National Archives, he found they had never been opened or read. The letters had been sent—but not delivered—to French sailors captured in 1758 during

1 Percentages: AncestryDNA compares your DNA with that of others known to have lived in specific countries or regions for generations. It then assigns an estimate of how much of your DNA comes from that place, with an accompanying map. Click a place

When people die, families gather—for comfort, to say goodbye, and to tie up loose ends. Loved ones of our deceased ancestors would meet for the reading of the will and to divide up the departed person’s belongings. Today, genealogists can read all ab

This tool use artificial intelligence, shared-DNA values, and Public Member Trees to generate suggested family trees that include you and your DNA matches. To use ThruLines, you’ll need to have a Public Member Tree and attach your DNA to it. Access T

Long-running genealogy podcast and radio show ExtremeGenes ceased its weekly schedule in December. In his newsletter announcing the change, host Scott Fisher assured listeners that he’d continue recording episodes periodically. The show’s episode arc

Each state-by-state guide includes: Notes on how and when key documents were kept in the state, including vital records, state censuses and land records Narrative history with special emphasis on events that affected your ancestors, including year of

MY HUSBAND IS A TV-WATCHER in the evenings, but I’m not. So I sit beside him doing research and writing stories on my laptop. Janet DeGras via Facebook The morning, after breakfast Lorie Pierce via Facebook The morning with my cup of Joe—my mind is f

1 Once logged in, you can enter your tree from scratch, as I started to do. But then I changed my mind and instead decided to use the site’s option for importing a GEDCOM file for my mother’s side (Research > GEDCOM). It was created by someone else a

My mom’s voice was strained. “There’s something I need to tell you, and it’s going to rock your world.” I was 45 years old, still grieving my dad’s death the previous year. Mom explained that in the early 1970s, my dad learned he was incapable of fat

CREATE ONE ‘MASTER’ FAMILY TREE ON YOUR DESKTOP, then selectively publish it online at various websites. Having at least parts of your tree in multiple places can attract cousins and help your research outlive you. But having to make updates at so ma

Jenn Bokoch grew up hearing stories from her mother’s family about the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, Pa. . The sisters ran St. Benedict Academy, an all-girls high school that served Erie for nearly 120 years (1869–1988). Boko

My research in Ireland has led me lots of places. I’ve climbed over iron fences, rusted farm gates, and stone walls to explore abandoned cemeteries in sheep fields and surrounding medieval churches. I’ve searched for relations and historians in pubs,

AFTER MONTHS OF BETA-TESTING new features, Ancestry.com announced Pro Tools, a collection of enhancements to its Member Trees. New features include a tree-checking tool that analyzes your work for data errors, as well as additional

Maureen A. Taylor is the author of Family Photo Detective (Picture Perfect Press). Have a photo mystery you’d like Maureen to investigate? Email with your photo, any details you know about it (including links to online trees), and Photo Detective in

The UK’s Ministry of Justice announced in 2023 its plans to digitize more than 100 million wills, dating back 150 years. The catch? The department’s current proposal would have original documents destroyed once they’ve been digitized, perhaps retaini

When you start exploring a new-to-you homeland, it’s easy to feel a bit lost. You don’t know what records are available, or how to find and access them. If the records are in another language, you may not know how to read them. And if the history or